These two sides will do battle for the second time this season. Playing in the season’s curtain call, Arsenal frustrated Chelsea by winning 1-0 in the Charity Shield. Since then, things have not gone well for Chelsea. José Mourinho’s Blues are 17th in the table after losing three, drawing once, and winning only one.
Arsène Wenger has fared much better, only dropping four points compared to the 11 of Mourinho. Wenger will regret the West Ham defeat in the first game, but it appears that the Gunners are beginning to gradually improve their form. Now would be the ideal opportunity to heap yet more misery on Chelsea.
Expectations
Mourinho attempted to confidently laugh off Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Everton, but the fact of the matter is that the Portuguese manager has serious issues to address. The first of these is that Chelsea have been atrocious in defence. Even the return of John Terry was not enough to improve Chelsea’s defence against Everton.
Chelsea’s midfield and attacking play have also been extremely poor. Nemanja Matić and Cesc Fàbregas have not started the season well and are getting bossed by their opponents. A consequence of this is that they are not linking smoothly with the attacking midfielders. Thus, the supply to Diego Costa has been terrible. These trends are likely to continue.
Wenger experimented against Stoke by starting with Theo Walcott up front. And while Walcott did get on the score sheet, the oft-injured forward appeared far too nice. In all honesty, he should have scored a hat-trick. Olivier Giroud came on later and also scored. He has strength to the lead the line solo against Chelsea.
Arsenal have looked secure in defence, while Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin are playing well in midfield. These ingredients have prepared Arsenal well for going up against Chelsea. They will not lose if they maintain their current form, but Mourinho is well-versed in frustrating Wenger.
Match Tips
Tip one: Chelsea @ 2.37
Tip two: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.80
Mourinho has too many talented players and too much experience in beating Wenger to lose this game. Chelsea have to rebound eventually.
