Chelsea will be hoping to provide their supporters with one final Christmas present when they travel across the capital to face London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day, kick-off 5:30pm.
The Blues, who won 2-1 on their last visit to the Emirates Stadium, got back to winning ways on Monday evening, defeating West Ham United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, following back-to-back defeats at the hands of Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite being given a run for their money by the Hammers, who arrived at Stamford Bridge having won four of their last six matches, a brace from Tammy Abraham and a header from summer signing Thiago Silva got the job done for the Blues, lifting them to fifth in the table.
Now, ahead of the trip across London, the Blues know that a victory over an out-of-form Arsenal side, who will be in desperate need of getting back to winning ways after seven league games without one, will lift them into the top-four.
Even though Chelsea will travel to the Emirates Stadium as overwhelming favourites to seal all three points, Blues head coach Frank Lampard has issued a warning to his players, insisting that form is irrelevant as far as derby contests are concerned.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Lampard said: "When you play a derby form does go out the window. Sometimes the idea of playing the derby is the spur that the team needs to try to get a result.
"So we have to expect the best Arsenal, which is a really good footballing team, with really good players, well-coached, rotations in their team, lots of threats in attacking areas.
"That's what I expect, so we have to prepare for that."
On whether Arsenal currently find themselves in the middle of a relegation battle, Lampard added: "I don't want to talk about what their battle is, they're just a good team with a good manager.
"They've had some tough results recently but the general way of the Premier League this season for every team it's been more inconsistent than it's been in probably previous seasons for most teams.
"It's not my concern exactly where they are at, my concern is the team at face value, in terms of quality, and they are a high-quality team."
The Blues will once again be without Moroccan international Hakim Ziyech, with the former Ajax ace having not yet fully recovered from a hamstring problem. It was hoped that he would have returned to the squad for the clash with the Hammers on Monday, but Lampard has confirmed he will not even be fit enough to face the Gunners.
Elsewhere, Chelsea face an anxious wait on both Reece James and Ben Chilwell. James missed the win over West Ham with a knee injury and may miss out once again.
Chilwell was forced off in the opening stages of the contest against David Moyes' side after twisting his ankle, meaning he is likely to face a late check.
Full Chelsea squad available to face Arsenal:
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero & Karlo Ziger.
Defenders: Cesar Azpilicueta, Reece James (if fit), Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori, Marcos Alonso, Ben Chilwell (if fit) & Emerson Palmieiri.
Midfielders: N'Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Faustino Anjorin, Callum Hudson-Odoi & Christian Pulisic.
Strikers: Tammy Abraham, Timo Werner & Olivier Giroud.
