Do Arsenal have the ability to beat Chelsea? Take a look over both squads and the answer is yes. It would undoubtedly be close, but neither team is drastically stronger than the other. Do Arsenal have the ability to beat Chelsea today? That’s a very different question. And, unfortunately, my conviction is not as strong in this answer.
My worry, which is becoming increasingly more common-place each season, is our injuries. When I first saw the fixture list, I remember being pleased that we were travelling to the Bridge so early on in the season. ‘Great,’ I thought, ‘we should have a full-strength team and be nicely up-and-running come October 3rd’! How foolhardy I was. I wasn’t expecting every member of the squad to be tripping the light fantastic, but I certainly wasn’t expecting what we’ve got.
It’s one thing losing Robin Van Persie, most Gunners are used to that by now, but losing Fabregas simultaneously is another. Throw Thomas Vermaelen into the mix, arguably our best central defender, and we’ve already lost the spine of the team. Our top scorer and most likely player to give Ashley Cole nightmares, Theo Walcott, is out of action too. If my memory serves me rightly, we’ll also be without the last Arsenal player to score against Chelsea – Nicklas Bendtner. Our most likely successor in the absence of Fabregas, Aaron Ramsey, is also still on the injury table nursing a broken leg. That’s quite a hefty list considering we’re only six games into the Premier League season.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not prematurely making excuses for a loss. Nor am I complaining that our squad isn’t deep enough or that our training methods are suspect. I’m not even going to comment on why this is the case. What irks me most is simply losing the spectacle of such fixtures. I’d have loved to have watched Vermaelen versus Drogba, Fabregas versus Essien and Van Persie versus Terry. Instead, most fans I’ve spoken to aren’t wondering how we can beat Chelsea tomorrow, but wondering how we’ll survive.
But either way, it does no good analysing what we’re missing. Like Arsčne Wenger later today, we have to work with what we’ve got. The manager has said: “If we turn up with a great performance – and I am convinced we will – we will beat them”. By that logic, Arsčne’s convinced we’ll win, so what have we got to worry about?
I’m hoping Wenger fields a slightly more solid 4-5-1 formation as opposed to our usual interchangeable 4-3-3 style. This should technically give us an upper hand on Chelsea’s midfield and allow us to maintain possession in dangerous areas. Despite Diaby’s ridiculous performance against West Brom, he’s still one of our better players at holding the ball and I hope to see him in midfield with Song, flanking both sides of Jack Wilshire in the centre. On the right and left I don’t think we can look beyond Nasri and Arshavin, injuries withstanding, these two have been two of our best players so far. Up front will, ofcourse, be Chamakh – and I genuinely look forward to seeing him play against The Blues. Marouane said in an interview before the season that he was relishing the prospect of playing against Chelsea again after losing to them with Bordeaux.
My team for today: Fabianski, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Nasri, Song, Wilshire, Diaby, Arshavin, Chamakh. The only variation I can see happening is Nasri in the centre replacing Wilshire and Rosicky going wide right. But in the lack of Fabregas and Ramsey, Wilshire has recently proved to be one of our most creative players so I hope he remains central, allowing Nasri to drive forward. On the never-ending matter of our goalkeeper, if nothing else, I look forward to seeing someone other than Almunia between the sticks. I have a feeling this could be a turning point in Fabianski’s Arsenal career – whether it’s a positive or negative turn, let’s wait until the game finishes to answer that.
With all said and done, there’s not much left other than the game itself. So fingers crossed for a great match that can really live up to Sky’s billing of “Super Sunday”. If we sit a point behind Chelsea and a point above United come this evening, it really will have been.
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