Three things Liam Rosenior must work on ahead of Arsenal clash as key Chelsea star missing

Chelsea travel to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the Blues look to deal Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal an enormous blow in their race with Manchester City

For a second successive week, Liam Rosenior has plenty of time to work with his Chelsea squad on the training pitch in Cobham as the Blues gear up for a trip to Arsenal this weekend.

Rosenior will go head-to-head with Mikel Arteta for the third time in less than two months on Sunday afternoon as Chelsea look to put a dent in their rivals' Premier League title push. The Gunners are sitting five points clear of Manchester City going into this weekend, though that gap could be reduced to two if Pep Guardiola's side win at Leeds United on Saturday evening.

For Chelsea, they have a battle of their own to focus on, with the Blues now level with Liverpool - but ahead on goal difference - and three points adrift of fourth-place Manchester United. Chelsea have dropped four points at home to newly-promoted sides in Leeds United and Burnley in their last couple of matches and Rosenior will be hoping for his team to bounce back at the weekend.

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In Arsenal, though, away from home, challenges do not come much more difficult. With this being said, football.london takes a look at what Rosenior could work on this week to prepare for the Gunners.

Finding Fofana's replacement

Wesley Fofana was shown a red card in the second half of Chelsea's draw with Burnley on Saturday afternoon. The Frenchman was given his second booking for a mistimed challenge on James Ward-Prowse and will now serve a one-match suspension.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, that comes at the Emirates Stadium when they need their best defenders available. Rosenior will probably have half an idea of the player he wants to replace Fofana and partner Trevoh Chalobah in north London, but these coming days could influence the head coach's thinking.

There is a shout for Josh Acheampong - and supporters would love that to be the case - but it seems unlikely Rosenior would throw the 19-year-old in against arguably the best team in the league away from home. Benoit Badiashile is a left-footed centre-back, so if he moved Chalobah to the right-hand side, then this could be the most balanced option for Rosenior.

Tosin Adarabioyo is the most experienced option, but his form this season has not been up to scratch. Mamadou Sarr could be used as well, given his impressive display in the away win over Hull City earlier in the month.

Defending set-pieces

We all know that going to Arsenal means Chelsea are going to be bombarded with crosses into their six-yard box. Especially from set plays. Bernardo Cueva, Chelsea's set-piece coach, is set for a busy, busy few days on the training ground.

The Gunners are the best, most dangerous side from attacking set-pieces. Chelsea need to be switched on from minute one to ensure they give the hosts no encouragement at the Emirates Stadium.

The Blues conceded a stoppage time equaliser to Burnley from a corner. Zian Flemming found himself in far too much space to head past Robert Sanchez right at the death, and the Clarets should have won it from an identical corner moments later.

Discipline problems

Rosenior played the questions over Chelsea's discipline problems with a straight bat in the aftermath of the draw with Burnley on Saturday. The Blues head coach will always defend his players to the media but deep down, he will know there is an underlying problem in the squad with regards to keeping their cool.

Fofana was Chelsea's eighth player to be shown a red card in all competitions this season. In the reverse fixture against Arsenal, Moises Caicedo was sent off for a nasty challenge on Mikel Merino and the Blues cannot afford to lose a man in north London this weekend.

This was the first red card under Rosenior's management, but the problem has been there all season-long. Rosenior needs to somehow sort this out as soon as possible - how he does that, the Chelsea head coach will have his own ideas.

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