Chelsea

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte: "It's a London derby, two big teams and it's normal that this is a special game for the fans and players."

On the link up between Cesar Azpilicueta and Alvaro Morata: "There is a good link between these two players. Azpi has a great right foot and we try to exploit that this season."

Arsenal

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger on Mesut Ozil being cleared to play.

"He trained yesterday and declared himself fit, I think he's 100%," Wenger told Sky Sports.

"He gives us fluidity in our game and balls in the final third."

Ex-Chelsea striker Diego Costa has wasted no time in making his mark on his return to Atletico Madrid with the third goal in their Copa del Rey round of 16 tie against second-tier opponents Lleida tonight in Spain.

Costa came on as a 65th-minute substitute and it only took him five minutes to score his first goal for Atletico since leaving to join Chelsea in 2014.

It is currently 3-0 to Atletico late in the second half.

Image source, Twitter

David Thackeray: Arsenal looking good up front, but I've already got the shakes looking at the defence. It's time for them to stand up and be counted.

Graham Clements: The question for Wenger should really be about Away form consistency. Costly for a number or recent seasons.

John McEnerney: Arsenal need to cash in on Mesut Ozil & Alexis Sanchez, two smashing players on their day but those days are few & far between. Yes they’re BGP (Big Game Players) when it suits them. A good kick in the backside towards the door for those two! Can’t believe I’m saying this but keep Jack W!

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea have the second best defensive record in the Premier League and have only conceded 14 goals in 21 matches (only runaway leaders Manchester City have conceded fewer - 13).

Indeed, Antonio Conte's side has not been breached in their past four Premier League matches and Thibaut Courtois has not conceded a goal since Laurent Depoitre's last minute consolation for Huddersfield in Chelsea's 3-1 win on 12 December.

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Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte said: "We face five tough months because we have to fight for a place in the Champions League and it won't be easy to reach this target.

"I think now [Manchester] City have created a big gap between them and the other teams, but at the same time we have to try to put everything into every game to try to get three points and put a bit of pressure on the teams above us."

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Frank McLintock also shared his thoughts with BBC Radio 5 live about the ongoing transfer saga surrounding Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

“This surprised me more than anything else. Other managers, or maybe myself if I was fortunate enough to manage Arsenal, would have brought those players in two months ago and said ‘right, what is it you are expecting?, 250 (thousand) we can do that, 300 we can try and negotiate a bit down’, but I would try and say yes or no to it so we know if we are going to have them next year.

“It should have been straightforward, saying 'this is what we can give you, and say yes or no to it, and if it is no, then we will put you in the market'.

"If you are including (Jack) Wilshere, we would get £115m back, that is terrific money. And, if you add some more money on to that, you could buy two or three. But to let them go for nothing and to start all over again, would be disastrous.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he is frustrated by the amount of penalties that have been given against his side this season - stating it is becoming a "concerning coincidence".

Wenger was angry after referee Mike Dean gave West Brom a last-minute penalty, which they scored to draw 1-1 in the Gunners' last match.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: "In football, there's only one thing and that's the next game.

"We know that our home form will be absolutely vital and we just come home from West Brom frustrated because we lost two points. We know it puts us under even more pressure to deliver a big result.

"The target in 2018 is to win every single game, and the next one is Chelsea."

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Lawrenson
BBC football expert

Arsenal are very good at the Emirates Stadium, winning eight of their 10 league games there, and I'm going to go for a home win.

Unlike last season, when they were purring, Chelsea still have the odd hiccup - as we have seen in their defeats at West Ham and Crystal Palace.

Prediction: 2-1

Lawro's full predictions v Django Django bassist Jimmy Dixon

• Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game.

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Danny Mills
Former England defender on BBC 5 live

I would be a little concerned about the Arsenal back line with Hazard and Morata. Hazard, Morata and also Bakayoko can run with pace and power.

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We asked you to select your best Premier League XI of 2017 and more than 115,000 of you delivered.

David de Gea got into 75% of your teams, Toby Alderweireld was in 52% - but who else made the cut?

Find the full team and statistical breakdown here.

George Cummins
BBC Radio 5 live

A win for Chelsea and they move back into second, keeping some faint pressure on Manchester City. As for Arsenal, they need a win to move above Tottenham and into fifth.

Wenger’s side beat Chelsea twice last season. 3–0 here in the league and 2-1 in the FA Cup final. Yesterday, I asked Arsene Wenger why they can’t produce more of those performances across the season, his answer:

"You are a bit harsh with us because we made 75 points last season. You need consistency to do that. And we won the FA Cup against a strong team. To go the final of the FA Cup you need to be consistent. I believe the Premier League is very even and different for everybody but the target in 2018 is to win every game and the next one is Chelsea."

That 3–0 defeat by Arsenal here at the Emirates was a key turning point for Chelsea. Conte switched to three at the back and they won 13 in a row and ended up winning the title.

Image source, Getty Images

Talking of red cards...

Things may well get a bit feisty tonight - they normally do when these teams meet.

In fact, a Chelsea player has been sent off in the last three matches against Arsenal.

David Luiz was dismissed late on in the goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in September, Pedro was red carded in the Community Shield in August, which Arsenal won on penalties, and Victor Moses was sent off in Arsenal's victory in the FA Cup final in May.

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Joshua KH: Predicting an early goal, a red card and an end result of 3-1. Could be to either team though, this kind of fixture could go all the way in either direction.

Amrul Choudhury: Arsenal cannot afford another injury at the back imagine Mertesacker having to face Eden Hazard. Could get seriously ugly for Arsenal.

Nii: Chelsea team news. Bakayoko again in the line-up. Hope he proves us wrong this time. But for, and I believe for most Chelsea fans, I just don’t see what he does for the team. Drinkwater a better option.

Image source, Getty Images

Listen to all the build-up from Emirates Stadium via BBC Radio 5 live by pressing the play button at the top. You know you want to.

When these two teams met at Emirates Stadium, it proved a turning point in last season's title race - sort of.

Goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil gave Arsenal a 3-0 win on 24 September, 2016, a result that left Chelsea down in eighth, eight points behind then leaders Manchester City.

The defeat forced Antonio Conte, in his first season as Chelsea boss, into a tactical rethink. He moved to a 3-5-2 formation with Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses employed as attacking wing-backs. And the rest is history.

Chelsea won 13 Premier League matches on the bounce on their way to the title as they became champions by a seven-point margin.

Image source, Getty Images

With the games coming thick and fast, we decided it was only fair that Garth Crooks should compile just one team over the winter holidays.

And here it is.

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Read more from the mind of Garth over here.

Including, this on a certain Brighton player.

"Offer £45m and I've no doubt Brighton boss Chris Hughton would drive him to Anfield himself. Could Brighton afford to turn that down? Alongside Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool would suddenly have two towering defenders who know how to defend. They should be paying me a consultancy for this column!"