Forget Rice vs Caicedo – that is the battle that may resolve Arsenal vs Chelsea | Football

Team Moises or Team Declan? For weeks, if not months, it looks like every pundit, manager and fan has needed to pledge their loyalty to considered one of the Premier League’s two outstanding central midfielders.

It’d come as some relief, due to this fact, that in any case the never-ending talk, the 2 will finally do battle again, this time in the midst of the Stamford Bridge pitch when Chelsea host Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

After a sluggish begin to the campaign, Enzo Maresca’s side have now lost just considered one of their last eleven games in all competition and sit in second place within the league, just six points behind the Gunners.

And with Liverpool’s inexplicable run of form only worsening, and Manchester City still consistently inconsistent, there may be a growing school of thought that Chelsea could prove considered one of the few teams able to keeping pace with the present runaway leaders.

The duel between Caicedo and Rice can be rightly placed under the microscope, and any path to victory for Chelsea will certainly involve Caicedo getting the higher of his Arsenal counterpart.

But there may be a certain irony that in any case the talk, a more intriguing battle elsewhere on the pitch could prove the important thing battle in deciding the fate of Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash.

A big a part of Arsenal’s open-play creativity this season has been borne out of their intelligent use of rotations in midfield and attacking areas to overload wide areas and isolate opposition players.

It was something which the Gunners did to great effect to interrupt down Tottenham’s deep, low block in last weekend’s north London derby, and again in midweek of their statement victory over Bayern Munich.

And while every player carries a threat in this method, it remains to be Bukayo Saka who represents essentially the most threatening cog in Arsenal’s attacking machine.

Saka has long been an indispensable a part of Arteta’s side since his first-team breakthrough, and already has six goals in all competitions this season. But as his importance and profile on this Arsenal side grow season on season, so too does the eye that he receives from their opposition. 

Against Tottenham, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven and even Wilson Odobert, at times, were all at times attempting to mark Saka when he received the ball. 

And versus Bayern, Saka found himself always stalked by Konrad Laimer at left-back, while there have been times when even Harry Kane dropped deep into his own half to make sure his England teammate couldn’t get on the ball freely.

But even when faced with this greater attention, Saka’s threat and talent to create possibilities has still maintained. 

Against Vincent Kompany’s side, he had five touches within the Bayern box and created 4 possibilities, essentially the most of any Arsenal player, regardless that he was withdrawn with over 20 minutes still on the clock.

Saka eventually got the higher of Laimer on Wednesday, just as he did Udogie the previous weekend, but Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge now pits the 24-year-old up against Marc Cucurella, perhaps the Premier League’s most in-form full-back alongside Timber.

The Spaniard has achieved cult-hero status around Stamford Bridge for his performances over the past two seasons, and produced his latest heroic display in midweek against Barcelona’s latest generation talent, Lamine Yamal.

Yamal has managed to make even the very best defenders look silly, and looked threatening when receiving the ball within the opening stages, but he soon found himself out of ideas up against Cucurella, who snapped at his opponent’s heels all evening and restricted the teenager to only one shot on goal.

Cucurella’s performance was lauded from all quarters, with former Chelsea captain John Terry quick to label the defender as considered one of the world’s best full-backs.

‘He’s all the things I would like to see in a Chelsea player in the mean time,’ he added. ‘Aggression, great one vs one, a threat going forwards, the threat he shows in every aspect of his game is what I like about him as a player.’

And Maresca was actually pleased too together with his full-back’s performance, adding: ‘Since I got here to the club, his level has been high, not only his defending but additionally as a part of our play with the ball. Cucu at all times gives us a bonus, and we’re delighted with him.’

Each Cucurella and Saka are players whose excellence is derived from their relentless consistency, and each will expect the perfect version of the opposite once they line up on Sunday in south west London.

Rice and Caicedo will take the headlines, but whoever comes out on top within the battle down Arsenal’s right may ultimately play essentially the most pivotal role in deciding the fate of this table-topping clash.

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