How Arsenal could line up against Chelsea

Arsenal will be looking to put a difficult run of form behind them when they welcome Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day.

The Gunners, who were thumped 4-1 by Manchester City in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night, are without a win in the Premier League since the start of November.

A run of five defeats from their last seven league matches has left Mikel Arteta's side down in 15th position in the table, and they are now likely to face a tough examination by London rivals Chelsea.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Arsenal could line up on Saturday evening.

Out: Thomas Partey (thigh) Doubtful: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (calf), Gabriel Martinelli (shin)

> Click here for Arsenal's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Arsenal will definitely be without the services of Thomas Partey through injury, while there are doubts surrounding the fitness of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gabriel Martinelli.

Aubameyang has missed the team's last two matches with a calf problem and remains a major doubt for the clash with Chelsea, while Martinelli was forced off against Man City in the EFL Cup after taking a heavy kick to his shin in a challenge with goalkeeper Zack Steffen.

Martinelli has declared himself fit on social media, but Arteta is unlikely to take any risks with the youngster, meaning that he could start on the bench for the Gunners.

Granit Xhaka has now served his three-game suspension and will be available, though, and it would not be a surprise to see the Switzerland international return to the starting XI on Saturday night.

Bernd Leno, Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka will also be back in the side, while Alexandre Lacazette's strike against Man City could see the Frenchman given the nod over Eddie Nketiah through the middle.

The call on Aubameyang is not expected to be made until the final moment, and Willian and Nicolas Pepe are likely to play in the wide areas if the club captain does not prove his fitness in time.

> Click here to see how Chelsea could line up for the contest