I know that Arsene Wenger has been keen to play down the importance of Arsenal’s recent poor record against Chelsea, and especially his own record against their sneering manager Jose Mourinho. But I do think it is closer to the truth the way the football media is presenting the Sunday clash between the top two clubs at the Emirates stadium.
A typical take on the game is the one by Jeremy Wilson in The Telegraph in which he claims that the Gunners really are starting to put the years of financial troubles behind and becoming a team capable of winning the Premier League title again. But he also sees our manager’s terrible record against his rival, no wins and seven defeats in 12 games, as a major obstacle in our path back to glory.
Beating Chelsea on Sunday may not be enough to wrest the title from the Portuguese manager’s hands this season, in fact it almost certainly won’t. But it will land a significant blow on Mourinho and Chelsea, while at the same time imbuing Wenger and the Arsenal players with real belief.
The confidence has been growing in the Gunners camp and was significantly boosted by last season’s FA cup trophy win and by beating Man City, Liverpool and Man United already this season and almost ending the big game bottlers tag. But can we pass the final exam against Chelsea which will give us the qualifications needed to become champions of England once more?