Chelsea FC travel to the Emirates to face the EPL’s most in-form team of 2015 on the back of a morale boosting home win against Manchester United last weekend. Arsenal are also coming into this fixture after a less than impressive 2-1 win (after extra time) against Reading in the F.A. Cup semi-final and are favourites to secure their second consecutive F.A. Cup trophy when they meet Aston Villa in the final.
Chelsea’s win against Man Utd was scoffed at by Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, who, when informed about the victory, responded “1-0? As usual!”, thus implying that the victory was nothing special. But the celebrations by the multitude of Chelsea fans who witnessed the game as well as the players and coaching staff of the club after the final whistle indicated otherwise. Add that to Van Gaal’s irritated demeanour in the press conference after the game, and it paints an even clearer picture of how important the victory was.
Van Gaal tried to create an image of “the better side losing” by using the possession statistics (71%-29%) to indicate that his side played better and deserved to win. But both sides each managed 2 shots on target, showing Chelsea’s effectiveness without the ball. And as Chelsea columnist, Giles Smith, aptly put it:
“In a game of fetch, after all, the dog usually has most of the possession, but that doesn’t mean he’s in control.”
Key Facts
- Wenger may have scoffed at Chelsea’s 1-0 victory against Man Utd, but the last 7 games between both sides in the EPL has yielded 14 goals in Chelsea’s favour with Arsenal managing just 2. Chelsea have won 5 of those games with 2 ending in goalless draws. And none of 5 the wins has ended 1-0 as usual! In actual fact, Arsenal have not scored against Chelsea in their last 4 EPL games, conceding 10.
- Similar to Man Utd, Jose Mourinho is yet to lose a game against Arsenal in 12 attempts, all against current Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger. The run includes 7 wins and 5 draws.
- Chelsea have kept 15 clean sheets in their 32 games so far and have only failed to score in one away game. Arsenal have scored in all their home games so far in the EPL.
- Arsenal are the EPL’s most in-form team, winning 8 consecutive games in a row and they have also won their last 9 games at the Emirates. Chelsea are on a run of 5 consecutive away league wins. They have also won 2 of their last 4 league games at the Emirates.
- The Gunners have scored 14 goals (the most) and conceded just 3 (the least) in their last 6 games. Chelsea have managed 9 and conceded 4 goals in the same number of games.
- Chelsea have opened scoring in 26 of 32 EPL games this season and have done so in all their games in 2015.
- The Blues have used just 22 players in the EPL this season, the lowest in the league.
- Oliver Giroud has scored 10 goals in his last 12 games in all competitions for Arsenal. Hazard has scored or assisted in all of Chelsea’s last 3 away games. He has also completed the most number of dribbles at 153, 51 more than Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez in second.
Expected Starting Lineups
Chelsea’s Possible Starting 11
Having a whole week to prepare for this massive fixture, Mourinho is not expected to rest many of the players that featured in last Saturday’s win against Man Utd. Didier Drogba featured in last weekend’s game but missed his charity match due to an ankle problem. But Mourinho has declared him fit to start Sunday’s game while Diego Costa is still unavailable despite Mourinho stating earlier this week that the striker was likely to be fit in time for this fixture after being out for 2 weeks with a hamstring problem. Loic Remy is not certain for this fixture as well. Willian is expected to start ahead of Oscar after sitting out last weekend’s game due to illness while Obi Mikel may replace the impressive Kurt Zouma in defensive midfield alongside Nemanja Matic.
Arsenal’s Possible Starting 11
Arsene Wenger is likely to make four changes from the side that defeated Reading in last weekend’s F.A. Cup semi-final. David Ospina is expected to reclaim his place in goal ahead of Wojciech Szczesny, while Calum Chambers will take the right-back slot in favour of Mathieu Debuchy. Kieran Gibbs will replace Nacho Monreal at left-back while Oliver Giroud will lead the line upfront in place of Danny Welbeck.
Key Players
Eden Hazard has been Chelsea’s most influential player over the last few weeks and will again play a crucial role in this game. But as Chelsea are expected to prioritize defensive solidity over attacking inventiveness, the leadership qualities and impressive defensive ability of Chelsea’s captain John Terry could be really key in this game. His experience in high pressure fixtures like Sunday’s London derby would be needed to help keep his team mates on their toes and fully concentrated on the task ahead for the duration of the game.
Betsided
Arsenal would need to find a way to break down a resilient Chelsea defence on Saturday and will need the pace and dribbling skills of Santi Carzola and Alexis Sanchez as well as the finishing ability of Oliver Giroud to convert the few chances they may create. But without the trickery and passing ability of Mesut Ozil, they may find it difficult to convert their possession into chances. So expect the German international to play a crucial role in this fixture.
Expectations
Similar to last weekend, Chelsea will most likely sit deep and try to hit Arsenal on the break through Eden Hazard. Arsenal will again dominate possession and territory as Chelsea will consider a draw as a good result and will therefore try to smother all the spaces in middle of the park, making it difficult for the Gunners to find headway in the attacking third. The psychological effect of all their previous losses could also play a role in determining if Arsenal have what it takes to secure their 1st win against Mourinho in 13 attempts.
Photos by @cfcunoffical (Chelsea Debs). On Twitter and at cfcunofficial.com
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