By Bulldog Drummond
The last ten games against Chelsea include a Cup Final, the Community Shield, two league cup games and the Europa League Final
| Date | Game | Res |
Score | Competition |
| 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 |
| 19 Jan 2019 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 29 May 2019 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 4-1 | Europa League |
We have won four, they have won three and there were three draws.
If however we look just at the last ten League games we see this…
| Date | Game | Res |
Score | Competition |
| 05 Oct 2014 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 26 Apr 2015 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 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 |
| 17 Sep 2017 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 03 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 18 Aug 2018 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 19 Jan 2019 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
Yes it really is true we have only beaten them twice in the League in the last ten games, lost five and drawn three.
So what do we have going for us? Chelsea’s own poor form of late, I guess, and the fabled New Manager Bounce.
The big problem for Arsenal of course is that we have to start winning soon or else there will be talk of being pulled into a relegation dog fight. The Wenger haters got their way and had our most successful manager of all time in terms of league position and win percentage removed. Then they turned on Mr Emery and had our second most successful manager in terms of win percentage removed.
Thankfully I doubt that they could pull the same stunt a third time, at least not before the end of the season so I guess Mr Arteta has got a bit of time to get us away from the yawning chasm at the foot.
Here’s the table looking downwards…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD |
Pts | |
| 11 | Arsenal | 19 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 25 | 28 | -3 | 24 |
| 12 | Burnley | 19 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 23 | 30 | -7 | 24 |
| 13 | Everton | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 29 | -8 | 22 |
| 14 | Southampton | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 23 | 37 | -14 | 21 |
| 15 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 28 | -6 | 20 |
| 16 | AFC Bournemouth | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 26 | -6 | 20 |
| 17 | West Ham United | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 20 | 30 | -10 | 19 |
| 18 | Aston Villa | 19 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 25 | 33 | -8 | 18 |
We’re six points clear of the relegation spot and of course the good thing about teams near the bottom is they don’t win very often.
The injury and suspension table (adapted from data on Physioroom) does offer a little encouragement at this point with Tierney out, but the rest either back for this match or coming back shortly.
| Player | Reason | Further Detail | Potential Return |
| Kieran Tierney | Shoulder Injury | Dislocated shoulder at West Ham. Has had surgery, rehabilitation for around three months. | 14/03/2020 |
| Hector Bellerin | Thigh Injury | Recovering from tight hamstring | 29/12/2019 |
| Calum Chambers | Suspended | 5 Yellow Cards | 29/12/2019 |
| Gabriel Martinelli | Thigh Injury | Tight left hamstring. Was assessed ahead Bournemouth. | 29/12/2019 |
| Dani Ceballos | Thigh Injury | Dec 14: “Aiming to return to full training next week.” | 29/12/2019 |
| Rob Holding | Knee Injury | Reported to be back in training | 29/12/2019 |
| Sead Kolasinac | Ankle ligament | Aiming to return to full training in January.” | No Return Date |
| Sokratis | Head/Face Injury | Head Injury BBC says out to the end of February | No Return Date |
And you never know, it could be a good game, if both teams continue to plough forward and stop worrying about their defensive abilities or otherwise. We’ve only kept one clean sheet in the last 16 games, but are the highest scorers in the lower part of the league. At the same time the only time Chelsea didn’t concede since November was in the game against Tottenham.
So at least we might get some goals.
