A lot has been made of the Gunners opening game loss against Man City, too much really and some perspective is required.

The same applies to Chelsea’s opening day win over Huddersfield Town and the truth is neither result will have made much of difference ahead of today’s clash.

Not many teams in Europe, never mind England, would have fared much better against City and in comparison to last seasons performances against the Champions, Arsenal did not play that bad, yes they were at home but the signs were there that this season will be a lot different from last season.

By the same token, Chelsea’s comprehensive win over Huddersfield should not be given too much credence, put it this way if the fixtures had been reversed and it was Chelsea at home to City and Arsenal away to Huddersfield would the results have been much different?

Chelsea do have home advantage today and that is important but it is far too early to determine if Chelsea are better than last season, they have not changed too much and the general opinion of pundits is that they will finish 5th or 6th come to the end of the season, an opinion I share, they are definitely beatable the question is, are Arsenal capable of beating them at Stamford Bridge.

I think they are, I am not saying they will win today, what I am saying is that they are capable of winning, a lot depends on how they play today and whether Emery can get the best out of talented players that have for so long frustrated.

The chances are that Emery will start with Cech in goal which is a little baffling and Monreal instead of Lichtsteiner, I do not see him starting Ramsey or Guendouzi and annoyingly will probably start both Xhaka and Mustafi, he is also likely to persist with trying to fit both Lacazette and Aubameyang up front.

Chelsea is without Fabregas and Sarri has to make a decision whether to start with Barkely and Morata, which I think he will probably do to the disappointment of Chelsea fans who are fast running out of patience with the toothless Morata.

Probable lineups.

Chelsea Kepa, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Barkley, Morata, Pedro, Hazard

Arsenal Cech, Bellerin, Papastathopoulos, Mustafi, Monreal, Torreira, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang

Both teams need certain players to put in better performances than they have previously and neither team is what you would call settled, there is definitely room for improvement, it is just a case of which side is more likely to show that improvement.

As an Arsenal fan I would love to see us come away with all three points, however, I am also a realist, it is still very early in the season, the team has yet to find its rhythm and there are huge question marks over certain players, that said, the same applies to Chelsea and I am quite confident that we will leave Stamford Bridge with at least a point.

Prediction

Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal.