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Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana is suspended for their clash against Arsenal next week, after he picked up a red card against Burnley on Saturday.
In a game that could potentially decide the fate of the Premier League this season, it is huge for both teams.
For Chelsea, this comes at a time where they are already facing challenges with defensive stability and consistency overall, especially after conceding four goals across two legs against Arsenal just a few weeks ago.
Arsenal handed a major early boost before crucial Chelsea clash
Fofana, who has been one of their better central defenders this season, is going to be a huge loss, even though they have more than enough players available to cover for the Frenchman.
For Arsenal, it does serve as a quiet positive, but only if the Gunners are able to use it to their full potential.
Arsenal are currently struggling with a few things. Most importantly, their attack is deeply suffering, and there are a few things that they would need to change so that they are able to challenge for the league in a better way.
So, Chelsea losing one of their best defenders against Arsenal would be an advantage for the Gunners, and at this point, they will take any advantage they possibly can.
Obviously, it is not like Chelsea will play with a man less from the get-go - they will have enough depth to play another solid centre-half at that position, but they lose Fofana's effectiveness, which matters a lot.
After a slow start to the season where he did not play enough games, at first due to not being picked and after due to a concussion, Fofana slowly started getting into more and more games for Chelsea, and has had a solid season.
This is obviously not to say that he is the best defender they have - but he does have a good partnership with the starting-choice defenders, and that also matters a lot more than people give it credit for.
Chelsea still have Tosin Adarabioyo and Josh Acheampong in the squad to replace Fofana, so it won't be that much easier for Arsenal, but in a huge game like this, everything matters, and it remains to be seen how well Arsenal are able to react to this advantage.
Arsenal will need to bring their A-game offensively to really hurt Chelsea, and that might end up becoming the differentiating factor in such a huge tie.