Chelsea v Arsenal preview: Gunners looks to gain ground on league leaders
Chelsea will be looking to reestablish their dominance in the English Premier League this weekend as they play host to London rivals Arsenal.
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English sides had an impressive week in the Champions League going four wins out of four. Both Chelsea and Arsenal managed wins with Chelsea edging out French side, Marseille, 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, while
the North London club took full points by marching into Belgrade and coming away with an impressive 3-1 victory over Partizan.
Chelsea's league form was nothing short of stellar to start the season as they raced out front with five consecutive victories while scoring 21 goals and conceding only one. All that hit a roadblock last
weekend, however, as they fell 1-0 to a well organized Manchester City side looking to prove that Chelsea did possess weaknesses and were, in fact, mortal.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has managed to find success in the English Premier League no matter what the situation, and the Frenchman relishes the opportunity to win the big games. His side will also
be looking to bounce back from a 3-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion last weekend. Arsenal haven't won in the league since they thrashed Bolton 4-1 three weeks ago.
Players to watch
Neither side is short of star power and both will be looking to field their best team and not pull any punches as this match could be pivotal in determining how the season plays out.
For Chelsea, midfielder Florent Malouda has been unstoppable and is tied for the league lead with six goals. Drogba and Nicolas Anelka are also always threats to score. Meanwhile, Chelsea captain, John
Terry, who scored midweek against Marseille, will be looked upon to lead the back line and squelch any Arsenal attacks.
The Gunners will be relying on the inventiveness of their dynamic midfield duo of Cesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin. The former was out of the lineup against Marseille, but Arshavin scored a goal, and
he'll be counted upon to find something as Arsenal do not boast the same degree of scoring prowess as Chelsea, and any breakthrough they do muster will have to come from something truly inventive.
The other area where Chelsea appear to have the advantage is in goal. Petr Cech is a solid veteran and proven professional. Arsenal keeper, Manuel Almunia, on the other hand, can often look shaky in the
Arsenal goal and is prone to making questionable, often unwise, decisions in his goal area.
What to expect
A game between two monster sides such as these is always up for grabs. Whichever team can manage to keep their shape, stay disciplined, and fight tooth and nail for a victory will usually come up with
the result their looking for. Both teams don't have to look too hard for motivation. For Chelsea it's a chance to reestablish themselves as the class of the Premier League, and for Arsenal it's a chance to reestablish parity and help them creep ever closer
to the top.
Chelsea holds 15 points at the top of the table, while Arsenal has 11 in third place.
With home field advantage and too many weapons up front for the Arsenal defence to handle, Chelsea will take all three points with a 2-1 win.
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