“I’m a big fan of Graham Potter and his tactics” – Martin Keown makes confident prediction about ‘pretty certain’ Chelsea selection for Arsenal game

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has expressed his admiration for Chelsea boss Graham Potter ahead of their London derby today (November 6).

The Blues currently sit 10 points behind Mikel Arteta's men in the Premier League table. However, Potter has lost just one game in charge since taking over from Thomas Tuchel in September.

The Englishman is known for being adaptable and for his tactical switches midgame, talents which have already been on display while at Stamford Bridge.

Ahead of the mammoth clash on Sunday between the two London giants, Keown was full of praise for the Chelsea manager. The Arsenal legend also predicted that the 47-year-old would elect to play a back three against the Gunners.

Keown told TalkSPORT (as quoted by The Chelsea Chronicle):

“I’m a big fan of Graham Potter and his tactics. I’m trying to fathom out what he will do in this game. I’m pretty certain he’s going to play a back three."

Ian Wright expresses concern over Arsenal star's fitness ahead of Chelsea clash

Bukayo Saka was brought off in the first half of Arsenal's 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend due to injury. This caused great concern among England fans ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Premier League and Gunners legend Wright is clearly concerned about the 21-year-old's workload.

The pundit said on The Kelly and Wrighty show ahead of the Chelsea encounter (as quoted by The Metro):

"It was sad to see, you look at Arsenal and people are already saying he should have been rested by now. It was an awkward fall he had [against Nottingham Forest], he opened his knee up, the sign is always when someone is coming off how angry they are, how despondent they are, we saw with Varane how he was, Saka came off with a little bit more of an anger, he was really disappointed, he looked really vexed about it."

Wright claimed that the Gunners don't have enough depth to consistently rotate Saka and his good form is also drawing more attention from defenders. He said:

"I think if Emile Smith Rowe was fit, he [Saka] would’ve got more of a rest. We just haven’t got the depth, we still haven’t put teams away enough in the Europa League to be able to rest, we have to play him, whereas you probably would’ve thought he’d get rested against Zurich."

He added:

"He’s so dangerous now. He’s getting fouled a lot, he’s getting a lot bodies around him, you always worry about him. It is a worry because we’re not a million miles away from the World Cup, and more importantly he’s in good form which is what Arsenal need at the moment."

Saka played for around half an hour in Arsenal's 1-0 win over FC Zurich in the UEFA Europa League on November 3 after coming on as a substitute.

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