Arsenal and Chelsea have been local rivals for ever, but the Gunners biggest enemy has always been considered to be Tottenham. Strangely enough the Spuds are also Chelsea’s favourite team to beat!
But in recent times, probably since Jose Mourinho managed the Blues the first time, there seems to have been more rivalry with our West London neighbours, with Chelsea usually coming out on top until Antonio conte’s arrival. Since then it is Arsenal who have had the upper hand, notably when beating the Blues in the FA Cup Final and in this season’s Community Shield, despite being classed as the underdogs.
So now we have another chapter coming up with the Caraboa Cup semi-final, and it looks like both managers are very keen to get a chance of winning the first trophy of the season. Both managers chose to send out second-string sides in the FA Cup Third Round at the weekend, and both sides struggles, with the Gunners losing spectacularly to Forest while Chelsea scraped at draw at Norwich.
So both teams have had their best players rested and ready to fight tomorrow night, although Arsenal are severely weakened thanks to our growing injury list. Our first choice back three are all out with only Mustafi having an outside chance of playing if he passes a fitness test while Koscielny and Monreal have no chance at all, plus Giroud, Ramsey, Kolasinac and Xhaka are also missing in action.
But Wenger will be playing his strongest team available, and that may NOT include Alexis Sanchez if the rumours about the talks with Man City are true….
Can we beat Chelsea against the odds yet again?
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