closed Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea

[Jase 43,479]

5 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Pretty sure Lamps decided that Alonso will never play again after WBA.

I know but I mentioned that only because Chilwell is reportedly out for 2 weeks and we have 2 games in 3 days coming up. Can Emerson play 2 games in 3 days? I know the argument would be that he hasn't played a lot but playing 2 games in 3 days is still a lot for anyone. 

Moreover, it's not as if Lampard has never brought someone back from the cold. 

[Strike 7,029]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

I know but I mentioned that only because Chilwell is reportedly out for 2 weeks and we have 2 games in 3 days coming up. Can Emerson play 2 games in 3 days? I know the argument would be that he hasn't played a lot but playing 2 games in 3 days is still a lot for anyone. 

Moreover, it's not as if Lampard has never brought someone back from the cold. 

We need a Lamptey-type elevation. Or someone playing out of position vs Villa at home.

[Jase 43,479]

21 minutes ago, Strike said:

We need a Lamptey-type elevation. Or someone playing out of position vs Villa at home.

Who exactly? Maatsen is out on loan and Azpi is already gonna play this game. Playing another person out of position at LB is just silly, especially when Villa are no mugs this season. 

[Jase 43,479]

There's no entirely a clear pattern here but a lot of Arsenal's recent losses have come when they saw a lot more of the ball:

Arsenal's Opponents - Arsenal's Possession Stat - Result

Fulham - 54.4% - W
West Ham - 62.6% - W
Liverpool - 34% - L
Sheffield Utd - 64.5% - W
Man City - 41.5% - L
Leicester - 56.3% - L
Man Utd - 46.7% - W
Aston Villa - 58.8% - L
Leeds - 33.7% - D
Wolves - 56.2% - L
Arsenal - 69.8% - L
Burnley - 64.7% - L
Southampton - 35.2% - D
Everton - 57.8% - L

Given that and Arsenal's lack of creativity going forward, I wonder whether Lampard will set up to play on the counter...or just try to attack them and potentially leave us susceptible to counter attacks like what happened in the FA Cup final last season and our recent losses at Everton and Wolves.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

I absoutely hate this scenario, especially in derby matches. It is not only about Chelsea, but happens in every single sport - a supposedly even game (a derby match is a derby match, right?) where one of the teams is favoured by every human being and their dog and surprise, surprise what do you get? A dog shite performance from the favourites. I saw this scenario happen time and time again, I am completely fed up with it (people into sports betting know very well what I am talking about here ha ha).

Not taking anything for granted in this match, but an Arsenal win would be "so Chelsea" and would probably put me on hold in regards to English football for some time. I can barely read some news after a draw v Southampton, a loss v the current Arsenal, the joke team they have become, I don't think my stomach is ready for it.

[bigbluewillie 1,810]

Such bloody negativity on here...some backbone and belief wouldn't go amiss.

Stop worrying about Arse FFS

0-3

KTBFFH

[Vesper 27,547]

perfect dress to watch the game at the pub in

got both ends covered 

Happy Sad Puff Sleeve Dress

https://www.lazyoaf.com/products/happy-sad-puff-sleeve-dress

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Jase 43,479]

8 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

+ Hakim Ziyech not fit to face Arsenal. 

[Pizy 17,934]

As horrendous as Arse have been this will be an absolute slog just like much of the WH game was on Monday with all these key injuries. That's 3 of our most dangerous players out again with their replacements several levels worse than them.

This feels like it'll be one of those games where it's dreadfully poor for 85 minutes and 1 goal will win it.

If ever there was a time for Werner and Havertz to come out of their shells it's during the next week or two.

[Jase 43,479]

7 minutes ago, Jason said:

+ Hakim Ziyech not fit to face Arsenal. 

This probably means that one of Werner or Pulisic will have to start 2 games in 3 days. 

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, Pizy said:

As horrendous as Arse have been this will be an absolute slog just like much of the WH game was on Monday with all these key injuries. That's 3 of our most dangerous players out again with their replacements several levels worse than them.

Ziyech has played only like 5 ga...ah, never mind...

[coolhead23 1,146]

Got a feeling that Lampard would defend this out specially with we missing our full backs and the last match against them was not a good one. 

Both teams need to win to get going but it could turn out to be a boring affair. 

[milka 3,316]

 I watched this game before ( FA Cup Finals 2017 , 2020  where we was big favorite  ) 

so  2:0 for Arsenal  or  very hard 1:1 

 

--------------- Mendy -----------------

--Azpi---Zouma---Silva ----Emerson---

---Kante ---- Mount------Kovacic----

---Pulisic----Abraham----Werner----

[DANILA 290]

CHO has to start if fit and play werner in the middle ffs

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Vesper 27,547]

Chelsea to overtake Arsenal in all-time Premier League points? ‘Unbelievable’

https://theathletic.com/2278578/2020/12/23/chelsea-arsenal-premier-league/

The last thing Arsenal fans will probably want to hear right now is another damning statistic.

Manager Mikel Arteta reeled off a list of numbers earlier in the week trying to explain and excuse their terrible Premier League form this season. It’s questionable whether the exercise helped his cause.

As Arsenal now prepare for one of the biggest derbies they’ve played against Chelsea in their history, getting a win on Saturday to put distance between themselves and the bottom three is obviously the main priority.

However, there is something else at stake, another negative landmark that the north Londoners will want to avoid. Should Chelsea get all three points at the Emirates Stadium, they will draw level with Arsenal in the all-time Premier League points table with 2,025 each.

This was unthinkable when Arsene Wenger was in his pomp and Arsenal were winning doubles in 1998 and 2002, and securing the title with an unbeaten league record in 2004.

Arsenal’s great left-back Nigel Winterburn, who won seven major trophies at the club between 1987-2000, certainly thinks so. “As a stat it would be very sad,” he tells The Athletic. “I’m more concerned with other things, like staying up, but it just shows how things have changed. 

“There has been a power shift toward Chelsea over the years. Arsenal have become less of a force in the Premier League. This will probably be the fifth season in a row where they have finished outside the top four. That tells you everything.

“For Chelsea to draw level on total points, it means something. It shows the decline of Arsenal and also Chelsea’s improvement. They have been champions five times since Arsenal last finished top. It demonstrates you can’t rest on your laurels. The Premier League is ruthless.”

The story of this reversal of fortune in the two clubs’ respective points tallies is quite dramatic.

Chelsea have never finished a Premier League season above their rivals in terms of the total accrued since the competition began.

At the end of the first campaign in 1992-93, they were level on 56, but Arsenal had a superior goal difference. From then on, Arsenal’s advantage grew steadily. In the last full season before Wenger arrived (1995-96), they had built a lead of 30 over the west London side (241 points to 211).

Despite Chelsea beginning to invest in better players such as Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Vialli and Gianfranco Zola, Wenger’s abilities as a coach and Arsenal’s superior squad meant they surged clear. The gulf in class was evident back then.

Gustavo Poyet, who played for Chelsea between 1997-2001, can vouch for that. He was never on the winning side against Wenger’s men in a league game. “My record against them was terrible,” he admits. “It was pure frustration. It really hurt a lot. Something was not working. 

“They were a very good team, outstanding. They had everything. But they have never replaced Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit. They never had that proper centre midfielder which made you think, ‘Oh my, someone is having to play against this’.

“When you faced those two, you knew you were in for a special game. I played in the position where I had to face them one week and Roy Keane at Manchester United the next. I very much felt like, ‘Thank you — all the best!’ 

“There is a big difference between the Arsenal team now and the one I had to play against. I can’t remember seeing an Arsenal team in the last 10 years that made me think, ‘Wow, they’re back’. The cause of the decline is a combination of players, managers and board. You can’t just blame one person.”

As The Athletic’s table illustrates, when Wenger won his first Premier League and FA Cup double in 1998, Arsenal had built a 54-point lead over Chelsea (387-333). It had increased to 97 (695-598) after he repeated the feat four years later and went as high as 119 (863-744) at the end of their remarkable 2003-o4 domination of England’s top division.

That advantage took Arsenal 13 years of hard work and exemplary football to build. It has taken Chelsea 16-and-a-half years to catch up, but catch up they have.

Poyet adds: “To see Chelsea go level on points? Unbelievable. Chelsea are an example of how things progress, not just over one year, but over many years. The impact is bigger when the financial side is significant. At the start of the Premier League, what Chelsea did in the market was so-so. It was difficult for them to win trophies. Then foreigners like myself came in the mid-to-late 1990s and Chelsea started winning cups. We were getting better, but something was missing. It took Roman Abramovich buying the club in 2003 and Jose Mourinho joining as manager a year later to go to the next level.

“Obviously when the gap was at its biggest that was the stage when Mourinho arrived. Chelsea have been more consistent ever since and regularly getting more points, whereas Arsenal have had more downs than ups.

“Has there been a change in the balance of power? Without any doubt. Chelsea have been the ones on top in most areas over the last 17 years. Abramovich has been key, but Arsenal also haven’t found the formula.”

By the time Mourinho’s last full season of his first spell as Chelsea manager (2004-07) came to an end, the gap had already been reduced by 51 points to 68 (1,081-1,013). Significantly, Chelsea had also overtaken Liverpool for third spot in the standings (Arsenal moved to second in 2002. Manchester United have been top since winning the first-ever Premier League in 1992-93).

The distance between them was down to 44 (1,311-1,267) following Carlo Ancelotti’s Premier League and FA Cup double as Chelsea manager in 2010. It has been a bit harder over the last decade to finish the job of erasing Arsenal’s lead, mainly because they gave 21 points back in 2015-16 for them to go 51 clear (1,747-1,696). This was the season where Mourinho was sacked for a second time and defending champions Chelsea finished a distant 10th  — their lowest final placing in the Abramovich era.

But that campaign has been very much the exception to the norm and Winterburn can only see the trend getting worse, even if Arsenal beat Chelsea this weekend.

“I look at the quality of players we have now to my day, there is no comparison,” he says. “I look at the current generation and wonder who would get into my group? Maybe a few would get in the squad, I don’t think anyone would be in the first XI.

“Our real strength as a club was we intimidated teams with the players we had. That is half of Arsenal’s problem now. Clubs aren’t intimidated when they play Arsenal anymore. That’s quite sad to say that. Teams relish playing Arsenal. 

“Regardless of whether Arsenal win against Chelsea to take their overall lead back to six points, I’d expect Chelsea to be ahead come the end of this season. They’ve lost a few games lately but they’re playing with more of a swagger. They have a lot of attacking options. Conversely, who else is going to score (for Arsenal) if Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang isn’t doing it or is injured? I don’t think even the most diehard Arsenal fan will believe Chelsea won’t have more points.

“Since Abramovich came in, Chelsea have spent more money. Arsenal still recruit, but it has to work better. Chelsea will keep doing what they’re doing and Arsenal have to find a way with the budget they have.

“But it’s all very well identifying players. Do they want to join Arsenal at this moment in time? Thomas Partey and Gabriel have been good but…

“Do I fear Arsenal will miss out on signings if Chelsea go for the same player now? I have to say yes. It looks as if Chelsea are going one way and Arsenal are going in the opposite direction, the wrong direction. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out someone will choose the club on an upward trajectory over one that is struggling.”  

Arsenal have shown in recent years that they can get the better of Chelsea. They caused an upset to beat them in the 2017 and 2020 FA Cup finals. But as Poyet insists: “Those are one-off games, where anything can happen. The trend, the league table, doesn’t lie.”

And for Arsenal, it only seems a matter of when, not if, they fall behind Chelsea in total Premier League points for the very first time.

There are no stats from Arteta which could ease the painful reality of that.

[Pizy 17,934]

I kinda like the idea of starting our fastest possible attack with Timo up top flanked by CHO and CP but I doubt Frank will suddenly change the system so drastically all of a sudden sadly. Arse's CB's are calamitous so Werner playing through the middle could do some real damage. Plus, with the likes of Luiz and Mustafi or whoever they play Werner's pace could also draw a penalty.

But I think Frank loves the idea of a traditional #9 too much to do it. I would definitely have thought Giroud would start this since he'll be really up for it against Arse but then Tammy went and scored a couple so likely won't be dropped.