Mikel Arteta has praised Arsenal for showing resilience during a difficult period and described his players as a "joy to work with" ahead of a crucial week in the Premier League title race.
All three title contenders – Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City – are in action twice this week, with the Gunners taking on Chelsea and Tottenham in two huge London derbies.
They returned to the top of the table with Saturday's 2-0 win over injury-hit Wolves, but with City possessing a game in hand, the destination of the trophy remains out of their hands.
Following a difficult few days in which Arsenal surrendered control of the title race and exited the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Arteta was delighted with their response at Molineux.
"If you look at the amount of games we have played in the last few weeks, the type of games we have played, their effort is unquestionable and the results are something else," Arteta said.
"It's a joy to work with them, and it makes us realise we want to be involved in the big competitions, fighting for the Champions League, fighting for the Premier League with the level that it requires."
Chelsea's ambitions, meanwhile, are limited to securing qualification for either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League, with their hopes of silverware being dashed on Saturday.
They were guilty of spurning several golden opportunities in their 1-0 defeat to City at Wembley Stadium, with their wait for a first trophy under the Todd Boehly regime being extended.
Mauricio Pochettino, though, is choosing to take the positives from that game as the Blues bid to draw level with Newcastle United and Manchester United in the table on Tuesday.
"Now we need to take the positive things from the game," Pochettino said. "This group of players needs these types of moments and games.
"Now is the time to finish the season in the best way and then see how we can do better next season."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arsenal – Leandro Trossard
Trossard scored in October's reverse fixture as Arsenal fought back from 2-0 down to clinch a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, and he has provided an invaluable source of goals from the left wing in recent games, with Gabriel Jesus struggling.
The former Brighton and Hove Albion man is enjoying his most prolific Premier League campaign, with nine goals, and only Bukayo Saka (14) has netted more for the Gunners this term.
Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson
Jackson missed several clear-cut chances as Chelsea failed to make the breakthrough against City at Wembley on Saturday, and he is perhaps running out of chances to show he can be the Blues' long-term solution in that number nine role.
Jackson's 10 Premier League goals this season have come from a total of 13.98 expected goals (xG), giving him an underperformance of -3.98. Only Dominic Calvert Lewin (-5.98) and Darwin Nunez (-4.1) have underperformed their underlying numbers by a greater margin.
MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal have only lost one of their last eight Premier League games against Chelsea (five wins, two draws), going unbeaten through their last four against them. That is their longest such streak versus the Blues since they went 19 matches against them without defeat between 1995 and 2005.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games (four wins, four draws) and have scored multiple goals in each of their last six. However, that run could come to a halt at the Emirates, with Arsenal possessing a strong record in the biggest games this term.
City and Liverpool have already left north London defeated this season, and Arsenal have not lost back-to-back home Premier League games since April 2022. Chelsea should be competitive, but the Gunners cannot afford to miss this chance to pull clear of their rivals.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Arsenal 51%
Chelsea 22.5%
Draw 26.5%
Tchouameni an injury doubt for Champions League final
Aurelien Tchouameni is an injury doubt for Real Madrid’s Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund next month.
Madrid came from behind to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in their semi-final second leg on Wednesday, but the Frenchman was forced off in the 70th minute.
Tchouameni has sustained a stress injury to his left foot, which will reportedly rule him out for three to four weeks.
He will miss Madrid’s final three games of the LaLiga season against Alaves, Villarreal and Real Betis, and is now a major doubt to play in the Champions League final on June 1.
Madrid have lost just two games in all competitions this campaign, and Tchouameni did not start either of them.
Arsenal hand Jorginho one-year contract extension
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has signed a one-year contract extension with the club.
Jorginho was due to be out of contract at the end of this season, having penned an 18-month deal when he left Chelsea to join the Gunners in a £12million transfer last January.
The Italy international has since emerged as a key part of Mikel Arteta's squad as Arsenal battle Manchester City for the Premier League title, making 35 appearances throughout all competitions in 2023-24.
Speaking to Arsenal's official media channels, Jorginho said: "I'm really happy to stay, because it's a privilege to be a part of this family.
"There was not much to discuss to be honest, because I feel really good here.
"Just to know that they appreciate me and want me to stay longer as well, it's a big thing for me. I feel that I have more to do, so that’s the reason why I'm staying."
As well as helping Italy to glory at the delayed Euro 2020 three years ago, Jorginho has won the Champions League, Europa League, Club World Cup and Coppa Italia during spells with Chelsea and Napoli.
A league title is the honour he wants most of all, however, saying: "That’s missing! It's something that definitely I would like to add to that list and it would mean a lot to me.
"I want to win as much as I can and enjoy the moment because that's really important for me. Moving forward, it's just about trying to be happy and achieve as much as we can."
Jorginho has made 23 Premier League appearances this season, with Arsenal only losing two of those matches (17 wins, four draws), while suffering three defeats in 13 without him (nine wins, one draw).
The Gunners have recorded a higher win ratio (73.9 per cent to 69.2 per cent), averaged more goals per game (2.5 to 2.3) and conceded fewer (0.7 to 0.9) when the 32-year-old has been involved compared to when he has not.
Dyche demands 'maximum effort' as the minimum requirement from Everton
Sean Dyche is demanding maximum effort as the minimum requirement from Everton when they host already relegated Sheffield United this weekend.
Despite another nervy season at Goodison Park, during which they were deducted six points following a breach of Profitability and Sustainability Rules, the Toffees have secured their top-flight status for another year at least.
Everton are enjoying a strong end to the campaign with last weekend's 1-1 draw at Luton Town extending their unbeaten run to four matches, and Dyche is not expecting his players to rest on their laurels.
"I want us to perform and at least give everything, as we did at Luton," he said.
"You can’t always guarantee you are brilliant. But you can guarantee you give everything, and that was on show again this past weekend.
"The minimum requirement is maximum effort. It hasn’t changed, we want to take that into Goodison and hope we play a little bit better with the ball, and hopefully score some more goals."
Dyche also saluted the impact of the younger members of his squad, with eight players aged 25 or under appearing 10 or more times during a testing season.
"There are a lot of challenges for these players," he added. "But they are beginning to come together as a group, and we have seen that. It has rewarded us, of course, and the fans."
However, their opponents' focus is already on next season, with their immediate return to the Championship confirmed.
In an English top-flight campaign of 38 games or less, only Darwen (112 in 1891-92) and Leicester City (102 in 1908-09) have conceded more goals than the Blades (100).
Chris Wilder knows there is plenty of work to do in United's quest to bounce straight back into the Premier League, but believes the close season will allow him the opportunity to get them in the best shape possible.
"I'll have time to put my own stamp on it," he said. "I'll have time to sign players that I know are going to be good and have a strong enough mentality to do it.
“Defensively and from set-plays and everything else, there's an incredible amount of work to do. We can't do that at the moment because it's difficult, but we will do it, and we'll get it right in terms of those aspects of the game."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Everton – Jordan Pickford
The Everton goalkeeper has kept 12 clean sheets in the Premier League this season – including one in each of the Toffees’ last four home games – with only Arsenal’s David Raya recording more (15)
It is Pickford’s second-highest tally of shutouts in a single campaign after 2018-19 (14).
Sheffield United – Ben Brereton
Despite only joining the club in January, the Chile international has scored the most Premier League goals for the Blades this season (six).
Brereton’s rate of a goal every 158 in the second-best by a United player in a single campaign (minimum 500 minutes) after Nathan Blake in 1993-94 (a goal every 145 minutes).
MATCH PREDICTION: EVERTON
Everton have responded to their 6-0 defeat at Chelsea last month by embarking on a four-match unbeaten streak (winning three, drawing one).
By contrast, United have lost each of their last five games, and are only the second side in Premier League history to concede 100 or more goals during a single campaign after Swindon Town in 1993-94.
While the Toffees have lost their final home league match in just one of the last eight seasons (winning six, drawing one), the Blades have lost their final away game in each of their last four Premier League campaigns.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Everton: 54.1%
Sheffield United: 19.3%
Draw: 26.6%
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