Danny Murphy has claimed that Arsenal are too ‘tactically naive’ to stop Chelsea this weekend, stating the Blues could win even without their best player Eden Hazard.
The Gunners travel across London to take on the Premier League champions tomorrow, and many people are writing off our chances of stopping Antonio Conte’s side, but Murphy has gone a step further by claiming we are too naive to stop them.
Murphy said: “I do not think Chelsea need to rush Eden Hazard back.
“They have two unbelievable players in Willian and Pedro who are playing well and they are winning games without him.
“That says a lot about Antonio Conte, making sure all the players know their job when they come in.
“When Hazard is at it, there is no doubt he makes Chelsea a better team.
“But they do not need him to beat Arsenal.
“The way Arsenal are playing and how open they are, it is difficult to see them having a prayer at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
“If Alexis Sanchez is on the pitch then they can beat anybody.
“But Arsenal are tactically so naive that unless Arsene Wenger plays with a different mentality, and shuts up shop a little bit, then they cannot beat the likes of Chelsea away from home because they are too open.”
Everybody is writing off our chances tomorrow, which could work in our favour, and we shouldn’t overlook the fact that we have beaten Chelsea in our last two attempts.
Both of those wins came at Wembley, in the FA Cup final and Community Shield, but Arsene Wenger should be well prepared for the tactics he will be coming up against.
London derbies rarely account for form, and I think that Wenger will have his players more than ready for our opposition tomorrow, although I think it could favour us to go into the game without the pressure of expectation.
Will all these pundits have to eat their words? Is Wenger able to ‘shut up shop’ in order to stop the Blues?
Pat J