Wednesday 3 January 2018

Arsenal v Chelsea Preview

The Festive Programme hasn’t gone too well for Arsenal so far as they have lost a little ground on the other teams chasing a top four spot this season. They have only won two of their seven league games since the start of December, but alternatively you could say they are unbeaten in six league games. It depends on how you look at it I suppose, but personally I think the current spate of draws does not auger well for us.

We drew away to Southampton, West Ham and West Brom and all three of them are struggling at the wrong end of the table. While the point at Southampton was welcome as we hardly deserved it we should have taken full points against West Ham and West Brom. We can point at the referee all we want for the ridiculous last minute penalty he gave West Brom, but we didn’t create enough good chances in either game for my liking.

The draw with Liverpool was a trifle fortunate too as we were awful that day except for the five minute spell where we got our three goals. A return of 10 points from seven games isn’t going to keep pace with those chasing a top four finish and we need to turn some of those draws into wins. I commented earlier this season on how the amount of defeats we had suffered was being offset by not drawing other games, but now it seems we have lost the knack of winning tight games.

Speaking of tight games the game with Chelsea should be just that and we really need to come out on top. Our home record so far this season has been very good with eight wins  in our 10 games, but the two games we didn’t win were against teams above us. We conceded three goals against both United and Liverpool at home and we cannot concede that many agsinst Chelsea or we will lose.

We have big problems with injuries going into the game with Nacho Monreal, Sead Kolasinac, Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and of course Santi Cazorla definitely out and Laurent Koscielny almost definitely out too. Mesut Ozil is still a doubt too and it leaves us with what could best be described as a depleted team. Arsene Wenger has some big decisions to make before the game and those decisions could have a big impact on our display and the result.

I’d take a draw if you offered it to me right now even though we badly need the three points. Chelsea won’t be far from full strength and they had the luxury of leaving Eden Hazard out of their 5-0 stroll against Stoke on Saturday. They have had a day longer to recover and that can make a difference at such a busy time in the season. So many factors point to Chelsea getting the upper hand in this game and we will have to be at our very best to get anything from it.

Speaking of which it’s been a very long time since we were at our best against anybody and doing so with so many players out is a huge ask of those who will play. I hope Ozil is fit because we lacked so much creativity against West Brom without him and Alexis Sanchez tried to drop back and fill that role, but we need Alexis in a more advanced role getting on to passes from Ozil. Whatever our issues might be with two players who will not sign contracts they are still the best players we have.

I would assume the manager will go with three at the back and that would mean Ainsley Maitland-Niles coming in on the left and either Per Mertesacker or Rob Holding as one of the three central defenders if Koscielny doesn’t play. We coped with similar problems defensively against Chelsea when we beat them in the Cup Final in May, but we had more attacking options in that game. We need to get our midfield spot on tonight and that’s a difficult task with the personnel we have available. A win is not beyond us though, but it will take one of those once or twice in a season barnstorming performances we used get so regularly in the past to get the three points. 

On a side note the manager looks like he will probably get a stadium ban for his comments about and to the referee after the West Brom game. I know there are many who would like to see him permanently banned from the stadium, but I can’t see it being of much benefit. I can understand his reaction, but did he really think his comments to the media and the referee would go unpunished and you have to think he is feeling the pressure of expectation. 

When he extended his contract in May or June there were promises of taking the club forward and building for the future, but it’s surely clear to one and all that we’re heading in the opposite direction. For me the only solution is changing the manager because the ownership won’t change and even if it did I can’t see how that would improve what the manager does now. He was a great manager in his day, but for me that day has well and truly passed and if he loves the club as much as he professes to he should open his eyes and do what is best for the club.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

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