Chris Wheatley

Arsenal team news: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Chelsea

Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier League clash at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday

Arsenal were a dealt a tough blow in their final game of the year as West Brom were awarded a somewhat fortunate penalty kick after referee Mike Dean adjudged Calum Chambers to have deliberately handballed in the box on New Years Eve.

The subsequent equaliser from the spot was enough for both teams to share the spoils on Sunday and as Arsene Wenger takes his squad into 2018, supporters will be wondering whether their team possesses enough to finish in the top four.

Admittedly, bad refereeing decisions aren't going to do anything to help their cause but Arsenal's performance against the Baggies was by no means dominant and they will need to increase their level on Wednesday night when they face Chelsea in north London.

The Gunners face Chelsea three times in January after drawing the Blues in the Carabao Cup semi-final and will be desperate to make sure they get the New Year off to a positive start.

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ARSENAL INJURIES

Nacho Monreal, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey are still out injured while Sead Kolasinac has been ruled out for two weeks after he was on the receiving end of a challenge from West Brom midfielder Gareth Barry.

Mesut Ozil and Laurent Koscielny are both doubts for Wednesday's game with Wenger deeming the Frenchman of having a 30 per cent chance of being involved at Emirates Stadium.

Spanish midfield maestro Santi Cazorla remains a long-term absentee with an Achilles injury.

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Next Match

ARSENAL SUSPENSIONS

Arsenal have no players suspended for this game.

ARSENAL POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP

Injuries look set to ravage Arsenal's starting XI for their first game of 2018 with captain Per Mertesacker likely to fill in for the absent Laurent Koscielny.

Sead Kolasinac's blow means Wenger has a choice of reverting to four defenders at the back but he may decide to try out Ainsley Maitland-Niles at left wing back due to the lack of available left-backs.

In central midfield Jack Wilshere and Granit Xhaka are expected to continue while Danny Welbeck and Alexandre Lacazette will be the favoured forwards, with one of Alex Iwobi or Theo Walcott also coming in.

CHELSEA TEAM NEWS

Antonio Conte's side are undefeated in their last 13 matches but have fallen behind league leaders Manchester City whose imperious 19-match winning run has seen them top the table for much of the season.

Conte rested several players against Stoke at the weekend and will likely see the Eden Hazard and Andreas Christensen return to the line-up, following their astute record of four consecutive clean sheets in the league.

Chelsea will be without David Luiz (knee) while Baba Rahman (knee) is a long-term injury absentee.

Alvaro Morata is the club's top scorer with 12 goals to his name so far this season.

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BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS

Arsenal won this exact fixture 3-0 last season, after a five-game winless run against them in the Premier League at the Emirates (D3 L2).
In all competitions, no team has won more away games at the Emirates Stadium than Chelsea (5, level with Man Utd).
The last time Arsenal didn’t lose either Premier League meeting with Chelsea in a season was in 2011-12 (W1 D1), while the last time they kept a clean sheet in both league meetings was 1998-99.
Arsenal have failed to score in seven of their last nine games against Chelsea in the Premier League, netting just four goals in total in this run.
21 of Chelsea’s top-flight goals this season have come via Spanish players, more than any other side in Europe’s big five leagues.
This will be the sixth meeting between Arsene Wenger and Antonio Conte in all competitions since the start of last season, with the Chelsea boss managing just one win from the previous five (D2 L2).
Cesc Fabregas netted 19 goals at the Emirates as an Arsenal player, however he’s yet to score there in the competition as an opposition player (three appearances for Chelsea).