Raheem Sterling is certainly a key weapon for Chelsea going into this weekend’s London derby against Arsenal.

The Blues are back after the international break with a difficult Premier League fixture on Saturday evening, where they host high flyers Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

It’s a rare occasion this century where Chelsea will start as underdogs against the Gunners at their own ground, but there’s still plenty of positives in their favour.

For certain, Raheem Sterling is a danger man who Arsenal must be wary of.

Sterling must be absolutely buzzing for Saturday to come around after spending this international break training at Chelsea with Cobham.

This comes as a result of his latest omission from Gareth Southgate’s England squad. Incidentally, David Seaman described it as “strange” that Sterling was overlooked for the England squad this month (Seaman Says’ podcast).

On top of waiting for club football to return, Sterling can be extra enthused by the fact his career record against Arsenal is impresive.

The English attacker has scored eight goals in 22 career appearances versus Arsenal.

Sterling delivered the standout individual performance from a Chelsea player this season just before the break, scoring and assisting in the 4-1 demolition of Burnley.

The electric winger was at his very best versus Burnley and too much for their defence, so let’s hope there’s a repeat against Arsenal on the weekend.

We’ve seen across so many years he can be an elite Premier League performer when he’s on it.

The early sign of Sterling under Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is that the pair are a perfect match.

It was a below par debut campaign in Chelsea colours last year for Sterling, but we’re beginning to see signs that he’s edging back towards his very best. If he recaptures his best, the Blues attack suddenly becomes so much more threatening and potent.