DO Arsenal have the strength to beat their foes Chelsea on Sunday? Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) previews the match for us.
Arsenal v Chelsea | Sunday 16:00 | Sky Sports 1
Last Sunday I spoke of Arsenal needing to face their demons in Stoke and hopefully emerge with something. A point was a very decent result without their talisman Mesut Ozil and their brutal record at the Britannia.
One week on they face another mental challenge against a Chelsea side who have consistently made them look foolish in recent years. It’s over four years since they beat their London rivals. No, I’m not counting the Community Shield.
Yes, since that October 2011 win aided by a John Terry slip Arsenal have failed to beat Chelsea on eight occasions in the league. Even when the Blues were gripped with crisis back in the autumn they still managed to beat Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
My word though, this is a different Chelsea from what we’re used to. For starters, Arsene Wenger’s arch-nemesis Jose Mourinho is no longer at the club, For me, that takes a lot of the gloss off this fixture and reduces the appeal of Chelsea even further.
This is a Chelsea down in 14th place in the league with just two wins in their last nine league matches. Yes, they may be unbeaten under Guus Hiddink but bar that 3-0 win at Selhurst Park earlier in the month they’ve never looked anything like they were last season.
The fear when opposing this side though is that while Arsenal crumple they are inspired by this fixture. The likes of Diego Costa and John Terry will just love the idea of puncturing Arsenal’s title hopes.
But having said all that, it simply has to be Arsenal for me today. It has to be! I’ve always been a non-believer when it comes to this side in games like this but they’ll never have a better opportunity of hurting Chelsea than today.
Unbeaten at home in the league since August, Ozil and Alexis Sanchez back in the team, big game victories over the Manchester clubs already under their belt this season and in a much much better mental place than Chelsea. It’s now or never guys!
I’ll be backing Arsenal at 11/10 and I’m also going to have a very speculative bet on this being a bit of a roasting for Chelsea. This might be the game that Arsenal kick the shit out of a team that have caused them so much pain in recent years. All that anger and frustration might just come tumbling out this Sunday. Bring it on!
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TOPICS English Football Tips Football Premier League Tips
