Arsenal vs Chelsea
Date:27th Dec 2010
Time: 20:00 GMT
Live: Sky Sports 1,Sky Sports HD1,ESPN
Ground: Emirates Stadium
Barclays Premier League
The Chelsea-Arsenal rivalry was born in 1907 when the two first played against one other. This was the first time that two London teams had played each other in the First Division and drew a staggering capacity of 65,000.
Both are desperate to keep up with the title pace, with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger describing the clash as a 'must-win game', while Chelsea counterpart Carlo Ancelotti has declared: "We don't want that gap (to United) to widen, so it's important to obtain an important result in this game."
As for the back, one suspects that Wenger might go for Sebastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny again, although Johan Djourou has looked very good in his appearances this year, has pace, and offers more in the air than either of his French teammates.
Arsenal played well in October, but Chelsea finished their chances, and the Gunners did not. There was also concern after the match about the deployment of two holding midfielders for Arsenal against one for Chelsea. It will be interesting to see whether Arsène Wenger uses his favorite pair from this season, Alex Song and Jack Wilshere, or whether he opts to set out recent returnee Abou Diaby next to Song, or a more steady passer, Denilson.
The Blues are without a win in their last five games, a disappointing run of form that has seen them slip down from the top of the table to fourth. However they showed signs of returning to their best form after an excellent second half display against Tottenham in their last match, coming back from a goal down to collect a point from the game.
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who scored but also missed a last-gasp penalty in the draw at White Hart Lane, will be looking to continue an amazing run against the Gunners of 13 strikes in 13 games, including five goals in the last three meetings.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti expressed his confidence that his side will now return to their winning ways, starting with all three points against Arsenal on Monday. Chelsea have recovered from their injury crisis with Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba all returning to full fitness though Jose Bosingwa, Alex, Yury Zhirkov and Yossi Benayoun remain sidelined.
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