Kalidou Koulibaly thinks Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb was the perfect preparation for their huge clash with Arsenal on Sunday.
Chelsea played close to their strongest team at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, despite having already qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
After their 4-1 defeat at Brighton last Saturday, the Blues secured a morale-boosting win against Dinamo and Koulibaly hopes it will provide a lift ahead of their clash with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
“We played well and it prepared the game well for Sunday,” the 31-year-old said. “Saturday can happen [against Brighton], to have a loss, but this is what is good that you can give a positive answer and we did that. We now have to think about Sunday as it will be a tough game against a nice team.
“[Arsenal] is a nice team, a tough team, they are winning. We know they have a lot of talents. They played together for years now. You can see it on the pitch. We will try to do our best on Sunday to win this game but it will be tough.
“We have home advantage and to be here with our supporters will be great. I will do my best to get in the team and we know that it will be a tough game and do our best.”
Chelsea manager Graham Potter used almost a full-strength side against Dinamo, only resting 38-year-old defender Thiago Silva, as Koulibaly came back from a minor knee injury.
Koulibaly is now fully fit for Chelsea ahead of their last three matches before the World Cup.
“We will see if the coach chooses this,” he said. “Me, at the moment, I am feeling better. I personally had ten tough days [to come back], but I am feeling better and ready to be on the pitch.”
