Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has instructed his players to ‘completely switch off’ for 48 hours ahead of the clash with Arsenal.
The Blues defeated Barcelona 3-0 within the Champions League on Tuesday and are back in motion on Sunday after they host Mikel Arteta’s side.
Chelsea are second within the Premier League table heading into the showdown at Stamford Bridge, six points behind leaders Arsenal.
Arsenal have less time to rest for the Chelsea game with the north London side in Champions League motion on Wednesday against Bayern Munich.
Chelsea boss Maresca wants his squad to make use of the additional recovery day to their full advantage before they lock horns with Arsenal this weekend.
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‘I’ve told the players, next 48 hours, completely switch off,’ the Italian said. ‘Have a rest. Get better the energy.
‘Because [on] Sunday we have now Arsenal. My message after the sport was just: recuperate the energy. That, on this moment, is crucial thing.
‘Then, on Friday, we begin to take into consideration Arsenal. We want to maintain the momentum since it’s very nice – and it’s much easier to recuperate energy if you win games.’
Football pundit Gary Neville says Chelsea face ‘an actual tough test’ against Arsenal – and has played down talk of the Blues being title challengers.
‘[The game against Arsenal] can be really interesting for Chelsea and measure for them,’ Neville said.
‘[Chelsea will] tease us and have us pondering are they the closest Enzo Maresca sends Arsenal message to Chelsea players after Barcelona win | Football challengers but I don’t think that can emerge because the season goes on.
‘But [the Arsenal game] is an actual tough test and that’s where you discover out about a majority of these teams.’
Meanwhile, Craig Burley says a ‘a lot better version’ of the Chelsea team that beat Barcelona can be needed to defeat Arsenal on Sunday.
‘Consider it or not but a a lot better version of Chelsea might want to turn up,’ ex-Blues midfielder Burley told ESPN. ‘They are going to need to up their game from what we saw tonight to face Arsenal.
‘Arsenal are not going to play like Barcelona did tonight. In some sense that’s the acid test for Chelsea moderately than the Barcelona game.’
When Chelsea last hosted Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, just over 12 months ago, the match led to a 1-1 draw.
But Arsenal won probably the most recent meeting between the 2 sides 1-0 on the Emirates in March.
Arsenal smashed Tottenham 4-1 of their last Premier League game while Chelsea won 2-0 away at Burnley.
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