Chelsea vs Arsenal team news: Cesc Fabregas starts against his former club as Jack Wilshere returns for the Gunners

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drops to the bench to accommodate England team-mate Wilshere

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas has proved the model professional since joining Chelsea (PA) (PA)

Cesc Fabregas lines up against Arsenal for the first time in his career after being named in the Chelsea side that entertains the Gunners at Stamford Bridge.

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Fabregas joined the Blues from Barcelona in the summer for £30m, and the Spanish midfielder has made his impact on the Premier League felt once again having struck up a formidable partnership with Diego Costa.

Costa starts his third match in the space of eight days, and any worries over his hamstring injury will soon be dispelled if he manages his tremendous form of late, having notched eight goals in six matches.

Jose Mourinho sends his side into the match aiming to maintain his unbeaten record against Arsene Wenger, having never lost to the Frenchman in their 11 previous encounters. The two sides head into today’s fixture as the only two unbeaten sides left in the Premier League, though that could easily change by 4’o’clock this afternoon.

Willian drops to the bench from the side that beat Aston Villa 3-0 last weekend, with Oscar coming into the line-up after a spell of being out of favour.

The Blues sit pretty at the top of the table having won five of their six matches this season. For Arsenal, they have already registered four draws this season, and defeat against the Blues would not only hand them their first loss of the season, but see them slip a worrying nine points behind their London rivals.

Arsenal will be looking to make up for their 6-0 drubbing they received at Stamford Bridge last season, with ‘revenge’ certainly being the buzzword among Wenger’s troops this week. That was Wenger’s 1,000th match in charge of the Gunners, and he’ll hope that another anniversary – 18 years since he took the Arsenal hot seat – won’t be marked by another defeat.

They make one change from the side that dispatched Galatasaray 4-1 midweek as Jack Wilshere comes back into the midfield, allowing Santi Cazorla to push forward and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dropping to the bench.

Danny Welbeck begins in attack, and he’ll be looking to build on his superb hat-trick against the Turkish side, but facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is certainly a much tougher prospect.

Line-ups:

Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas, Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard; Costa.

Subs: Cech, Luis, Zouma, Mijel, Salah, Remy, Willian.

Arsenal: Szczesny; Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Flamini, Wilshere; Sanchez, Özil, Cazorla; Welbeck.

Subs: Martinez, Rosicky, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Monreal, Campbell, Coquelin.