da bet nacional： Chelsea vs Arsenal is one of the most hotly-anticipated fixtures on the Premier League calendar and represents the headline act in the English top flight this weekend. The buildup to the clash is dominated by contradicting statistics; Antonio Conte’s beaten the Gunners just once during his time in England, but Arsenal’s record at Stamford Bridge is infamously poor, not winning there since 2011. So, will those recent returns have any bearing on Sunday’s game, how should both managers set up their sides and perhaps most importantly, who will come out on top? This week’s experts, David Chidgey from Chelsea FanCast and ArsenalFanTV’s Robbie, share their thoughts on how this one will pan out…
da marjack bet： Eden Hazard’s featured from the bench in Chelsea’s last two games but hasn’t looked quite up to speed. Would you start him against Arsenal?
DG: Not convinced that assertion is entirely correct. Given that he’s our most influential player creatively I think Conte has managed his re-introduction well. His cameos show that he’s not far away from making a start – probably on Sunday – and remember it’s not easy to come on as a sub and make an impact.
If Conte thinks he’s ready to start against Arsenal, he’ll start. Personally I would start him – his performances against Arsenal in the past, particularly in the 3-1 win at home last season when he scored a superb individual goal, tell you that Arsenal would be happier if he didn’t start.
If he doesn’t start I would not be too worried. Willian has been in superb form this season and if Hazard doesn’t make it then Cesc Fabregas can be pushed further forward and provide the ammunition for Morata. We have many players to create and score goals so I’m sure we have enough to beat Arsenal with or without Hazard.
Arsenal were ripped apart using 3-4-3 at Anfield a few weeks ago and after going behind, Wenger switched to a 4-2-3-1 against FC Koln. Would you prefer to see Arsenal start with four at the back on Saturday?
Robbie: I would – I’d rather see a back four, although I can see the merits in three at the back against Chelsea because you’re matching them up and we did that in the FA Cup final, so for this particular game maybe three at the back will work.
So if it’s a 3-4-3, who would you start in the forward line?
Robbie: That’s the hard one, because you’d think you’ve got to start Alexis Sanchez but Danny Welbeck had a really good game against Bournemouth; scored two goals, looked lively. He creates a nice balance when he’s in there as well. I don’t know if there’s a possibility we could play Welbeck as a right wing-back because he’s got the energy to get up and down the pitch and he’s effective on the right or the left.
But if we played three up front we could play Welbeck, Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette. But the thing that really worries me about the team is that we don’t have a holding midfield player. That’s supposed to be the role Granit Xhaka’s filling, but he’s not playing it well.
Conte’s record against Arsenal isn’t the strongest. What lessons need to be learned from the three defeats and how should it affect Conte’s game-plan?
DG: Well, the 3-0 away to Arsenal last year was horrible but it did set in motion the change in system that saw us march to the title. The FA Cup was poor but I think Chelsea were leggy at the end of a season where they’d used a small pool of players. And I thought only JoseMourinho took the Community Shield seriously? We drew 1-1 and then lost on penalties in what is effectively a pre-season friendly – for me it has about as much relevance as the 3-0 win to Chelsea in the pre-season tour – absolutely none.
What is more relevant is current form and ours is considerably better than Arsenal’s with 3 wins out of 4 (the loss coming when down to 9 men), whereas Arsenal have lost to Stoke, got thumped by Liverpool and narrowly beat Leicester at home by the odd goal.
Is there anything to learn from the defeats? Probably, but nothing really to panic about. Our record against Arsenal recently has been so good, especially at home. I suppose its a reminder not to take them lightly. They have some very good players and on their day can beat anyone, so we need to be focused and well up for it. I’m sure Conte will make that point, but there’s no need to set up in a particular way for them.
Michael Oliver has a bit of a reputation with Arsenal fans – the Gunners have won just four games from the 19 he’s officiated. Does that concern you ahead of Sunday?
Robbie: A referee is a referee, I don’t really look much into that. It’s going to be more about those players and what they do on the pitch – if they’ve got the right mentality, if they approach the match like they approached the FA Cup final and not have fear like we do every time we play at Stamford Bridge – they really have to get rid of that.
What’s the biggest weakness of the opposition your side can exploit?
DG: As always it’s their defensive vulnerability and lack of discipline in midfield. If Tiemoue Bakayoko partners N’Golo Kante in midfield, which I think he will, we should be able to dominate them and no doubt Arsenal will naively push up and go on the attack and leave gaps for the likes of Marcos Alonso, Victor Moses, Fabregas, Hazard, Willian and Morata to exploit. Let’s hope so!
Robbie: If you can get at the back three, you can get at Chelsea – there’s joy to be had there. I think Gary Cahill can be exposed or if you use pace against David Luiz, I really do think you can pose Chelsea lots of problems. But you have to get at them and you have to close them down and you have to work really, really hard. We did that in the cup final but when we’ve been to Stamford Bridge on previous occasions we haven’t done that – we haven’t worked hard enough and we’ve been punished. The proof is there that if you get at them and really attack them, you can pose a lot of problems, and it’s up to Arsenal to do that this weekend.
And finally fellas, let’s hear your score predictions.
DG: To be honest I don’t see Arsenal turning around their poor run against us at Stamford Bridge just quite yet. For me it’s still pretty much the same old Arsenal we know and love with their soft underbelly and Wenger’s tactical stubbornness. Their recent form is a bit iffy and it won’t have helped playing so late against Koln on Thursday night. If we turn up and are at it then I reckon we should win 3-1, but obviously I’ll settle for a repeat of the 6-0 in 2014 as that was one of the funniest matches I have ever witnessed at Stamford Bridge.
Robbie: It’s really hard to call because we have a decent record against them but it’s at Stamford Bridge where we have a poor record. So I’m going to go for a draw.
How do you think Chelsea vs Arsenal will pan out? Let us know by giving your score predictions in the comments section!