Monday, December 27th, 2010 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does

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By Phil Gregory

After the last game was cancelled against Stoke, the snow has thawed sufficiently for our home game against Chelsea to be given the go ahead.  (It’s deep snow where I am Phil, and I’m struggling to get the car dug out of the ice. – Tony) After losses away at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, it falls to our home games to improve our “big game” record. The away game against Chelsea this season was very much a case of what could’ve been given how we started the match, and the players need to take their chances efficiently in this game.

Almunia, Vermaelen and Gibbs are all still out, while recent absentees Diaby and Fabianski are back in the fold. Chelsea are without squad men in Zhirkov and Benayoun, though Bosingwa has been passed fit, and Lampard is expected to start after an injury-hit opening part of the season.

Fabianski

Sagna Squillaci Koscielny Clichy

Song Wilshere

Fabregas

Nasri Van Persie Arshavin

There’s a couple of talking points in amongst the starting line-up. With Fabianski back fit, I expect Szcznesy to make way for the more experienced Pole. While Wojieich has come in and performed well, I can’t see Wenger leaving Fabianski on the bench given the changes we’ve already seen this season in the goalkeeping pecking order.

The back four is largely unchanged, with the continuing absence of Vermaelen a cause for concern. Song and Wilshere will play the deep midfield roles, while Cesc will be looking to kickstart an injury-hit season from his advanced playmaking position. Just in front of him will be Robin Van Persie, who I’ve expected to come in for Chamakh. With Robin back fit, and with a few weeks training now behind him, it seems likely Wenger will unleash the Dutch international and take some of the burden off Chamakh, who has shouldered it admirably thus far. Nasri and Arshavin flank the attack, two players capable of worrying any defence.

Cech

Bosingwa Ivanovic Terry Cole

Mikel

Essien Lampard

Kalou Drogba Anelka

Chelsea are a team with little in the way of options, given the now well known issues over their squad depth, so their team line-up won’t be too tricky to predict. I’m expecting that with Bosingwa back, they’ll try and get Ferreira out of the starting line-up as quickly as humanly possible, and with Lampard back in for Ramires in central midfield.

Chelsea fans will surely have a few concerns. Despite Didier Drogba’s sadly exceptional goalscoring form against us, he’s been struggling for goals since his bout of malaria earlier in the winter. He came off the bench against Tottenham and got a goal but then contrived to miss a penalty that would’ve won Chelsea the game. To my eyes, that makes it very much a case of “as you were” when it comes to the Ivorian’s confidence in front of goal. Anelka is another man short of end product, nearing ten hours since he last found the net.

Shorn of confidence for six or seven games, this run of Chelsea’s cannot be put down to simply being a blip. They have missed some players with injury, but much of the impact of their injuries is simply, down to the lack of the strength of their replacements. Losing a centreback isn’t too much of a big deal if your 3rd choice is capable of slotting in and performing as ours largely have. However injuries do not tell the whole story. Many of Chelsea’s absentees have been present on the pitch, but simply not firing. Their midfield in particular has looked flat and unimaginative without Lampard and with Ramires struggling.

Confidence is a huge factor in football, and as Cesc said after the game against United, it sometimes seems we go into these matches with a self-imposed psychological disadvantage. Such reasoning is often dismissed as simply excuses for having an inferior side, but anyone who has played the game at any level will know just how important mindset is going into a game.

With Lampard short of match practice, we have to be capable of controlling the midfield. It’ll be a congested 3 v 3 battle in the middle of the park, though I feel with higher technical quality we have the ability to take advantage of such a situation. Cesc certainly has the ability to get one over Mikel if he plays as we know he can

The worry for most Arsenal fans surrounds the defence, especially coming up against regular tormentor Drogba. However both the Ivorian and Anelka are struggling for confidence and goals, which leads me to think we can keep a clean sheet against Chelsea. I’m going to go for 2-0 to the Arsenal, with an end to our “big games” hoodoo and a late Christmas present from the players to the fans.

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