Match Preview: Chelsea vs. Arsenal - Prem League 22.03.2014

So, this is what it all comes down to. Win, and the Prem title is still up for grabs. Draw or lose, and it’s all but Chelsea’s. There’s little else to be said. Well, there are the details, of course, and so we should delve into them to see what devilry awaits us.

First, the nitty-grits. Chelsea’s taken 66 points from 30 matches. We sit at 62 points after 29 matches, as do Liverpool. Man City’s claimed 60 points from 27 matches. A win would send us to 65 points, one behind Chelsea. This would put us in the catbird’s seat—until we remember that Man City’s two games in hand on us and will come calling next weekend. In other words, we’ll have to win these next two matches just to stay in the race. A stumble this week or next, and that’s it for us in the Prem. As the saying goes, we’ll have to take it one match at a time.

In the bigger picture, the focus is on Arsène’s 1,000^th match for Arsenal and his apparent failure to defeat Mourinho in any of them. It’s a record of longevity that Jose Mourinho claims would make him “the happiest manager in the world” despite his own stated preference for staying with a club for more than three years. Despite his incursion onto the pitch in the melee at Aston Villa, he’ll likely only face a fine of around£10,000, not a match-ban, and so we can’t count on his absence to make things any easier. That said, we can be all but certain of what we’ll see from Chelsea whether he’s on the sideline or not.

That’s to say, look for stubborn defence of the kind we’ve seen firsthand and in other big matches Chelsea has played, where they’ve sat deep, defended in numbers, and looked to hit on counter-attacks. For a squad as deep in creative attacking options as Chelsea is, it seems an insult to other clubs to have hoarded all of that talent only to bring it to heel. When we last faced them in December, we saw this approach in extremis as we dominated possession to little effect, pushing Chelsea ever-deeper into their own third, keeping seven and even eight men behind the ball, only to see them squeeze through on quick counters. Whether Chelsea can afford to play so stubbornly, given Man City’s looming threat (two games in hand, six points back, far-superior goal-differential), is another question, and this might just be enough to lure Chelsea out of its lair.

Going in without Ramires will strip Chelsea of some grit in the midfield, which will probably result in Lampard and Matic pairing in the midfield. Whether this liberates us to create more chances—not to mention convert them—will be up to us. We had our chances in December but failed to convert. At the time, the draw was enough to keep us atop the table. Anything less than a win this time around may just let Chelsea finish there.

LAST 3 Matches

• Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea (23.12.2013)
• Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea (29.10.2013)
• Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal (20.01.2013)

FACTFILE

• This may the 1,000^th time you’ll read that this is Arsène’s 1000^th match as Arsenal manager.
• Chelsea are undefeated in their last five matches against Arsenal.
• The last time Arsenal won at Stamford Bridge was 29 October 2012, a 3-5 thriller.
• With Walcott injured, Bendtner and Sagna are the only players still in the squad to have scored against Chelsea.

INJURIES

Diaby (knee), Walcott (knee), Wilshere (ankle), Ramsey (thigh), Miyaichi (hamstring) and Özil (hamstring) are all unavailable; Oxlade-Chamberlain faces a late fitness test.

POSSIBLE STARTING XI

Szczesny; Gibbs, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Sagna; Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Cazorla, Rosicky, Gnabry; Giroud.

With nothing to gain from a draw, Arsenal have to press for the win and hope to get an early goal.

GOONERSPHERE PREDICTION

Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal

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