Arsenal’s Arteta challenges Chelsea’s Lampard
The biggest match in the English Premier League this weekend sees high-flying Arsenal travel to west London to take on league leaders Chelsea. The balance of power may just be shifting towards the team assembled at great expense by Roman Abramovich and the outcome of the match could be pivotal in the title race.
Chelsea’s Premier League title challenge took a slight knock as they were reduced to nine-men with manager Jose Mourinho also banished from the bench in injury-time as they slumped to defeat away to Aston Villa last weekend.
They now lead the table by four points over Liverpool and Arsenal, while their main threat in Manchester City lie six points adrift but with three games in hand. The Blues will be eager to put their defeat at Villa Park behind them and will now turn their attention to their home tie with north London rivals Arsenal. It’s no surprise that Chelsea head into the game as firm favourites as they are unbeaten against Arsenal in their last five outings, with The Blues winning three and drawing twice.
Arsene Wenger’s record against Mourinho hasn’t been good either with the Frenchman yet to beat The Portuguese on 10 occasions with five losses and five draws. Chelsea will be hoping for a strong performance and will be happy to be playing on home soil. Chelsea’s home record has been outstanding winning 13 from 15 matches and drawing twice. Mourinho’s men are the only side in the league to remain unbeaten on their turf and their recent defeat to Aston Villa was only their first loss of 2014.
There are concerns for Mourinho’s side as they will be without the Brazilian pair of Ramires and Willian due to suspension. Both players have been key to Chelsea’s impressive run this season and this is a huge blow at such a crucial stage. Frank Lampard is expected to come straight into the side to replace Ramires and partner Nemanja Matic in the centre of the park while German forward Andre Schurrle remains the likely candidate to get the nod over Mohamed Salah who has struggled to make an impact since he completed his move from Basel in January. Although The Blues have been weakened by these suspensions, Chelsea have enough quality and depth in their squad to deal with the situation.
Tomas Rosicky scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal strengthened their Premier League title challenge with a 1-0 victory at rivals Tottenham Hotspur last weekend in the North London Derby. Rosicky put Arsenal ahead in the second minute, finishing powerfully after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain led a quick counter from his own half. Spurs threatened throughout the match but were unable to find an equaliser despite creating numerous chances.
The Gunners have bounced back strong following their exit from the Champions League. Despite failing to progress through to the quarter-finals, Wenger’s boys are starting to look the side we all saw running away with the league title a few months ago. They drew in Munich which would have been a fantastic result any other day and they should have killed their chances off against Spurs in the first half but nevertheless did well to hold on to an important victory against their noisy neighbours.
Arsenal have been decent on their travels, winning nine of their 15 matches and losing four times. The Arsenal players will be keen to reward their manager who will take charge of the club for the 1000th time with a memorable victory at Stamford Bridge. In team news Kim Kallstrom could make his long awaited debut following his January transfer.
The Gunners will once again be without Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey for this one, so the Swede looks set to bolster Wenger’s midfield reinforcements. Theo Walcott also remains a long-term absentee.
Chelsea look an irresistible force at home. They have the best defence in the league conceding 23 goals in 30 games with only nine of those coming at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho has never lost a Premier League game at home and following their loss against Aston Villa last weekend, the boys in blue will come out firing and are tipped to oust Arsenal at 1/1.
