Thibaut Courtois has begun to build up next weekend’s Premier League encounter with Arsenal early, and insists his side are eyeing the win.
Chelsea make the short trip North through London for next Saturday’s derby, but they do not come into the match in particularly good form.
The Blues lost to Liverpool on Friday, after only managing to draw away to Swansea City the week before, but Thibaut Courtois insists his team are targeting a big push to resurrect themselves.
The Chelsea number one seems to tell us that he believes the match away to Leicester will be tougher than the following encounter against us.
As annoying as this is, the Foxes have proved to be a more than decent side over the past two seasons, and we have struggled against our West London rivals in recent years.
The Belgian goalkeeper said: “We know how Leicester plays, it’s very hard there as well.
“Those cups are important and we want to win a trophy this season.
“It will be a hard game and we should react after two disappointing games at Swansea and losing at home to Liverpool. The next game away at Arsenal we should try to win like last season.’
Chelsea were awful last year, and we still failed to beat them, but on the back of three consecutive league wins, and with the easier midweek encounter to get through, we simply have to be favourites to win the coming derby this coming weekend.
We should be able to tinker with our side against Nottingham Forest tomorrow, and be fully prepared for what our league rivals will bring on Saturday.
Are Chelsea our bogey team? Is this weekend our best chance to beat them in a long time?
Pat J
Is it just me or does Dennis Bergkamp really looks like Johnny sins…
Admin plzz don’t ban me for this ?
Ahem!!!
Nottingham Forrest
We need to focus on one match at a time
That said,
Costa has 5 goals so far. He seems to be back to his best after Mourinho ruined his season last year.
We can’t take any team for granted esp Chelsea
I want to win this game BADLY because
1. Its a Home match and we need to have a great Home matche record
2. To stay or move ahead in the table
3. London Derby
4. This will be a great test for us
But again, first thing’s first………..Lets burn down the Forrest (metaphorically speaking)
I don’t believe in “bogey” teams. Anyone can be anyone else on any given day in this league. Pool losing to Burnley. Watford wiping the floor with ManU. It’s all down to preparation, both physical and mental. I’m sure Wenger will rotate tomorrow for Nottingham Forest, but I think it’s essential for us to win that game so we can go into the weekend clash against Chelsea with more confidence. As of right now, we’re on a 3 game winning streak in the league vs. Chelsea’s current drought. We also play at home, which is a huge plus no matter how you look at it. So I don’t want to jinx us, but I fancy our chances.
Well, including Wolcott in the starting line up against Chelsea would result to another home refeat. forget he scores against Hull, that guy deserve no place in Arsenal if we must win against big clubs….
I swear some people don’t even watch Arsenal matches… If you did, you would know Walcott is one of our top performers vs the “big clubs” AND he has been playing better than usual in the recent past.
OT: I do not know what Flamini and Arteta would be thinking when watching Xhaka’s fabulous strike for a goal!
“I scored sum’n like that against Man City couple of seasons back” – Arteta
No chance of winning purely because wengers tacticall naivety will show as always, we’ve been here many times b4 Chelsea know exactly how we play n will rough us up, bully the midfield and defenders. With donkey group playing he will miss the most blatant chance or chances , that sums the game up really
Sad but true
Chelsea play rough, quicker than us, clinical on counters. Arsenal, slow build-up, possession base, and get easily ruffled. Just like crumbling apart around Jan/Feb, losing to Chelsea is another mental block this club has yet to overcome. A 5-3 victory is really all we have to brag about in a rather horrific record for this fixture.
It is only Wenger that can deny us a win against Chelsea this time.
We have the players (including Boom Xhaka Laka) to do that this time but am afraid of the line up.
A game Arsenal have been waiting to win for a long time. Chelsea will start strong and decisive like last season. Al passes they make will be like us against Hull. Cesc will get the nod. Lucas Perez maybe get the task ahead of Iwobi this time. Alexis,Perez,Walcott to start up front.
The lineup is crucial and wenger’s naivety to start Coquelin,Cazorla is more than possibility considering he was substituted in the hull game.
So when Coquelin and Carloza started away to Man City last year (arguably our best win in years) that was a reflection of Wenger’s naivety? For the record I’d like to see Xhaka start but hardly think a Coquelin-Carloza pairing would be a sign that Wenger is naive.
l think we need a lot of steel in the midfield against Chelsea and would suggest that ozil be dropped, let santi be the creative midfielder with Xhaka and Le Coq holding the midfield. This might make us less of an attacking threat but it is essential that we prevent Willian and hazard from making those mazy runs in the midfield. The problem with ozil is he does not help the team defensively… no steel in his game, he does not tackle or make an effort to retrieve the ball when he loses it. This is OK against some teams but will not work against Chelsea. We must break their movement in the midfield at least for the first 30-35mins and Chelsea will lose their way in the match. Ozil can come in in the second half. Arsenal must start the game very aggressively and take the initiative early on. This is what Liverpool did that won them the game.
Way to get Ozil to sign a new contract…
Imply he’s a liability and not worth playing in the big games.
Xhaka and Coq in the middle to guard the defence or we definately struggle to contain them, probably lose based on past performances against Chelsea. To beat them, well i think we all know what we need to do.
We get 3 points off Chelsea. We’re lucky if we get one during the season. Thumb me down as much as you like it’s just the truth. Arsenal losing to Chelsea is one of those things that rarely change. I’ll be happy with the point, and onto the next match. No matter how bad of form Chelsea is in they always beat us. Even the worst Chelsea team in recent history beat us.