Chelsea seek home comforts against Arsenal

Premier League champions Chelsea aim to recover from a catastrophic start as they take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.Three points for Jose Mourinho's men will take them away from the relegation zone.

Jose Mourinho's Chelsea have not won at Stamford Bridge this season. Reuters/Christian Hartmann

Chelsea have yet to win at home this season, and will seek to follow up Wednesday night's 4-0 thrashing of Maccabi Tel-Aviv with a victory in Saturday's derby.

As Chelsea linger in 17th place in the league, with four points out of a possible 15, defeat against arch-rivals Arsenal could leave their hopes of defending their title in ruins.

After back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since 2006, Mourinho has come under scrutiny over the past few weeks.

At a press conference on Friday, he denied rumours of a rift with captain John Terry, who was taken off at half-time against Manchester City in the second game of the season, before being rested for Wednesday's Champions League tie.

"Problems between me and my players I can promise you - zero," said Mourinho.

"In Terry I have total confidence. If he is on the bench or I take him off doesn't change anything."

Saturday's derby will be a chance for fourth-placed Arsenal to keep pace with Manchester City, who are five points ahead of them at the top of the table.

Beating Chelsea would also boost Arsenal's morale ahead of the Carling Cup clash with their bitter north London rivals Tottenham on 23 September. 

"We are on a good run in the Premier League and it is important now to look at that," Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger said on Friday. 

Reflecting on Wednesday night's Champions League defeat against Dinamo Zagreb, the 65-year-old Frenchman said: "Every defeat hurts but every defeat is also an opportunity to respond in a very strong way."

Wenger will be eager to overcome a Mourinho side for the first time in the Premier League, having lost six games and drawn five times against the Portuguese manager.

But when the teams last met in August for the Community Shield, Arsenal edged past  Chelsea 1 - 0. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hit the winner.

Saturday's clash will mark the return of goalkeeper Petr Cech to Stamford Bridge, where he won four titles in the course of 11 successful years with Chelsea.

But this time Chelsea's former talisman will be wearing an Arsenal shirt, following a 14 million euro move this summer.

Chelsea fans have planned to unveil a banner in his honour. It will be a brief moment of grace in an otherwise fiery cauldron.