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Arsenal vs Chelsea: Sixth Time’s A Charm

Arsenal vs Chelsea
Premier League
Emirates Stadium, London
Monday 27th December 2010
20:00 BST

If mean ol’ mother nature doesn’t throw yet another snow-bound wobbler then Monday night will see Chelsea make their way across the capital to face…well, title-chasing Arsenal in the last of the Premier League’s sumptuously heavyweight yuletide fixtures.

Having lost out narrowly to Manchester United last Monday, a win for Arsenal could elevate them to the summit of the Premier League – providing Sunderland upset the apple-cart at Old Trafford the day before.

Conversely, should both United and Arsenal emmerge victorious from their respective Christmas ties, beleaguered Chelsea will find themselves a gaping six-points off the top flight pace.

The Formbook:

Arsenal have found themselves dominated by Chelsea in recent times, having lost their last five encounters against their London rivals – conceding 13 goals in the process and only managing to notch a lowly two consolatory strikes in response.

Arsene Wenger‘s side have scored a meaty total of 19 home goals so far this campaign, which is the second best tally in the league. However, they have also conspired to leak 10 goals at the Emirates – the most home goals conceded by any of the top six teams in the current standings.

Chelsea’s form (of lack thereof) is abundantly clear to all, with Carlo Ancelotti‘s charges having taken just three points from a possible 12 in the league.

That said, striker Didier Drogba has a phenomenally good strike rate against Arsenal – having notched 13 goals in his last 11 games against the Gunners, which includes both of the goals that saw the Blues triumph when the two teams met at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season (see below).

Chelsea have completely dominated Arsenal in recent years

Last Five Premier League Meetings:

• 03/10/10, Chelsea 2 – 0 Arsenal, Stamford Bridge

• 07/02/10, Chelsea 2 – 0 Arsenal, Stamford Bridge

• 29/11/09, Arsenal 0 – 3 Chelsea, Emirates

• 10/05/09, Arsenal 1 – 4 Chelsea, Emirates

• 30/11/08, Chelsea 1 – 2 Arsenal, Stamford Bridge

The Build-Up in Quotes:

“We have a big challenge. What we want is to produce an intelligent game full of dynamism and that is the only way we can win these big games. That’s the challenge of the team.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is hoping to finally end his side’s awful run against Chelsea.

“After Arsenal, we won’t have the possibility to recover. We’ll have two days, compared to (Chelsea’s next opponents) Bolton, who play on the 26th. We play Arsenal on the 27th.

That’s not a good thing, to have one day less to recover. I’m not happy about that. This period is very important for the Premier League. We have to be focused on this period. I don’t need to talk about anything else.”

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is fuming over the club’s congested Christmas schedule.

“Chelsea have gone through a period where results are a bit less good but that can happen to anyone in this league. We have seen recently that any team, just when you think they are on the brink of breaking through, they have a hiccup. Maybe it’s just the quality of the league.”

Wenger again, this time sympathising with Chelsea’s current malaise.

“I understand Drogba has not been in a good condition,I put him in the last few games even though he was not 100% because we need to have his character and his personality.

“But now his condition is better now, he will show us a different Drogba against Arsenal.”

Ancelotti is hoping that his front-line talisman will find his feet and add to his magnificent scoring record against Arsenal.

Injury and Selection Updates:

Arsenal have confirmed that captain Cesc Fabregas and striker Robin Van Persie will overcome their respective injuries to start against Chelsea, with ‘keeper Lukasz Fabianski and long-term absentee Abou Diaby also thought to be in with an outside chance of making it into Wenger’s matchday squad.

Third-choice stopper Manuel Almunia, left-back Kieron Gibbs will miss the tie, as will Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen, who’s Achilles problem is likely to sideline him up until late January at the earliest.

Chelsea will be able to welcome Frank Lampard back to the first-string for the first time in over four months, with Jose Bosingwa also fit enough to start – although Yuri Zhirkov (calf), Alex (knee) and Yossi Benyoun (Achilles) are all still unavailable.

Prediction:

Snow permitting, Arsenal to capitalise on an off-colour Chelsea and end their own personal slump in the process.

Arsenal 2 – 1 Chelsea

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Topics: Arsenal, Chelsea, English Premier League, Features, Match Reports