Mikel Arteta makes Chelsea vs Arsenal prediction after claiming Gunners ‘dominated’ Inter

Arsenal’s gaffer Mikel Arteta is confident his team can beat Chelsea after their performance against Inter Milan, despite suffering a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League.

The Gunners ‘dominated’ the game, settled by a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty, in Arteta’s eyes, nearly doubling Inter’s expected goals having taken 20 shots to the Serie A sides seven. And the defeat at San Siro was the second loss in a row for Arteta’s side.

Just days before, Arsenal suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United, a result which has put a dent in their Premier League title hopes. They return to domestic action this weekend against Chelsea in their final game before the November international break.

And speaking after the Champions League defeat, Arteta believes if his side play the way they did against Inter, they can “go to Chelsea and win”. Speaking to TNT Sports, Arteta said: “We should have scored a couple at least but the way the team played, that was us at least. Every decision in the box makes a difference,” and confidently adding, “The way we played tonight, this team can go to Chelsea and win.”

Arteta, who was visibly frustrated in his post-match interview, gave brief responses, particularly aggrieved by the penalty awarded to Inter and an earlier incident where Arsenal’s appeal was dismissed. Inter’s keeper Yann Sommer was involved in a controversial moment when he collided with Mikel Merino, failing to clear the ball and instead hitting the Arsenal midfielders head, reports the Mirror.

Arteta added: “I am very proud of my players, the level of domination we had. We were very harshly done by in the sense that is obvious. Both penalties.

“If you are going to give a penalty, the other one has to be because he punches him in the head. There is no deflection, nothing you can do in the box, so can he get away from it. If he is going to give that the other has to be 1,000% a penalty.”

He went on to confirm that Merino, who came off at half-time in place of Gabriel Jesus, wasn’t concussed after his clash with Sommer. “No, he was not concussed, yesterday he was not feeling great and I decided to take him off as I needed him 100%,” Arteta added.

Asked about striker Kai Havertz, who came off late on with blood pouring from his head, Arteta replied: “Kai had a big cut and hopefully he will be okay for the weekend.”