Arsenal have had two tough away games at Stoke and Liverpool where we have traditionally struggled to gain points, but we have come away with two hard-earned points. We may be happy with that return (or not!) but now we must aim to get back to winning ways back at the Emirates against another bogey team, Chelsea.
Amazingly Arsenal haven’t won any of their last eight league meetings with Chelsea (going back to October 2011) and haven’t managed a single goal in the last five of those matches. We could put this down to the Mourinho hoodoo, but we also have to note that Chelsea are now unbeaten under Guus Hiddinck since his arrival.
Wenger is well aware that, despite the big gap in the League table, Chelsea are going to be far from pushovers. “They are not in this title race but I know the quality of their team. This season there have been exceptional circumstances for them and they will be back. I consider them direct rivals,” Le Prof said.
“It is another game where people look at us and see how we behave because even if Chelsea are not in the best position you look at their squad.
“It is a big game because of the quality of players on the pitch and it has a big importance to us because we play at Emirates Stadium and we know it will be important to win these types of games.”
By the time we face Chelsea on Sunday, Arsenal could have dropped to third in the table if both Leicester and Man City pick up points, so we really need to make a statement by beating our arch rivals by hook or by crook, if only to break our horrible record against them.
Is this a must-win for the Gunners? I think so, yes….