Antonio Conte's charges extended their lead at the summit of the standings to nine points in midweek, with a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield widely seen as a positive result for the Blues. Chelsea took the lead through a David Luiz free-kick in the first half, the Brazilian centre-back catching Simon Mignolet off guard with a hastily-taken effort, before Georginio Wijnaldum levelled the scores to give Liverpool a share of the spoils after the interval. In the end, it was a fair result, but Conte will have been by far the happier of the two bosses due to his team's commanding position in first place. It is difficult to see Chelsea throwing away such a sizeable advantage between now and the end of the campaign, particularly if they are able to avoid defeat against one of their closest challengers in west London on Saturday.
Arsenal succumbed to a shock loss when they last took to the field, going down 2-1 against Watford in front of their own supporters at the Emirates Stadium. It was a major missed opportunity for Arsene Wenger's men in a round of fixtures which saw Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United all drop points, with the north Londoners' latest setback leaving their hopes of a first championship crown since 2004 hanging by a thread - indeed, anything but a triumph over Chelsea would surely rule them out of this year’s race.
Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns heading into gameweek 24, with Luiz able to shake off a knock he picked up in the first half against Liverpool as the match wore on. N'Golo Kante will again be essential in the centre of midfield: the Frenchman possesses an incredible ability to win the ball back quickly and cover large swathes of ground in the middle of the park, with such skills likely to be vital against a team who tend to dominate possession.
Arsenal will be forced to make do without Aaron Ramsey, who injured his calf on Tuesday, as well as the suspended Granit Xhaka and long-term absentee Santi Cazorla. Wenger has favoured Olivier Giroud at centre-forward in the last month or so but may revert to fielding Alexis Sanchez through the middle here, with the Chilean's speed and mobility likely to cause the hosts more problems than the Frenchman's aerial prowess.
Taking everything into account, it is probably worth placing some money on a Chelsea victory in Saturday lunchtime's London derby at Stamford Bridge. Conte's charges are an extremely difficult team to play against and will not make life easy for their upcoming opponents, while they also possess a balance between attack and defence which few others in the English top flight can match. A home win to nil could therefore be the way to go here, with Eden Hazard an interesting proposition for first goalscorer.
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