John Terry makes bold Arsenal vs Chelsea prediction: ‘They can expose them’ | Football

John Terry has made his prediction for Chelsea’s huge early-season test against Premier League champions Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday.

The defending champions have got their title defence underway in impressive fashion with wins against Coventry City and Aston Villa.

But Chelsea have also started positively, showing their attacking flair with exciting wins over Fulham and Brighton.

The two are now set to meet this weekend in what is the first real test of Chelsea’s title credentials under new manager Xabi Alonso.

Despite a leaky defence in their first two, many pundits have tipped the Blues as potential title challengers to Arsenal on account of their bilstering attacking talent.

And Terry believes that his former side can cause an upset and ‘expose’ the Gunners, particularly in wide areas on the counterattack.

‘How do you expose these centre-halves? Down the channels and down the outside, where I think we’re really strong in terms of Neto, Estevao and Morgan Rogers down that side as well, I think is going to be real key for me,’ Terry said on his YouTube channel.

‘So if they’ve got 60, 70 minutes in, you want to drag centre-backs out of those central positions where you’re really comfortable, you’re protected, you’ve got each other side by side.

‘As soon as you get pulled into those wide areas, it feels very alien and you feel a little bit more exposed.

‘So the more we can do that on the counter-attack at the weekend, I think we give ourselves a chance because Ben White and Calafiori both attack and just end up in those kinds of inverted pockets as well.

‘So I think the space where they can expose them is going to be going forward high and wide for me.’

Arsenal head into the match with recent history on their side, having not lost any of their last nine league matches against Chelsea.

But despite that run, Terry believes that Chelsea should also be full of confidence as he backed Alonso’s side to pull off the upset away from home.

‘I think the boys can only take confidence from our first two games,’ he added.

‘I’m excited, Chelsea fans are excited. The players will feel that on the pitch. So when you’re there before the game, soak it up, soak up the atmosphere because I know the Chelsea fans are buzzing.

‘We’ve had a good window and this is a big test for us. Now, is it going to define our season whether we win or lose? No, it’s not.

‘But we have to respect them. As I said, they’re a really good side. They’ve got goals in their side, good defensively, and a great midfield.

‘So it’s going to be a tough test, but a first real test. But more importantly for us, they have to feel excited because it’s been really good in the first couple of games.

‘I’m going 2-1 Chelsea win. I’m going Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer with the goals for Chelsea.’

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