Arsenal can beat Chelsea

With Arsenal in capricious form so far this season and Chelsea pretty much blowing away everything put in front of them it seems almost fatuous to suggest that Arsenal can beat Chelsea this weekend at Stamford Bridge but I believe they can.

I’m not an eternal optimist and wouldn’t say I am completely blinkered by my love and bias for Arsenal so I do not think this is coming from a place of fantasy. I haven’t missed a minute of Arsenal so far this season and watching them, and from what I have seen of Chelsea, I think Arsenal have a genuine chance of winning – if they get things right.

Arsenal’s attacking performance against Galatasaray last night is exactly how they should approach the game at the weekend – with pace, intent and vigour from the first to the last.

Of course Chelsea are leagues above Galatasaray but the purpose with which Arsenal drove forward against Galatasaray is exactly the sort of tactic that will make Chelsea uncomfortable. An endless assault of quality and pace is Mourinho’s worst nightmare which is why he so often parks the bus against those types of teams. He did it to us last December but when he saw we were there for the taking in March he went all out for it.

If Arsenal do not come out of the blocks all guns blazing on Sunday then control of the game will very quickly be in Mourinho’s hands and Chelsea will destroy us, or our spirits at the least. Mourinho quite cleverly, like it or not, knows how to approach big games. People talk about us not winning enough and ironically that is because we try too hard to win them. Mourinho sides do not. They try not to lose them and more often than not they edge a cagey affair. It’s a stark contrast in mindset that bears sweeter fruit.

If Arsenal take too much time trying to get the feel of the game before committing too much going forward they will find themselves stuck in a game dictated entirely by how many goals Chelsea fancy winning by. If, however, they go straight for the jugular it will force Chelsea into playing their usual defensive game. This will work in Arsenal’s favour because if we keep knocking at the door and get the first goal the game will become more open and thus better suited to Arsenal’s style. Or Chelsea will defend like crazy and it will likely end as a draw should Arsenal not have and defensive lapses. This also suits Arsenal because it will be two games played against title rivals and no losses.

The game has somehow come at a terrible yet perfect time for Arsenal. With a depleted defence, two starting midfielders and Walcott still missing we really could be doing without this game but after last night there probably couldn’t be a better time to play Chelsea.

Danny Welbeck will be inflated with confidence after his excellent hattrick, he is looking really in tune with our creative players and his pace will scare the living daylights out of Chelsea because they’ll see Mesut Özil is the one feeding him the balls and if they spend too much time worrying about Welbeck then Alexis and Chamberlain will ruin them from the wings.

Our two main Germans are looking back in form as well. It’s no coincidence that both players are finding form at the same time as it does take a while to recover from a major tournament, in more ways than just the physical aspect of it. Mertesacker is looking commanding again and reading the game like a children’s book, Özil has had 3-4 really good games on the trot now and quickly formed a threatening understanding with Welbeck – he seems to be grabbing games but the scruff of the neck now.

If Chelsea insist on playing Fabregas deep with Matic against Arsenal then that will probably lend itself to Arsenal’s lack of players. Fabregas is an incredible talent, although I think the Cesc love in and cry-fapping over him needs to stop, but he is not at his most effective in that role. Cazorla has shown himself to be adept in that central midfield role but I think he only works in that role against teams where we are having 60%+ possession and we won’t get that against Chelsea. I’d like to see Diaby play just for his physical stature but as long as whoever plays in that midfield two doesn’t neglect their defensive duties we will see a fair share of possession and can use our pace to unleash hell on Chelsea.

Chelsea are a great team but I don’t think them being top has been a quirk of the fixtures – time may prove that wrong but they’ve relied on outscoring teams to some degree so far and it took a one man advantage to take the lead against City before they ultimately drew that game. This isn’t bias speaking but I genuinely think Arsenal posed more of a threat to City in our game than Chelsea did in theirs.

Mourinho doesn’t like to play against pace and Arsenal have it to burn at the moment. If we use our strengths in the right way and don’t show Chelsea too much respect then I think we could nick this one.

I also have a sneaky feeling Fabregas is going to get clattered by Flamini or Wilshere and the post match interviews are going to be dominated by Mourinho moaning about rough tactics. Wouldn’t that be hilarious?

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