Raheem Sterling, Ben White and seven Arsenal changes Mikel Arteta could make for Chelsea

Mikel Arteta is expected to make a handful of changes to his Arsenal side for the Premier League clash against Chelsea this weekend.

The Spaniard heavily rotated the team in midweek for the Champions League round of 16 tie with PSV, with the north Londoners booking their place in the quarter-finals with a 9-3 aggregate win. Ahead of the upcoming international break, Arteta will want to come away from Emirates Stadium with all three points and build some momentum ahead of a challenging April.

"Well I think it's going to be a very different game [to the Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea game in April last year] and I think the way they develop as a team as well is very impressive," Arteta admitted in his pre-match press conference. "What Enzo [Maresca] has done and the coaching staff, the amount of talent that they have in the squad. So yeah, a really tough match but we are our best as well, a big chance for us to win the game."

A couple of changes to the starting XI are quite obvious, while others are a little more complicated. Jakub Kiwior started in midweek but is sure to drop to the bench against Chelsea with William Saliba starting alongside Gabriel at the heart of defence.

Jorginho and Oleksandr Zinchenko performed well on Wednesday but Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard will likely come back in, too. Kieran Tierney also did a job on the left wing but will surely not start in the same position against the Blues. Leandro Trossard could come back into the side and will want to cause Reece James problems down the left.

Ben White is an interesting one. The defender made his first start since November in midweek following minor knee surgery and looks to still be getting back up to speed. The 27-year-old may drop back down to the bench with Jurrien Timber starting in his place. The Dutchman has been one of Arsenal's most consistent performers this season and will not give up his place in the starting line-up easily.

The sixth change Arteta may make is Raheem Sterling for one of Gabriel Martinelli or Ethan Nwaneri. Sterling cannot play in Sunday's fixture due to being on loan from the Blues so will not make the squad this time. Martinelli may be preferred, with Nwaneri instead having an impact off the bench. Mikel Merino is the final player who could come out of the side with any one of the aforementioned Trossard, Martinelli or Nwaneri playing in his place.

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