London Derby

Many say that this match should be a cracker and they are correct in every sense. Two of the contenders this season are playing in the deadly winter to heat up the race for the Premier League title. The hosts seem quite confident about the London derby as their French manager made a statement on the club website saying, “Let’s say we look at the number of points they have and the number of points we have. We have nothing to envy.”  Whereas on the other hand, Chelsea’s recent form can be termed more than poor as they haven’t experienced victory in five consecutive premier league fixtures.

Team News:

Arsenal:

Gunners’ skipper Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby and Lukasz Fabianski who were all to be involved against Stoke will be starting against Chelsea as well. Arsenal would definitely miss Thomas Vermaelen who will be out till the end of January owing to Achilles’ heel, an injury which he incurred during the match against Blackburn Rovers in August. Kieren Gibbs will also be out until starting of January. But to round off all these injuries, Arsenal have an in-form Samir Nasri who has scored 8 goals in 14 premier league appearances he has made this season. Gunners have managed to win 3 out of the 5 last premier league fixtures losing only to current league leaders Manchester United and local rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. The Londoners also have Van Persie available who claimed the opener from the spot against their European fixture against Partizan Belgrade.

Form Guide:

Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal (13^th Dec’ 10)

Arsenal 3-1 Partizan Belgrade (8^th Dec’ 10)

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham (4^th Dec’ 10)

Arsenal 2-0 Wigan Athletic (30^th Nov’ 10)

Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal (27^th Nov’ 10)

Players To Watch:

Maroune Chamakh, Samir Nasri, Robin Van Persie.

Chelsea:

Chelsea is the team here who should be doing their homework carefully. They have displayed a disappointing show by getting only three out of possible 12 points in their last few league fixtures. But they have a reason to be confident as they have already beaten Arsenal earlier this season at the Stamford Bridge and have lost only twice in their last 18 meetings with the London rivals. Both Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard who have been seeing a few previous kick-offs from the bench will be in the Italian manager’s starting line-up against Arsenal whereas he will still be deprived of the services of Alex, Yuri Zhirkov and Jose Bosingwa due to injuries. Drogba should be one player the Arsenal defence needs to take care of to make sure they get out with some result.

Form Guide:

Tottenham Hotspurs 1-1 Chelsea (12^th Dec’ 10)

Marseille 1-0 Chelsea (8^th Dec’ 10)

Chelsea 1-1 Everton (4^th Dec’ 10)

Newcastle 1-1 Chelsea (28^th Nov’ 10)

Chelsea 2-1 MSK Zilina (23^rd Nov’ 10)

Players To Watch:

Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard.

My Prediction:

When, in movies, the titans clash, we see just a flash of light and nothing henceforth. This one may be like one of those we may see nothing or just see a little bit. Chelsea need to win this one to keep themselves intact in the title race with newbies such as Spurs and Manchester City waiting to snatch away the spot. So, it’s Wenger’s youth policy playing versus the experience. The visitors have got something to prove but the home-side doesn’t seem to care.

Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea

Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, Didier Drogba, EPL, Football, Frank Lampard, London Derby, Maroune Chamakh, Match Preview, Premier League, Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri