Alan Shearer believes Sunday's Chelsea vs. Arsenal match could be "won and lost" in the midfield.
The London clubs head into their weekend clash heading in opposite directions, with Chelsea on the ascendency while Arsenal are still trying to regain the form that made them legitimate Premier League title contenders in each of the last two seasons.
As such, it's Chelsea who are higher on the table, albeit only on tiebreakers as the teams are level on points. However, the fact that the Blues have been able to keep pace with the Gunners is a credit to new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, Shearer said.
"Chelsea head into their match with Arsenal above the Gunners after 10 Premier League games, and though Arsenal have stumbled recently, it shows how well Enzo Maresca has done at Chelsea, especially when you include the chaotic nature at the club," Shearer told Betfair.
"The midfield is probably where this game with Arsenal will be won and lost. [Declan] Rice and [Thomas] Partey against [Moises] Caicedo and [Romeo] Lavia is a good battle because you're talking about good midfielders that enjoy handling the ball."
For Arsenal, Sunday's match provides another opportunity to turn the tide after failing to win in their past three league matches. If Mikel Arteta's men still believe themselves to be contenders, then this is not a game they can afford to lose, Shearer said.
"The game against Chelsea is a ‘must not get beat game’ for Arsenal," he said. "I don't care who you are, the potential of sitting 10 points behind Liverpool is a lot at this level, and they can't afford too many more defeats.
"There will be fireworks, and it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a red card or two, but I'll go for a draw on Sunday."
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