Darren Anderton expects Chelsea to ‘comfortably’ beat London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday and has explained why Blues record signing Romelu Lukaku is the ‘signing of the summer’.
Champions League holders Chelsea travel across London to face Arsenal this weekend having kick-started their Premier League campaign with a routine 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge last Saturday.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping his Arsenal team respond from their dismal opening-day defeat to top-flight newcomers Brentford, but former England winger Anderton is not optimistic for the red half of north London.
‘If Chelsea are at the races, then I think that Arsenal are in big trouble,’ Anderton told Ladbrokes.
‘But this is one of those games where we could end up being surprised; Arsenal are down at the minute and Chelsea are on a high, but fans being back at the Emirates and I do believe we’ll see a different type of performance from Arsenal after that Brentford game. It has to be.
‘They’ll have watched the game back several times and it will have been highlighted who was at fault for the goals.
‘There’s no doubt about it, it will be a different Arsenal. But if Chelsea start well and get in front, then it could be a long afternoon for Arsenal.
‘I do expect Chelsea to perform as we know they can. I think they’ll win the game and they should do so fairly comfortably.’
Chelsea record signing Lukaku, who completed a £97.5m return to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan last week, is in line to make his second Blues debut against Arsenal.
Anderton reckons the Belgian striker will thrive in west London and believes he is the ‘signing of the summer’.
He added: ‘I’ve got to say Romelu Lukaku is the signing of the season, for me. He’s such a strong addition to an already impressive Chelsea side.
‘He’s a great buy for Chelsea and what they’re all about. To have a player like that come in, someone who can lead the line as he does, is a brilliant piece of business.
‘I think he’ll also give Timo Werner the opportunity to play off of him at times.
‘We all saw how much he struggled to lead the line last season for Chelsea, so Lukaku coming in really does take that pressure off the German, and I think we could see the pair of them thrive as a result. He really is a great signing for them.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
0 Commentaires