Chelsea vs Arsenal

4.00pm GMT (3.00am AEDT), Sunday February 7th 2010, Stamford Bridge.

Form (EPL Last 5) -
Chelsea - DWWWW
Arsenal - LDWWD

Last Time They Met - Arsenal 0-3 Chelsea (November 2009)
________________________________________

Another week another Big 4 clash for Arsenal. This week its a visit to Stamford Bridge and a Chelsea side who, like the Gunners come into the game looking to make amends for their most recent showing in the EPL.
After last weekend's horror showing against United the Gunners will be out to make amends in the Title Race and make up a little bit of ground on Chelsea and United. Chelsea have had a pretty tumultuous week themselves with the ongoing saga involving captain John Terry's alleged affair with ex-teamate Wayne Bridge's missus and some scratchy onfield performances including a late 2-1 win at Burnley and a scrappy 1-1 draw at Hull.

This should be a pretty open game, they usually are between these 2 teams. Last season in similar trying times at Arsenal they visited Chelsea and did what no one expected them to do and won 2-1 so theres hope for the Arsenal fans out there that we can do the same this time around. If each player in a red shirt puts in 110% then theres no reason why we cant snatch a victory. Saying that though, id be reasonably happy with a draw. Losing is not an option this weekend. We will need to shut down Didier Drogba who lately seems to save his best for when Chelsea play Arsenal, Gallas and Vermaelen will have to be on top of their games. John Terry will be up for it, the first time he plays infront of his home fans since the news about his affairs has broke so im sure the fans will be giving him their support.

I think we'll line up something like this -
Almunia
Sagna-TV-Gallas-Clichy
Cesc-Song-Diaby
Eboue/Rosicky-Bendtner-Arshavin

Subs-Fabianski, Silvestre, Nasri, Theo, Eboue/Rosicky, Denilson, Eduardo

My Tip - Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal (Fabregas '67)

Its a huge game for both teams so lets get some talk happening

Almunia
Sagna - TV - Gallas - Clichy
Fabby - Song - Diaby/Denilson
Nasri - Bendtner - Arshavin

Bench - Fabianski - Campbell - Eboue - Diaby/Denilson - Rosicky - Theo
Vela and Dudu are out
Diaby is questionable.

massive game for us.
a loss would probably end our realistic hopes.
but i am confident the boys can pull through and nab it like they did last season.

Chelsea 1 (Drogba)
Arsenal 2 (Gallas, Theo)

Damn you aFc, I wrote a preview last night and was going to post it tonight lol. Oh well, I'll just post it as a normal post. I'll save my thoughts for then.

I wasn't sure on the Arsenal lineup so I'll chuck yours in there.

Haha sorry. It got to Friday and it was necessary imo .

chelsea easily is my tip

noone asked for your tip Sprooly

You have got to be kidding me, I just wrote the whole thing up and just had one section to go before accidentally doing a google search on the page I was writing..............

Take 2.

sorry but

good luck for Take 2

On Sunday, Chelsea face Arsenal at the Bridge to kick off 'round 2' of their Big 4 clashes. Last November they defeated the Gunners 3-0 at their home, the Emirates, with Drogba scoring a double and Vermaelen tapping one into his own net. That gave the Blues an 11 point lead over the North Londoners, but since then they've crawled back and cut down the lead to 6 points. This game is vital for both teams - Arsenal need to win to keep their title hopes alive, while Chelsea need to win to kick their now slender lead over Manchester United intact.

Form

Chelsea come into this game without having lost a match in 12 games. Their form has been inconsistent however, from a 1-1 draw against West Ham to a 7-2 win against Sunderland. Their last two matches have been rather sloppy, however - a fortunate 2-1 win against Burnley and a 1-1 draw against Hull. Arsenal, meanwhile, have had some misfortune of their own - a 3-1 loss to Manchester United at home last round, and before that a 0-0 draw against Aston Villa. They've largely had good performances during the winter period, however, and have only lost 2 EPL games since the last time these two sides met.

Players To Watch

Cesc Fabregas - Fabregas is Arsenal's top goalscorer and assister, which is a testament to his pure skill as a footballer. Chelsea's midfield will specifically need to shut him down to contain most of Arsenal's attacks. Without Michael Essien this could prove to be very tough.
Frank Lampard - Lampard is currently in brilliant form for Chelsea, with 5 goals in his past 6 games. He is dangerous in both laying off for other players, or going himself. The battle between Fabregas and Lampard to see who will make the more impact will be very interesting indeed.
Didier Drogba - Drogba has been on fire all season for Chelsea and, if it wasn't for his unsuccessful ACN expedition, he could very well still be the league's top goalscorer as he was before he left. Top scorer for Chelsea, he has all the keys to unlock Arsenal's defence - strength, height, agility, speed, aerial prowess and a deadly finish. He is also very impressive from dead ball situations, as Arsenal would remember all too well from their last meething. He will be very hard to contain.
Thomas Vermaelen - Vermaelen is a solid defender who has appeared on the scoresheet quite a lot for a defender this season. His goals have included some screamers and Chelsea cannot give him much space from 30 yards out or closer. Unfortunately, he was a passenger last time these two sides met and was wiped off the park by Drogba. However, there's no doubt he would have looked at video footage and improved his game from his last performance.

Tactics/Lineups

Chelsea



Chelsea will need to play attacking footbll as they did last time they played Arsenal. Malouda will play a 'feeding' role to Anelka and Drogba, using his pace and skill to put in crosses for Drogba or to cut in and set up an attack. Lampard will be the main playmaker for Chelsea and is more than competent in going himself. Chelsea will need to obviously shut down Fabregas but also Arshavin in this game to contain their attacks. It's Ivanovic's job to mark Arshavin so he will need to use his strength and skill to knock the Russian off his game.

Arsenal



Arsenal will probably employ a similar formation (4-1-2-3) as Chelsea could. Fabregas will be pulling the strings for Arsenal, but Arshavin will also play a key role as the main attacker - both on goal or through other players. Bendtner's height will be tough for Chelsea to deal with. Arsenal will no doubt be playing attacking football and should be looking to attack on the counter as Chelsea push players forward. I've put Denilson in as I've heard Diaby is doubtful to play.

Statistics

Played 172
Arsenal 69
Chelsea 52
Draw 51

Arsenal have only won 2 of the past 9 games between these two sides, however that may not count for much coming into this game.

Didier Drogba is the top goalscorer for Chelsea with 15, while Cesc Fabregas is first for Arsenal with 11.

My Prediction

I can't see Chelsea losing this one. Even though we've been a bit shaky lately, we always step up against the Big 4 sides and give it our all. The fact that it's at Stamford Bridge is one of the many things I think goes in Chelsea's way coming into the match. We're just too strong for Arsenal IMO, but I'm sure it's gonna be a really entertaining match as it usually is between us two London sides. Chelsea to win 2-0, Drogba and Lampard to score.

nice job Sibs.

agree with most of it except your prediction.

and aFc why Eboue in attack??

Cheers mate.

With the Arsenal side, I'm going by what aFc posted - ask him for why

I doubt AW will use Eboue but he has done in the past. Just gives the team a bit more of a defensive balance, especially when being hit on the counter.

Nice write up though Sibs, sorry again

Haha no worries man, first in best dressed!

hopefully Abou is fit for the match.

we really need another physical presence along with Song in the midfield to bully Chelsea.
also he is a handy defender and attacker so will be the key to getting the ball from defence up to Fabby to do his thing with the boys upfront.

Why did you put a pic of adebayor up?

Obviously we were beaten 3-0 last time around but the scoreline didnt reflect fairly on the match. We were wasteful and controlled most of the first half before Drogba luckily scored.

Bendtner is not fit enoguh to start to scrap him from the starting line-ups, Arshavins will play central with Nasri and either Eboue or Walcott playing the supporting roles out wide. Diaby is a chance to make the squad but even if he does he wont start, which is a shame for we could do with he's physical stregnth against such a physical side.

Tough to call, Chelsea will go in as favourites but it could go either way

Looking forward to this one and it's vitally important we get something out of this game. Playing at the Bridge is no easy task especially when Chelsea are in this form. In all honesty I think we can hope for a win but a drw is most realistic

we really should win.

just keep getting corners and Cech is sure to run out and grab air allowing Gallas a free header into the goal