Chelsea will battle title-chasing Arsenal tonight as the Blues attempt to restore some pride to their horrendous season, whilst halting the Gunners’ attempts to return to the top spot.
However, this will be a humongous task considering the abysmal form that the Blues currently find themselves in.
Since Frank Lampard took charge as caretaker, the 2021 Champions League winners are winless in five games, only scoring once and conceding nine.
Mikel Arteta’s men also find themselves in patchy form, drawing three of their last four matches, but they will be desperate to bounce back in this London derby.
In Chelsea’s last outing, the side produced a dismally depressing showing against Brentford, slumping to a 2-0 defeat.
One player who drastically struggled was Cesar Azpilicueta and should be dropped for the encounter this evening.
Should Chelsea drop Azpilicueta vs Arsenal?
The Spaniard is currently the club’s longest-serving player and has been the captain since Gary Cahill’s departure in 2019. He has made over 500 appearances for the Blues across 11 years and in January 2023 he became the sixth player to reach this milestone.
His reliability, longevity, and consistency are three unteachable traits that have to be applauded. However, the 33-year-old has unsurprisingly declined and that was painfully apparent against the Bees.
Nowadays, full-backs are expected to be a versatile blend of defensive solidity and attacking flair, but Azpilicueta didn’t impress in either of these categories.
The 44-cap international made only his 12th top-flight start of the season, but it quickly soured. The former Marseille man failed to register only any tackles or blocks, as well as being unable to win any ground duels.
The £180k-per-week veteran also failed to contribute to any offensive phases of play and didn't offer any accurate crosses, key passes, or successful dribbles.
A miserable display was capped off by an own goal from a corner, and he was hauled off at half-time to spare his blushes.
With Reece James being ruled out until the end of the season, Chelsea are missing one of their primary creative forces and the skipper fails to even moderately mirror what the Englishman offers.
Although Azpilicueta should only be used sparingly for the rest of the season, it makes a huge amount of sense to retain the experienced leader beyond this campaign in this period of change and difficulty.
The defender has won every available trophy in West London and will be remembered as one of the club’s most successful players, but starting him at the Emirates tonight would invite trouble.