Chelsea-Arsenal combined XI: Timber over James, Merino up front, no Zubimendi… | OneFootball

Joe Cole’s Chelsea-Arsenal combined XI has one or two questionable inclusions, so we’ve obviously decided to make our own.

Enzo Maresca’s side host the Premier League leaders on Sunday and know a win has the potential to blow the title race wide open.

A victory for Chelsea would put them only three points behind Arsenal, who can extend their lead at the top to seven points over second-placed Manchester City with a win.

That’s not important, though; deciding the best combined XI between the two sides is.

Joe Cole’s Chelsea – Arsenal combined XI

Cole’s combined XI included six Arsenal players and five Chelsea players, with Ebere Eze playing as a false-nine.

“Goalkeeper, I would go with Raya. I’ll take both of Chelsea’s fullbacks, Cucurella and James,” Cole said.

“I’ll take Arsenal’s centre-halves, Saliba and Gabriel, but since Gabriel isn’t available I‘d still take Mosquera over the Chelsea centre-halves.

“I’ll go three in midfield. Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and I’d probably go with Enzo Fernandez.

“For my attackers, I’d have Bukayo Saka off the right, Estevao off the left, and if it’s a case of who’s fit right now, I’d play Ebere Eze in a false nine.

“He deserves to be in the team at the moment, he’s been brilliant.”

Full combined XI: David Raya, Reece James, William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice, Enzo Fernandez, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Estevao.

Football365’s Chelsea – Arsenal combined XI

On one hand, no Jurrien Timber is a farce. But on the other hand, it’s Reece James. He is a very, very good footballer.

If we are picking the team purely on form and ignoring injured players like Gabriel, then Timber has to be in, even if it’s over James.

You could be tempted to chuck Timber at left-back, but that’s not in the spirit of the game, and Marc Cucurella is also brilliant.

The goalkeeper debate isn’t one, really – it’s obviously David Raya over Robert Sanchez.

With the centre-backs, William Saliba is a no-brainer, and it’s a case of which of Gabriel’s deputies partners him, which is quite concerning for Chelsea, given that both of Mikel Arteta’s back-up centre-halves would start for them. Cole thinks Mosquera; we think Piero Hincapie.

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The midfield is fine, although there is a debate for Martin Zubimendi over Enzo Fernandez. We’ll give the Chelsea man the edge.

In attack, Saka and Estevao out wide is also fine, but we’re having Eze on the left over Estevao, who is the flavour of the month after his performance against Barcelona, but isn’t better than Eze.

Who should play through the middle? Definitely not Eze, anyway.

Viktor Gyokeres would get the nod if we knew he was fully fit. He made the short trip to west London for the match, but Cole didn’t know that when he was interviewed, so we’ll ignore him. And we can only assume he didn’t know Cole Palmer was fit, so we’ll ignore him too.

So up front it’s between Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Mikel Merino. Basing it entirely on current form, Merino gets in.