As well as the verbal sparring and not so subtle digs between the Arsenal boss and his counterpart at Chelsea, there is a very important game of football to consider. And although both teams have players like Ozil, Giroud, Alexis, Ramsey, Oscar. Fabregas and Hazard, with the quality to turn a game with a moment of brilliance, it could well be that the tactical battle between Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho proves to be the deciding factor.
So the Frenchman has a tough choice to make in his central defensive line up, although I am sure that it is a choice he is glad to have after seeing our Big Flipping German Per Mertesacker limp off with an ankle problem against Reading last weekend.
THe big defender has been touch and go all week but although it has not been officially confirmed by Arsenal that he is fit to play, you can see for yourself on the Arsenal website that he trained normally with the rest of the first team yesterday.
The problem that Wenger has is whether to plan for the inclusion of the Chelsea striker Diego Costa, with a Sky Sports report showing that Mourinho says he will make a final decision on the Spain international today. Mertesacker’s size, strength and aerial ability would be very useful against Costa, whereas the pace and tackling ability of Gabriel might be best against the pace of Loic Remy or Eden Hazard.
What do you reckon Gooners, the BFG or the Brazilian?