Arsenal should start a brand new pairing for the first time ever against Chelsea
Bruno Guimaraes missed training on Wednesday after picking up a knock against Aston Villa.
Mikel Arteta says he expects him to train before the game. If he does, we think he should go straight into the starting XI against Chelsea.
Sunday is the perfect occasion to finally start Bruno and Declan Rice together for the first time.
The pair are yet to share a starting berth for Arsenal.
Guimaraes missed the Coventry game but played the full second half against Villa, and those 45 minutes were enough to get fans excited — some of those forward line-breaking passes were Fabregas-esque.
The quality he adds is obvious.
Myles Lewis-Skelly has been brilliant. Genuinely brilliant. But against Chelsea, we need to go as strong as possible.
Declan Rice and Bruno Guimaraes can bully Chelsea’s midfield
Chelsea have gotten off to an impressive start under Xabi Alonso, scoring seven goals across both their Premier League wins.
Some have already seen enough to convince them Chelsea are going to be Arsenal’s strongest title challengers.
But they’ve conceded five goals already. They’ve kept just one clean sheet in their last 18 Premier League games. Arsenal have kept 10 clean sheets in that time. Levels.
They have an incredible front three in attack, but they are leaky. And that stems from the midfield.
Chelsea missed out on replacing Enzo Fernandez on deadline day after the whole Folarin Balogun-Lamine Camera fiasco.
Romeo Lavia has partnered Reece James and then Malo Gusto against Fulham and Brighton respectively.
Moises Caicedo has been out injured but Alonso hasn’t ruled out a return for the Emirates trip.
Either way, whatever they field in the middle of the park, Rice and Guimaraes should be able to run the game.
They are arguably the two best midfield players in the Premier League and both perfectly complement each other. The things Rice does brilliantly, Guimaraes doesn’t need to do, and vice versa.
And you’re also getting as many ‘box-crashers’ on the pitch as possible this way. And if we’re leading, bringing Lewis-Skelly or Zubimendi on are perfect subs to see it out.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 11 against Chelsea. If Rice and Bruno start on Sunday, we will make it 12.
