By Bulldog Drummond
If we look back across the last three seasons we can see that Chelsea has been a tough, but not impossible opponent for us…
| 02 Aug 2015 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 1-0 | Community Shield |
| 19 Sep 2015 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 24 Jan 2016 | Arsenal v Chelsea | L | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 24 Sep 2016 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 04 Feb 2017 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 27 May 2017 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | FA Cup |
| 06 Aug 2017 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 1-1 | Community Shield |
| 17 Sep 2017 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 03 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 10 Jan 2018 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | League Cup |
| 24 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | League Cup |
| 18 Aug 2018 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
We have won five games against them, drawn three and lost four. But here’s a point: our wins have all either been at Wembley or at home. And unless I am currently on my way to the wrong venue, this one is at home.
Plus there is the fact that overall we have come out on top; 76 wins for us, 63 for them.
Meanwhile as a prelude there is an interesting little note in the BBC’s preview of this match which says,
“Arsenal fans, so keen to get rid of Arsene Wenger, may now be realising that he had been shackled by the owner’s frugal spending policy.”
Well, well, who would have thought it? The BBC catching up with Untold at last.
It is difficult to see much of a change happening for Arsenal in this game, despite recent modest results which could mean a straightforward lineup of…
Leno
Mustafi Sokratis Koscielny
Bellerin Kolasinac
Torreira Xhaka
Iwobi Aubameyang
Lacazette
I would certainly think of starting Lacazette because we are absolutely going to have to score a couple of goals against this Chelsea side, and having both Aubameyang and Lacazette on the pitch from the start could slow Chelsea’s attacking intentions down as they will have to stay with their solid defence which has only let in eight goals this season!
That leaves Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Guendouzi on the beach as three players particularly likely to come on.
If Monreal is fit, as it seems he is, he could be considered – and if not should at least be on the beach. I would also have Elneny on the bench because he can play in defensive midfield or the back line. The remaining two places could be taken by youngsters who are less likely to come on.
And we have lost four of the last eight games across the competitions. But just as the 22 run had to come to an end so does our eight match poor run have to end sometime, and today would be a good day to do that.
Plus here are a few more thoughts…
We are unbeaten in our last 10 Premier League home games. Eight of those have been won and two have been draws. In fact the loss this season was the opening game against Manchester City at the very start of the campaign. Since then we have made Arsenal Stadium something of a fortress although all the comments in the Guardian and elsewhere tend to suggest it is a failing edifice, crumbling from bottom to top.
And we are also unbeaten in the last 12 Premier League London derbies at home, winning the last five. The last home derby defeat was against Chelsea in January 2016.
On the downside, we just can’t stop other teams scoring against us. Only three times have we managed this – and only Fulham has a worse record than us. It really does need to be sorted. Leno does look like a good keeper but he has only managed to keep one clean sheet in his 15 starts in the League.
But let us end with a good one. Aubameyang has been involved in 20 goals in his 18 Premier League home games for Arsenal. He has scored 15 and assisted in five.
So a win is possible: 2-1 looking like a possible score. We can but give our endless support.
Let Arsenal play this PL match against Chelsea this evening using home advantage in the match to beat them. And if they do, they will have a good confidence boost ahead of their hosting Man Utd next Friday night at the Ems to play against them in the FA Cup 4th round match and beat them. So, it’s a 2 consecutive big games in the PL and in the FA Cup all to be played Ems by Arsenal and win the 2 matches to make progress in the League table and to the FA Cup 5th round draw. Let’s hope Arsenal will play to a winning potential in their game against Chelsea this evening and win the match to carry the evening unfailingly.
Let me reiterate my Arsenal 4231 starts and my 7 Gunners bench for the match once again that I believe if they are used to play this match by Emery, Arsenal will certainly beat Chelsea in the match to carry this evening of today. Irrespective of any anti-Arsenal match refereeing in the PL by the Pgmo against Arsenal factor, Arsenal will still win the match.
Starts:
Leno;
Bellerin Mustafi Socratis Kolasinac;
Torreira Xhaka;
Niles Ozil Iwobi;
Aubameyang.
Bench:
Cech Koscielny Monreal Guendouzi Ramsey Willock Lacazette.
If my starts and bench for this our Chelsea match are not being underestimated by Emery, my Arsenal starting XI starters and the 7 Gunners I’ve named on the bench will perform credibly to beat Chelsea.
Let Arsenal play this PL match against Chelsea this evening using home advantage in the match to beat them. And if they do, they will have a good confidence boost ahead of their hosting Man Utd next Friday night at the Ems to play against them in the FA Cup 4th round match and beat them. So, it’s a 2 consecutive big games in the PL and in the FA Cup all to be played at the Ems by Arsenal and win the 2 matches to make progress in the League table and to the FA Cup 5th round draw. Let’s hope Arsenal will play to a winning potential in their game against Chelsea this evening and win the match to carry the evening unfailingly.
Let me reiterate my Arsenal 4231 starts and my 7 Gunners bench for the match once again that I believe if they are used to play this match by Emery, Arsenal will certainly beat Chelsea in the match to carry this evening of today. Irrespective of any anti-Arsenal match refereeing in the PL by the Pgmo against Arsenal factor in the match, notwithstanding, Arsenal will still win the match.
Starts:
Leno;
Bellerin Mustafi Socratis Kolasinac;
Torreira Xhaka;
Niles Ozil Iwobi;
Aubameyang.
Bench:
Cech Koscielny Monreal Guendouzi Ramsey Willock Lacazette.
If my starts and bench for this our Chelsea match are not being underestimated by Emery, my Arsenal starting XI starters and the 7 Gunners I’ve named on the bench will perform credibly to beat Chelsea.
GD 23 Random flakyness
ManU v Brighton Fouls listed 5:7 at about half time. Brighton has needed 2 treatments, ManU 1. No cards. The first Brighton treatment seems to be part of the play involving the ManU penalty at 27m. Self-inflicted?
Newc v Cardiff Fouls at about half time as 8:3, only card is to Cardiff.
Watford v Burnley Fouls about half time listed as 10:4. 10 fouls, and no cards?
GD 23 Random flakyness
ManU v Brighton final fouls 11:10. Only the single yellow to ManU Rashford at the end of the game. Brighton needed 2 treatments and ManU 3. I will guess that Rashford’s yellow is because of his treatment 3m before.
Newc v Cardiff, final fouls are 11:5, and yet the only card is to Cardiff. Treatments 1 a piece.
Soton v Everton, final fouls 12:11. 2 cards to Soton and 1 to Everton. 4 treatments to Soton and 2 to Everton. Long’s yellow is because he needed treatment slightly before this (like Rashford at ManU).
Watford v Burnley, final fouls are 19:7 and yet the cards are 1:2. 2 treatments to watford, 1 to Burnley.
Game already started, lineup listed is
Leno
Bellerin Sokratis, Koscielny Kolasinac
Guendouzi Xhaka Torreira
Ramsey
PEA Lacazette
Beach: Cech, Elneny, Ozil, Maitland-Niles, Iwobi, Monreal, Mustafi
COYG!
How to go Lacazette, don’t know who assisted (yet).
COYG!
Bellerin with the assist.
COYG!
Taylor stopping a good quick ball with ‘play to the whistle’.
The slope is there but it is a shy implementation.
Taylor showing a yellow to Luiz for a red tackle!!
How to go Koscielny, no assist yet.
COYG!
Sokratis with the assist.
COYG!
Sokratis shank gets a shoulder from Kos!! They all count!!
An exciting half. Our lads are working their tails off. Both teams could have had a couple more…could be 2-2…could be 4-0. Not a comfortable lead, though…can’t fall asleep in the second half.
The selective blindness is something that Arsenal have to address in an overseas TV show so that it does not give the FA cause to react against the club. There are so many sports programmes that will easily add the information.
Does not look good for Bellerin
Bellerin needs treatment at 69m. Card? Foul?
COYG!
Bellerin gets caught on tye side of his left knee by Barkley and goes down a moment later with a knee problem.
Bellerin subbed for El Neney, and Maitland Niles goes to left back.
Guardian says there was no contact. Sure, if you have a policy of not seeing anything when an Arsenal player gets hurt, there is never any contact. It is all self-inflicted.
Before we scored our second goal, the shots on target for us was listed as 5. It is still listed as 5.
COYG!
Another treatment to Ars (Torreira). Again no mention of foul or card.
COYG!
And the Guardian accuses Arsenal of wasting time as usual.
COYG!
Treatment to Xhaka.
COYG!
Toreira fouled by Alonso several times but went down because of cramp. Barkley gets away with a yellow for a red challenge. Taylor being magnificent as usual.
Barkley gets a yellow, 21m too late.
COYG!
over the finish line!! 🙂
Hope Hector is OK
Barkleys contact with Bellerin was slight but sufficient to damage a knee. The TV caught it but never discuss the contact as being there. Selective blindness by all those wonderful people …..
Oh Dear what a sad affair Arsenal beating Chelsea and all that can be said is Chelses were poor. Nothing mentioned about the three blind mice.
WOO HOO , HOO ! Well done guys. A well controlled game , with hardly a sniff for them.
3 points, and a clean sheet. A damn great tonic after last weekend.
A few more yellow cards shoud have accorded to them. But we gave them back avdose of their medicine.
Up the Gunners !
I’m very happy! A great win, and Koscielny back and Man of the Match!
Said I would cross my fingers for an Arsenal win; the boys delivered on what I thought might be a Chelsea win by trouncing CFC. Thank you for the good feeling and well done.
Guardian has to finish up their coverage, by having a bash at Mesut. I hope they go bankrupt.
No medja outlet has seen anything about contact before Bellerin went down severely injured all by himself Menace.
They all have to lie about this.
In the absence of anyone from Belgium I wore my official Belgian Gooners scarf – result never in doubt!
Emery channelled Ancelotti’s AC Milan team for this game, with Xhaka, Torreira, Guendouzi and Ramsey fulfilling the Pirlo/Gatusso/Seedorf/Kaka (or Costa) central midfield. Laca and Auba were Inzaghi and Shevchenko.
As we are wingless, I’ve been silently hoping for a switch to the diamond (my version would have featured Ozil at AM and Ramsey at RCM instead of Guen) for a while now so I’m glad it worked. I think this layout could be a good interim solution for the club in the build up to end of the season.
Bellerin’s injury look like a lateral ligament tear and not the ACL. He will miss our upcoming big games but hopefully, it won’t completely end his involvement for the run in.
This was a weird game to watch. It felt like a role reversal from the Wenger days with Serri being the purist and Emery being the pragmatist. Unlike Wenger, however, Serri’s players get away everything.
Anthony Taylor is a shit of the highest order. It boggles the mind how few refs there are on the top flight that we have to get the same bent/incompetant officials all season long.
Still, a great display and a great day for all Gooners. COYG
It was a great day at our new years reception followed by a good team performance from The Arsenal! Sorry for not being able to do my usual match report because of my duties at the supporters club café
Orthodox New Year’s Day? Jan 14 this year?
You were making the coffee?
Glad the new year’s reception went well, Walter. The win must have really boosted the atmosphere too.
It sure did Pat… 🙂
OT: The women’s game (in general)
Interesting article on deficiencies in the women’s game at
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1074391/nancy-gillen-the-fa-must-fix-underlying-issues-in-womens-football-before-it-hits-the-mainstream
Nice to see someone else notice deficient referees, especially with an Arsenal example:
I think this deficiency in officiating is visible in the treatment data in the EPL. The only data I am getting, is of the “serious” treatments. Yes, some of these treatments are in a sense self-inflicted: such as a goalkeeper pulling a muscle when kicking the ball, or a striker running into the goalpost. But most of these treatments are a result of a tackler colliding with a person nominally in possession of the ball. The collision is on purpose, it is not an accident. Many times there is no foul called on the collision, and there are very few cards issued as a result of these collisions (be that a foul for simulation or a foul for rough play). People are getting seriously hurt in these treatment situations, and 😈 Mike Riley’s clowns think this is all a joke. That must be why they see so little need for discipline in these situations. They are there in part to provide a _SAFE_ environment for the players, and it isn’t happening.
I suspect there is a larger need to improve deficiencies in the women’s game. But these deficiencies are not limited to the women’s game. It is everywhere The (sweet) FA touches things.