Arsenal vs Chelsea: Match Preview

Preview | Pre-match conference | Team news

Mathematically, this match is almost an irrelevance. We won't miss out on Champions League nor snatch the crown from Jose Mourinho's hooked nose based on today's result. Today's not a day for sealing top four or having a go at the title. In the context of the present season, absolutely nothing hinges on this game.

However, today could bear huge implications with respect to next season. There's indeed no use in crying over this season's spilled milk, but we could look to make amends by laying foundations for a title challenge next season. Winning against Chelsea could bring about a big-club perception Arsenal have been lacking for too long.

You don't need an expert to tell you that that's vital. We've been compared among the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham, even Everton for too long. Rising to a better class of football clubs does psychological wonders for the club. Smaller teams are too afraid to take a shot at causing an upset. Bigger teams exercise caution. The inferiority complex dictates that most home matches are won before the ball is kicked.

Arsenal terribly need some of the hubris, and breaking Mourinho's curse would go a long way to restoring that. Mourinho's record against Wenger is not a jinx or a curse, it's simply because he's a better manager.  Calling it a curse promotes the "luck" factor and invariably inaction, just like Arsenal's injury woes. Both of them were not down to luck, they were down to incompetence.

However, despite their managerial skills, Arsene still has a chance to put one over Mourinho today. Chelsea know they have won the title and they don't look too bothered about today, whereas Arsenal are in roaring form and know that this match is not about three points. The moral of the players could make all the difference today.

Arsenal and Chelsea have both been on phony runs of form lately, but the players of Chelsea seem to know that their performances have not warranted the results. Conversely, however, Arsenal believing that their run of form have been supported by brilliant performances reeks of ignorance, but provides the confidence that Arsenal needed to smash Liverpool away. That same confidence could help them overturn a skeptical Chelsea, not to mention provide credence to the "Ignorance is bliss" statement.

Having said that, I fear Mourinho may be leading Wenger into a trap. Having a whirl at Chelsea is all well and good and definitely characteristic of a "big team", but it must be exercised with caution. The whole world is rambling on how Mourinho would look to park the bus and hit Arsenal on the break. There is the possibility that, for the sake of catching that particular assumption off-guard, Mourinho might do something different.

Where is the guarantee that Mourinho will set up to merely get a point at the Emirates? Granted, he did that against Manchester United (at Stamford Bridge, no less), but that doesn't mean it's set in stone he'll do the same today. For safety's sake, Arsene at least needs to exercise caution at least for the initial minutes and then have a crack, should it transpire that Jose has indeed employed the expected gameplan. Be brave but not foolhardy, certainly not 6-0 foolhardy.

Most of the team pretty much selects itself. David Ospina should start in goal; I'm guessing Mathieu Debuchy would get the nod over Hector Bellerin; Nacho Monreal will take over from Gibbs, and presuming that Mertesacker won't make it, Gabriel should slot in to partner Koscielny.

I would have preferred Mertesacker to make it today. David Ospina is certainly the better keeper on form, but he still exudes a certain nervousness at set pieces, which Chelsea specialize in. Paulista and Koscielny would amount for terrific pace, but with Chelsea looking to start an aging Didier Drogba, that pace may not be all necessary.

Francis Coquelin is a sure starter in midfield, and based on current form, Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis and Giroud would play ahead of him. I don't see it happening, but I hope Cazorla is benched for Theo Walcott. The Spaniard has looked out of touch in recent games, probably because there are too many similar players in that team. Walcott would add a different dimension in terms of width, and his knack of scoring against Chelsea could be crucial today.

However, if Cazorla starts (which seems likely), I'd prefer him on the wing than Ramsey. While both of them do not have the skill set to provide Arsenal width, Cazorla is certainly more tactically aware than Ramsey. I've heard the argument that a more energetic Ramsey could stifle Hazard on the left but it doesn't rub with me, because Ramsey spends half the time in the centre of midfield. While Cazorla tends to drift in, he certainly does not do it to Ramsey proportions.

To me, though, it's only Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Ozil who could make the difference for Arsenal. Mourinho had ensured Azpilicueta was onto Sanchez in the previous encounter which had hugely minimized his impact. Perhaps home support or the danger of having other players in form to mark would mean that Sanchez gets more space to work his magic, but I don't see it happening.

Alexis has been documented as Arsenal's runaway best player by everyone in the footballing world, so much so that they've overestimated his impact to the team. They're wrong - in the second half of the season, Cazorla, Ozil and Giroud have contributed more than Sanchez. However, Jose is likely to jump on the bandwagon and make Sanchez his top priority, which could be of huge advantage to us.

Mesut Ozil could have a screamer today because his run of form hasn't been caught on by the media yet. It's amazing that they still perceive him as some overpaid flop who doesn't run around enough to make the cut for Arsenal, but it could work to our favour today. There is the possibility that Jose could underestimate Ozil's (or even Giroud's) importance for Arsenal. He certainly has the ego to think that.


I have a feeling that Arsenal might draw, but I certainly know that today is winnable. Chelsea are uncertain and they don't have a lot to fight for, but we do. And while today would not have much inkling on this season's Premier League winner, it certainly could on next season's. Today is an important step in future Premier League (or maybe, maybe, Champions League) glory for Arsenal. We need to take it.

P.S. If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned the Cesc Fabregas subplot today, the answer is simple: I don't care much of him. He taught me a valuable lesson about loyalty and trust, but that's about it. He doesn't owe Arsenal anything and nor do we, him. I'd rather focus on the creative players who ply their trade for Arsenal than Chelsea. I suggest you do too.


-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]

Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal: Expected disaster

How abysmal. How appalling. How humbling. And more strikingly - how predictable.

"I reckon Mourinho is football's enemy, but I also fear his ruthless winning mentality. And if Wenger makes it too easy for him by failing to motivate the team and with redundant tactics, I suspect we'll see a repeat of the Liverpool hammering. If Wenger doesn't change the system and doesn't set the mentality straight, I think Chelsea will batter us."

Same tactics, same mistakes, same result. Only worse.

I had completely prepared myself for failure and made my peace with it. But that's the thing - at a club like Arsenal, supporters shouldn't be allowed to make such assumptions. It's Arsene Wenger's job to curb those feelings of dread. Once again, he failed miserably, just like at Old Trafford, the Etihad and Anfield.

For the past 31 months, there have been clear signs that Wenger is no longer the right man to lead the club forward. Today just adds to that huge list.



20th August 2011 | Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool: Unresolved Nasri issues, no Cesc replacements, unwelcome injury crisis. And an Aaron Ramsey own goal.

28th August 2011 | United 8-2 Arsenal: Ridiculous. Even a Conference side wouldn't have lost that badly.

17th September 2011 | Blackburn 4-3 Arsenal: At 57 minutes, Arsenal were 4-2 down at Ewood Park. Since then till the 90, Wenger doesn't get off his chair once to cajole his troops.

22nd January 2012 | Arsenal 1-2 United: Was this the first time that Gooners booed Arsene Wenger? I remember hostile scenes after Oxlade-Chamberlain was taken off for (sigh) Arshavin, shortly after he had provided a superb assist for Robin's equalizer. Arshavin later lost the game for Arsenal.

15th February 2012 | Milan 4-0 Arsenal: Humiliation on Europe's stage. Wenger's fault.

20th October 2012 | Norwich 1-0 Arsenal: I still remember this match. Absolutely pedestrian performance by a distinctly average side.

24th October 2012 | Arsenal 0-2 Schalke: Boos rung out at the final whistle and rightly so - Arsenal were terrible once again. Gone were the days when we blew teams apart; the team had deservedly lost to Norwich and managed only one shot on target at home in the space of four days.

24th November 2012 | Villa 0-0 Arsenal: A match I particularly remember because Wenger decided to take Giroud off and brought Coquelin on when the team were drawing to relegation fodder ASTON VILLA. It was the first time the away support (one of the best in the world) booed Wenger for that and rightly so - how low does a team have to get if they're scared to lose against Villa?

1st December 2012 | Arsenal 0-2 Swansea: Two Michu goals at the death were followed by a cacophony of boos after full time. I remember feeling so defeated, disappointed and hopeless after the game that I actually turned and said to my brother, "You know what? I reckon Arsene Wenger will resign tomorrow."

11th December 2012 | Bradford (3-2) Arsenal: That was the worst I had ever felt as an Arsenal fan. Of course, then Blackburn, Bayern, Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea followed.

13th January 2013 | Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City: I recall that Arsenal had set ridiculously high prices for this match and City were protesting against it. It felt particularly expensive for us as Koscielny's stupid challenge on Dzeko killed the tie inside 10 minutes. Is this why Gooners pay the highest prices in the land?

16th February 2013 | Arsenal 0-1 Blackburn: Rock bottom.

19th February 2013 | Arsenal 1-3 Bayern: Oh wait. Stand by.

17th August 2013 | Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa: A direct result of complete stinginess from Wenger in the transfer market. Painfully deserved, something not acceptable at Arsenal.

14th December 2013 | Manchester City 6-3 Arsenal: FFS. No concentration in a winnable game. Wenger fucks up again.

8th February 2014 | Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal: No excuses at all. Shameful performance on a big day. Wenger's fault again.

12th February 2014 | Arsenal 0-0 United: Booed again and rightly so. Wenger was too afraid to beat the worst Manchester United side in two decades.

1st March 2014 | Stoke 1-0 Arsenal: No signings in January, overplaying and injuring key players, not motivating the side, and this is what happens.



Do you know how many negative implying results those are? A massive EIGHTEEN in the space of 31 months - which averages to 1.72 months per bad performance. I don't think that anyone would argue that the aforementioned scorelines were anything short of nightmares and nadirs for Arsenal. The statistics don't lie - under Wenger, they're happening all too frequently. We've just added Chelsea to that collection.

At any other club, I don't think that any other manager has overseen so many disasters, yet managed to stay at the club. Yet there seems to be a soft spot for the once invincible Wenger, only because he offers Champions League football and decade-old memories.

Am I being too harsh by checking Wenger's record only over the last 31 months? I don't think so. Even if I push the number to 37, I'd cover the Villa and Bolton losses, the Barcelona and United cup crashes, the Birmingham Wembley disaster as well as the 4-4 Newcastle collapse.

At any other club, even at Manchester United, the manager would have been shown the door a long time ago. And for good reason; the past 2 and a half years (forget the past 8) just don't cut it. And after another predictable humiliation at Stamford Bridge, it's about time the words "not good enough" are quickly replaced with "sacked".

I said it before - Wenger's milestone is not a testament to how brilliant a manager he is. Far from it, it just shows how lucky he is to not be sacked yet. Personally, if I were Wenger I'd be embarrassed to sign a new contract, but I guess deluded supporters, clueless board and top four spots would always absolve him of any shame.

It really doesn't matter what Wenger achieves from now till May. Even if he wins the double I'd still want him out, and here's why:

• He's tactically incompetent
• He constantly overplays key players leading to injuries
• He is an incompetent man manager
• He's too proud to admit his mistakes
• He repeats the same mistakes
• He fails to motivate the team in crunch clashes
• He oversaw 3 collapses in 6 years
• He underachieved with brilliant teams
• He cannot take readymade world class players to the next level (Reyes, Arshavin, Podolski, Cazorla, Ozil)
• He made the fans suffer humiliating avoidable losses
• He lost his winning mentality 5 years ago
• He makes lofty promises but doesn't fulfill them
• He refuses to spend money
• He's a master procrastinator
• He sold top class players for profits
• He started 'Project Youth', a colossal failure that cost the club hundreds of millions in a time of financial debt
• He influenced the board to serve his own needs
• He took advantage of the added power entrusted to him (exclusive contractual freedom, transfer freedom, etc)
• He's completely delusional and out of touch with the real world
• He treats supporters like garbage
• He consistently blames everyone but himself

[If anyone feels that there is any lack of proof in any of the faults that I have described of Wenger, you could ask me about it on Twitter or in the 'Comments' section below. I'll be happy to lay out the proof to you.]

Oh, and I've missed out something. What was it? That's right - no trophies in 9 years.

On second thoughts, probably mentioning that Wenger never blames himself is wrong. After the Chelsea nightmare (how many of those have we endured already?), he said:

"It was a nightmare and I take full responsibility for it. What is important is to give a response on Tuesday night and that is it."

Fair enough, you took the blame for once. However, after accepting the fault, the second step is to rectify it. And I don't think that Wenger will do that, he's too old and too stubborn to genuinely change fundamentally. I have included "He repeats the same mistakes" in his faults list for good reason, you see.

For years we've seen the same dithering in the transfer market. We've seen predictable collapses at crunch games and one-dimensional tactics regardless of the opposition. We've seen Arsene plunge us into injury crisis after injury crisis. We've seen deadwood not fit to wear the jersey play for Arsenal year after year (although there has not been much of that this season) Of course, and we've seen barren runs.

Under Arsene Wenger, I'm certain this circle of never-ending hopeless madness will continue. Winning the FA Cup will NOT change that.

Which is why he just needs to go this season. I don't want him to be in the Board of Directors, nor do I want him selecting our next manager. Arsene Wenger is not Arsenal's Alex Ferguson and never will be, because he, unlike Ferguson, never understood the deficiencies he had and never worked on it.

For years I've watched Arsenal holed up in a house in Mumbai, and for years I've felt helpless watching Wenger kill the club from season to season. I don't live in England - I can hardly cancel my season ticket or join anti-Wenger protests to directly put pressure on the club and the board. I can hardly chant in the stadium or influence minds by sitting in a different continent. However, the least I can do to save this club from the dictatorial reign of Arsene Wenger is start a blog highlighting his flaws and adding media pressure, which is exactly what I'm doing.

Ever since I discovered the shocking reasons of Arsenal's decline under Arsene (credit to Arsenal Truth for that) I have been doing all I can to convince Gooners to put pressure on Wenger. However, with his contract running down and a real possibility of him leaving the club after 3 months, all that effort might well be futile. Not that I'd care.

For the first time in years, I wouldn't mind if Arsenal fail if it means the end of Arsene Wenger. He built a wonderful legacy but is slowly destroying it, and I can see no way back now. I pray that other Arsenal supporters have realized that as well, so they can join the real Arsenal fanbase and show Wenger the door before 5th place starts to become the next trophy.

Happy 1000th, Arsene.

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )

Chelsea vs Arsenal: Match Preview + Wenger's millennium thoughts

I am not looking forward to this match.

The fact that this is Wenger's thousandth eclipses that Chelsea could well batter us today. Mourinho trouncing Wenger in every match is not a jinx or coincidence - Jose's a tactical genius while Wenger's a tactical imbecile.

To assume that Arsenal will break two well-documented records today just because it's Wenger's millennium is madness. Nothing magical is going to happen at Stamford Bridge just because Wenger's hit a milestone. On the contrary, the sense of occasion might distract the players from their real objective - getting a positive result.

We need our defence to be at their best today. I for one was not convinced by their performance at White Hart Lane, irrespective of the plaudits they got after the match. If we want to sneak a draw (best we can hope for), then the back four needs to be like they were against Dortmund or Newcastle.

This is one of the weakest Mourinho teams I've known, yet I'm frightened of them. While I believe that Arsenal are not far away from them in terms of talent in the team, I'm frightened because they have Mourinho at the helm.

I hate the guy, I reckon Mourinho is football's enemy, but I also fear his ruthless winning mentality. And if Wenger makes it too easy for him by failing to motivate the team and with redundant tactics, I suspect we'll see a repeat of the Liverpool hammering.

My primary target for the season, as I've always said, is finishing 2nd and winning the FA Cup. Anything below that wouldn't necessary be failure, but it would be a huge disappointment. If we want that second place trophy (much better than a fourth placed one), then we should be getting at least a draw at Stamford Bridge.

Forget winning at Mourinho's backyard, that ain't gonna happen with this tired team which is average up front. We should instead be grateful that every match starts at 0-0 and look to keep it that way until the end. Drawing at the Bridge will look like a much more positive result in hindsight, trust me.

Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium is winnable. However, defeating Mourinho's Chelsea is unlikely. The only way Arsenal can win (with this team) is if they keep it ultra-tight at the back and be clinically ruthless on the counter. To counter, we need pace, and for that Olivier Giroud needs to be dropped.

Personally, my lineup would consist of Szczesny - Sagna - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Gibbs - Flamini - Chamberlain - Cazorla - Rosicky (if he makes it) - Gnabry - Podolski. However, under Wenger, I'm almost certain that he'll pay no heed to necessary changes and only make man-to-man replacements.

I suspect we'll see the standard back five, Flamenta in the center, the forward trio of Santi, Ox and Poldi with Giroud up front. It won't be a bad attacking lineup, but I don't trust Giroud to do anything spectacular today if this is the case. He's clearly tired, his workrate is absent, his concentration is lost and personal life and fan pressure is getting to him. I'd rather have Yaya Sanogo up front.

I feel that it would be foolish and unfair to ask of Arsenal to win this game. A tired, injury ravaged squad led by tactically crippled Arsene Wenger is hardly ideal to falter Chelsea's title bid. I'm sure that the players are motivated and eager to win this match, but their efforts would be pointless if guided in the wrong direction.

If Wenger doesn't change the system and doesn't set the mentality straight, I think Chelsea will batter us.

--

I'm not going to overrate Wenger's milestone any further. In my opinion, it wasn't consistently excellent performances that earned him the feat of being at Arsenal for 999 games, it was a frightened board and deluded supporters.

No other manager would have lasted at their clubs after finishing third and fourth with Cesc, Nasri, van Persie, Wilshere, Song, Flamini, Hleb, Eduardo, Adebayor and Thierry in their ranks. No other manager would have lasted at their clubs after replacing Vieira with Diaby and van Persie with Giroud. No other manager would have lasted at their clubs after getting comprehensively humiliated by Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.

Wenger slowly lost my respect over this season, especially when he clearly indicated that he didn't want to win the league after refusing to buy in January. It is his fault that winning the EPL has become a pipe dream now, it is his fault that a season which showed so much promise is now looking like 'FA Cup or bust'. Wenger's responsible for lowering my expectations from 1st to 2nd, and I will never forgive him for that.

If he wants my respect (and the respect of like-minded Gooners), then he'd better work out a plan at Stamford Bridge, for starters. He should face facts and let pragmatism take hold from now till May. In the summer, he should replace potential departures (Fabianski, Viviano, Sagna, Vermaelen, Podolski) with genuine quality and not youth products. It is only then will he regain his status as 'legend' in my eyes.

Let's start from today.

P.S. For the past two weeks, I was at work making a website which was finally launched a few days ago. Give it a whirl, it's called 'Brangled Minds' and has a football section as well, on which I already wrote an article.

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )

Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea: Knocked off the top

A 0-0 stalemate against Chelsea finally knocked us off our perch, much to the critics' pleasure. And while there is a plausibility of reclaiming it a mere two days later, I think that this game should be taken as a lesson to the players and the manager of the club.

As much as I loathe Jose Mourinho's personality, I can't help but admire the perspective he saw this game from. Instead of sending his team out to win against us, he decided to face facts and settle for a draw at an away pitch with blistering conditions, possibly hoping to get a goal on the break as a bonus. It would've worked out extremely well had Lampard found the net through a volley that cannoned off the crossbar.

While he was surely the benefactor of the two managers, it's surprising why he didn't change his tactics midway throughout the game. It was getting obvious in the first half that Arsenal were far from their best, with the London weather and our link-up play looking dreadful. I think that if Mourinho had decided to stop parking the bus and go for the win, we would have crumbled.

I think to some extent that we should count our lucky stars, because we could've easily left this game without a point at all. However, that certainly didn't rob me of the frustration of failing to win an important game on an important night. Olivier Giroud's failure to score when he had two presentable opportunities was another example on how signing a striker is becoming a must through every passing game. Even though his second effort via a Gibbs cross was well saved, he at least should've hit the target with the first.

His technique was all wrong as well, while taking the shot on. Instead of lashing at it, maybe a loop over the goalkeeper or a placement at the near post would've been a better option. It's getting clearer with every passing game that Giroud is not the first person that you would want on a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. A change of plans up front is becoming a necessity.

I've resigned myself to the scenario that on the way off chance that Arsenal do buy a striker, he would come way after the 25th of January, courtesy of Wenger's notorious transfer procrastinating habits. That would mean that there is a month - or 7 matches - of no player being set to brought in, which is already taking a huge gamble. Can we rely on Giroud until then?

I think not. Podolski's return means that we do have more options upfront. While I am of the opinion that Podolski offers us much more on the wing rather than as a lone striker, he might just prove me wrong like so many Arsenal players have done so far. In this season alone Ramsey's turning into a complete midfielder, Giroud's hold-up play has vastly improved and Arteta's defensive qualities are gradually standing out. Looking at the changes developing in these players, it would be foolish to rule out the possibility of Podolski turning into a goal poacher.

If he indeed does, that still doesn't rule out the requirement for a signing. If Podolski turns out to be the answer to our striker woes, that would mean that a winger would become a necessity, due to Podolski vacating that position. I haven't really considered a winger that we should purchase, but I feel he should be good in crossing, pacey and a prolific goalscorer or assister.

Whether we do get anyone in the transfer window itself remains a huge question mark, but there is no doubt in my mind by now that a winger or a striker is a necessity if we want to win the title. Let's be honest - this Arsenal side are completely incapable of beating top teams. We aren't going to win the title or even get past Bayern Munich unless we get a marquee signing in January. That's a fact.

Deemed incapable of starting?

Speaking of Podolski, it's baffling why Wenger didn't bring him on, or even Santi Cazorla for that matter. Mourinho's clever decision of pairing Terry and Cahill against Giroud to match his physicality paid off. Halfway through the second half, if Wenger would've got on Podolski for Giroud and made Walcott as a striker with Lukas on the wing, we might've threatened a lot more than we did.

On that subject, Arsene said:

"I had plenty of offensive players on the pitch and we were in the need to attack. I had Walcott, I had Ramsey, I had Ozil, I had Giroud, I had Rosicky, and because we didn't play for nine days none of them looked really jaded. That's why… I felt we had the balance defensively and we had four or five offensive players on the pitch."

A word on Mike Dean as well, who many Arsenal supporters have criticized for his performance. Actually, I thought that he did pretty well, aside from his decision to not book Mikel for that challenge on Arteta. The foul on Walcott definitely wasn't a penalty, in my opinion. Quite frankly, the referee gave the game every chance of continuing, and doesn't deserve to be made a scapegoat for our underwhelming performance.

As of now, we've surrendered our league lead to Liverpool, a team who I believe are top four contenders rather than title challengers. They play Manchester City and Chelsea in this week, while we face West Ham and Newcastle. While I'm confident that we are going to restore our lead when the New Year arrives, I'd want to warn everyone to not be fooled into thinking that it's a sure sign that our team are set to win the title.

The current league standings suggest that this season's title race is going to be closer than ever. It's a league where there are two joint leaders, a league where Man City are just one point off the pace, and where Chelsea and Everton are four points adrift. It's also worth noting that it's a league where Newcastle United are on par with Tottenham and ahead of Man United, and can become genuine Europa League contenders should they beat us on the 29th.

I remember Arsene saying that the league table carries no real significance at the beginning of November. While I agreed with him, I had fully expected the title race to take shape at this point of the season, which, to my surprise, hasn't been the case. The increasingly competitive nature of this season's title race is leaving absolutely no margin for error for us. The scenarios where a draw or a loss would make a team fall two or three positions were entirely unexpected at this time. For a neutral, this is shaping up to be one of the most exciting Premier League seasons ever. For a Gooner, it's downright worrying.

We've coped remarkably well under pressure thus far, responding to Aston Villa shocks and Old Trafford sucker punches to continue being right up there. As of this moment, the team is experiencing yet another slump of four games, and has an easy fixture list given to recover from. THIS is the time of the season, which, according to me, would decide if we're going to lead the pack or play catch-ups.

In this week, we can be certain that either Liverpool, Manchester City or Chelsea are going to drop points. By defeating West Ham and Newcastle, we can take advantage of the inevitable slip-ups that are certain to follow. Let's do that.

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Match Preview

If this isn't a must-win, then what is?
 
We face an exhausted Chelsea tonight at the Emirates Stadium, with a view of restoring our 2 point lead at the top. After dropping points against Everton and City, we simply cannot afford another slip-up today, especially when it would come at a huge cost.

The five point lead that we earlier boasted of served a meaningful purpose. It still preserved our lead after a humbling at the Etihad, and gave us a chance of being on the top again, albeit by a much slender margin. While we know that reinforcements are required to enhance our title challenge, for now we just need to get a victory to be in the loop until the players we need do arrive.

Whether they will arrive or not shall be seen in the coming month, but that's a discussion that's neither here nor there, coming into tonight's game. Chelsea are a side that greatly resemble ours - a fantastic midfield, striker issues, yet high up in the league. As much as we need to win, they badly need a result too, to bounce back from the defeats against Sunderland and Stoke.

I can't help but feel that this game will be won in the midfield. Both sides have their strengths in the middle of the park, and will doubtless try to use that to their advantage. For every Ozil, they have a Mata, and for every Ramsey, they have a Lampard. While it is my firm belief that Chelsea is a team that is currently better than ours, they will undoubtedly be physically and psychologically drained after crashing out of the Capital One Cup in extra time.

Even though we haven't been given the easiest side to resurrect our title challenge, I can't help but feel that we've got Chelsea at their weakest. As a mark of a title-challenging side, we really should take advantage of it.

The return of Podolski (aha!) gives us more options upfront, but I doubt he'll be a starter in tonight's clash. After dropping Santi, I have a hunch that Wenger will field him on the left, along with Theo and Giroud. While the defence of Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen and Gibbs picks itself for this match, the midfield should be a bit of a pickle for Wenger. He has Flamini, Ramsey, Arteta, Ozil and Rosicky who are available at his disposal, yet only 3 spots available. I suspect he'll opt for a trio of Flamini, Arteta and Ozil, with Ramsey dropping to the bench despite his current form.

Look at that bench. If my prediction of Arsene's lineup indeed proves accurate, it shall consist of Ramsey, Rosicky, Podolski and would also include Wilshere were he not banned for two games. It hardly needs emphasizing that our bench is significantly stronger than it was seasons ago, along with 11 fresh legs out on the pitch. While Podolski isn't up and running to the rigours of the Premier League yet, he doubtless will be in a couple of games, which might just give Wenger some food for thought on Giroud's striker position.

If you ask me, I still think that we should buy a striker to increase our options. However, the main reason for that was because I wasn't really convinced with having Podolski as a choice upfront. In the previous season, he wasn't exactly prolific when he was deployed out there, you see. However, after witnessing Giroud's markedly improving second season, I can't help but wonder if Podolski can do the same with Arsenal. You never know, if Lukas indeed replicates his 2006 World Cup form, we might not require a striker after all.

While Podolski was by no means a flop, he was certainly a bit underwhelming last season, as was Giroud. Look at Ollie now. If he did have the suitable backup that we are all craving for thus far, I'm sure that his good form would've continued throughout this first half of the season. Maybe the return of Podolski might just provide the backup he needs, you know.  

Anyway, that's one curious issue that will be answered in the coming Christmas fixtures, depending on Podolski's form and our winter transfer budget. All I have to say for now is that we cannot afford a loss, or even a draw against this huge team that we're about to face. I respectfully disagree to those people who think that a draw is an acceptable result. It might be acceptable for a team fighting for the top four, rather than the top one. If we're serious about winning the title, we should capitalize on Chelsea's tired legs and deliver them a knockout blow.

The fixture list gets a lot easier after facing Chelsea. Our next league games - after Chelsea - includes West Ham, Newcastle, Cardiff, Aston Villa, Fulham, Southampton and Crystal Palace. Out of these games, it won't be unreasonable to ask for 18 points out of a possible 21. If we indeed throw Chelsea off the pace and win most of our upcoming matches, we might go a bit more than 5 points clear come February.

Even though a Wenger side has never beaten a Mourinho side, the odds are slightly in our favour in this one. We have players like Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey who have gotten 9 days of rest that they so needed, and we have strength on the bench if they do tire. We have players like Thomas Vermaelen, Theo Walcott and Mikel Arteta who feel that they yet have a lot to prove to the manager and book a starting berth. And we had 9 days of buildup to this game, along with the carrot of restoring our lead at the top for incentive enough.

I don't really know which way this game is going to go, honestly. Both sides have equal strengths and weaknesses as well in all areas of the pitch, and have a common goal of going further high up in the pitch. Pessimist that I am, I have a hunch that Chelsea's never say die mentality might prove decisive at the Emirates, but I'm confident that we're going to give them a good run for their money this time, unlike the City massacre.

A finely balanced London derby with a lot to lose and a lot to gain is approaching. If we do win, it'll surely be the best Christmas present that I've gotten thus far.

Come on you Gunners.

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )

Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea: Frustrating

It is irritating when you get eliminated from the League Cup when your manager doesn't field a strong XI. But it's much more frustrating when the manager gives the game importance and yet you are knocked out. Story of our night, as Arsenal were convincingly beaten 2-0 by Chelsea in a game which will have profound implications when we look back at the season.

I got the sense that we were going to lose the tie in the beginning itself. The game seemed like a repeat of the Dortmund one, where they dominated possession but failed to create any proper chances. I was getting the sinking feeling that we were about to lose the game even before they scored the goal.

The goal itself was another moment of self-destruction. A communication error between Jenkinson and Wilshere led to Carl heading it reluctantly to Fabianski. The header was bad, Fabianski's positioning was worse, and Azpillecueta had the simple task to poke home. True, it was partly Jenkinson's fault, but not to the extent of barracking him and him alone for conceding the goal.

We never really looked like equalizing, and the rare chances for Nacho Monreal and Cazorla created throughout the game were more out of desperation than the result of good football. In fact, the only notable chance that we created was Ryo Miyaichi's, where Ramsey put a brilliant over-the-top ball, but Miyaichi failed to capitalize.

We got on Ozil in the 64th minute, which felt strange to me. We didn't really need his aspect of play, we needed Olivier Giroud. Bendtner was awful throughout the game, which was compounded by THIS moment of madness.  However, I feel that it wasn't entirely his fault for not playing well. He did not get those kind of crosses to head in, for one. It was partly the team's fault that he didn't get those kinds of passes, but that's little excuse for a person who had a shockingly poor day at the office, especially after looking motivated in recent times.

Mata scored almost immediately after Ozil came on, through a fine strike. However, the game was already done and dusted to me, and that goal simply was a dull thud on my diminishing interest toward the game. They played out the rest of the game quite contentedly, and while we had our half-chances, overall it was another unconvincing performance which led to a bad result. After Dortmund, no lessons learnt.

Wenger speaks of the defeat:

"I think what we lacked is that we were 1-0 down and in a big game that is giving yourself a very difficult task to do because you give the opposing team a chance to counter-attack. We also did not create enough chances."

For me, the most worrying part of the loss was how poor we were in the final third. It's remarkable how a team with Cazorla, Ozil, Wilshere and Rosicky can be so clueless in the attacking stages. Maybe it's down to lack of movement in the box or fatigue catching up - I don't know. I refuse to blame the manager for this game, because he took the game seriously and fielded a strong side, but it was the players who let him down with some obvious passing near the box.

We have performed unconvincingly in the last 3 games now. It doesn't seem to me that the team is learning from its mistakes, because defensive errors are being continued, and the chances aren't flowing like they were before. Maybe it's because the wingers weren't there to inject pace, or maybe it's because a bit of overconfidence is seeping in, but whatever it is, it needs to be stopped. Now.

Two weeks ago, we were on top of the world. Top of the group stage in the Champions League, and on top of the Barclays Premier League. Ozil was doing great, Ramsey was popping in goals and we were active in all three competitions, set to end our trophy drought. What could possibly go wrong?

It's amazing how football changes so quickly. Ozil's performances are dipping, Ramsey's solo playing is getting counterproductive, and the return of Santi Cazorla isn't working out as well as people thought. There are doubts on our Champions League qualification, we are out of the Capital One Cup and a loss against Liverpool (which seems far from unlikely now) will mean that we will lose our lead in the Premier League.

Make what you will of this game. Maybe it was a one-off, maybe Arsenal is a team that have bigger fish to fry than the Capital One Cup, or maybe we were unlucky and Mourinho's side were clinical. However, if you ask me, at this rate, we are plummeting towards another trophyless season. Something must be done right now to stop this fall, or we might see a very different Arsenal at the end of the Manchester United game.

It's a harsh fall to reality, this. Let's rise again.

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Match Preview

We play Chelsea tonight in what should be a difficult Capital One Cup tie, even though it is at the Emirates Stadium. Wenger's insistence on playing a weakened squad leads me to believe that Chelsea is set to nick this match, even though they play 48 hours after a high-intensity game against Man City.

To me, the Capital One Cup must be kept at the highest priority and winning the title must be a firm second. It is still possible to win the Premier League if you lose 2 or 3 matches, but is it possible if you slip up in the Capital One Cup? I, like every other Gooner out there, want the shadow of the 8 years trophyless tag to get off from our backs, and what way to do it than in early March itself?

Winning the Capital One Cup will give a huge boost to the players and give them confidence for the run-in period of the season. Which is why it is essential we defeat Chelsea, especially because the odds are with us to do so.

This is an important clash, mind you, and one that we have to win, by hook or by crook. The Capital One Cup is a knockout, not a league. It is results, and ONLY results that matter here. Chelsea will most probably field their second team, but they have quality players like Mata, Willian and Ba in their second team.

Which is why Arsenal need to field a strong side to win this game. If Wenger loses this game by playing teenagers and says that he was resting his key men for the upcoming Liverpool game, then I shall spare no excuses for him. Chelsea is a significantly stronger team than Liverpool, and losing against Liverpool is acceptable, because we have till May to catch up. Losing against Chelsea is not acceptable.

However, it seems that Wenger is not giving this match the importance it deserves, which will undoubtedly be a factor should we lose tonight. Lukasz Fabianski is set to start as goalkeeper ahead of Viviano (don't ask me why). While Fabianski has improved over the years, Viviano is better than him, yet he hasn't played a single match this season. Arsene Wenger's man management "skills" strike again.

The back four will undoubtedly feature Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen and Nacho Monreal. I think Koscielny will start ahead of Mertesacker because Wenger will prefer to have pace in his center backs against a side like Chelsea. In midfield, I would love it if Frimpong gets the nod, because he seems like an Arsenal through and through, and will do anything for the club. However, Wenger has opted to go with Issac Hayden, which, to me, is the absolutely wrong decision. Frimpong has played and impressed in the Premier League, while Hayden struggled in the West Brom match earlier in the Capital One Cup. Anyway, let's see if Arsene has another trick up his sleeve.

Jack Wilshere might start alongside Hayden in the central midfield role, with Rosicky assuming the attacking midfield role. I think that Rosicky will have a massive game tonight, and will definitely be involved in one of our goals (should we score any). His freshness, flair and determination will be an important factor in the final third, which leads me to believe that he might have a bigger role than Jack in the game.

The attacking trio will definitely feature Serge Gnabry (who signed a new contract!) and Nicklas Bendtner. I think that Ryo should get a start in the left wing, but I have a sneaky suspicion that Wenger will overplay Ramsey and start him there. However, I am not complaining, because we need quality players to pursue a win. If it means overplaying Rambo, so be it.

We must keep a strong bench featuring Giroud, Ozil and Santi Cazorla if we're serious about winning this game. I have already emphasized the importance of this game on our season, and I don't want another silly or stupid reason to result in our downfall. Wenger, who is nominated as the Coach of The Year, talks about Mourinho:

"It was not a big surprise [that Mourinho returned to Chelsea] because there was talk about it many times. When he left Madrid, it looked to be one of his best opportunities to come back. What the Premier League wants first is the quality of the games and his teams give you always a tough game. That is what you want."

A load of polite praise from the manager to stoke the fires of an important game, if you ask me.

Whatever happens, this game has to be seen as a must-win, although I fear Wenger doesn't see it that way. Anyway, we'll find out how he views this game as tonight, in what should be a cagey match.

Come on Arsenal. A trophy is at stake.

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )