Two teams struggling to impose themselves in the English Premier League; teams that were supposed to challenge the Manchester duopoly and bring London back into the frame of winning the Premier League title, will battle for honors with a lot at stake, but certainly not top spot.
Chelsea and Arsenal are third and sixth respectively in the table currently, with eight points separating the two clubs, albeit with a game in hand for the North London side.
The Blues were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by Southampton in their last Premier League game, after leading by two goals, while Arsenal went down to Manchester City, although the game was over soon as Laurent Koscielny received a straight red card with barely ten minutes on the clock.
Rafa Benitez is under pressure, despite only being an interim manager. The fans do not like him, and have made their feelings as clear as possible. The fact that Chelsea have not improved their consistency under Benitez, has further compounded any chances of the former Liverpool boss winning over the Stamford Bridge faithful.
"It's always important to have a big challenge in front of you," Benitez said. "That means everybody will be focused. To be playing Arsenal is a good thing for everyone.
"We know they are a rival, we know they are a top side who are close to us and we cannot lose our focus.
"The style of football they play was going well last year. They are quite good tactically when they they play against the top sides. It will not be a very open game with both teams attacking."
Arsenal lost to Chelsea earlier this season at the Emirates, with Juan Mata scoring the winner for his side. The Spaniard will again be key to his team's fortunes
Chelsea have struggled at home this season, but might find a better chance against Arsenal, who will definitely not sit back and defend with ten players, like most teams have done against the Blues, and successfully.
While Chelsea have Mata, Arsenal have Jack Wilshere, who will again look to inspire his side to victory, after his brilliant performance against Swansea in the FA Cup replay Wednesday.
"Chelsea is a big game," Wilshere told the club's official website. "They had a tough game on Wednesday night as well so we have to recover and get up for Sunday.
"We won there last year so we know we can do it. We have to take our game to them. We have to play our football. We know they've got great players and individual players who can change the game, but I think we have as well, so we'll have to be confident going there.
"I think Chelsea don't like playing against us. We play football and they play football as well, so if we can take the game to them and get in behind them, with Theo's (Walcott) pace and Santi (Cazorla) in the holes, we can do well.
"We know they're a great team. We just have to concentrate on ourselves and take the game to them."
Wilshere was in his elements playing in a more advanced role against Swansea, with Cazorla on the left, and Arsene Wenger will have to give serious consideration to his lineup on whether he should stick with the same formation or go back to Wilshere playing in one of the two midfield holding roles with the Spaniard in the No. 10 position.
Arsenal in the corresponding fixture last season blew Chelsea away with a 5-3 victory, thanks largely to a Robin Van Persie hat-trick; if this game pans out anything like that particular one, the fans will be in for a humdinger of a match.
Team News and Injuries: Rafa Benitez is considering starting with John Terry to unplug the holes at home, where Chelsea have struggled this season. Terry is still not fully match fit according to the manager himself, but Benitez might take a chance, with the skipper set to have a test on his knee injury before a decision is made.
John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses are away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, while Oriol Romeu is a long-term absentee.
Arsenal will be without Gervinho, who is with the Ivory Coast team for the AFCON, but Laurent Koscielny is available after serving a one-match ban for his sending off against Manchester City. Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky, though, remain sidelined.
Expected lineups: Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard; Hazard, Mata, Oscar; Ba.
Arsenal: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Diaby, Wilshere; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Podolski; Walcott.
Prediction: 2-1 to Chelsea
