Premiership - Chelsea v Arsenal

7 February 2010

Preview By Tipster Jumbo (New Zealand)

Another huge game here to finish this weekends EPL Action as the Gunners travel to face Chelsea….

Chelsea after their draw with Hull are now only 2 points clear of United on the table and they will be all out to win this match today as United are sure to pass them on Saturday by beating Portsmouth, the sudden halt to Chelsea's great form was a bit of a surprise although I have to say it has probably been coming and the hard fought 2-1 win against Burnley should of given us some sort of View to that, Personally I missed that and only really took notice of that after it was to late, but anyway Chelsea have been top of the league since the beginning of this season and now to see United breathing down their necks is not just time to worry it is history repeating itself, they need to win this game to not only show a fighting spirit but also to show their quality which they do have in abundance of, 58 Goals for them on their season shows that as does only 20 against, Personal wise and Cole should be back in contention as should Mikel while Anelka and Drogba should seize their chances up front.

The Gunners were embarrassed last weekend at home against United and in many ways they should have been, United made them look average and although they can pass the ball around and look pretty decent in that area of play, they just do not have an out and out Striker to get them the winners they need, they have a great midfield but up front little to nothing and that has come to the fore in each game they have played this season against the so called Big sides of the comp with the 3-1 loss last week being no exception to that rule, any chance they have at winning the Premiership will be gone should they lose this match as they are already 6 points behind Chelsea and 4 behind United and so if they do still hold any dreams of achieving that this match looms large for them, however things are not looking good with 3 losses a draw and a solitary win in their last 5 away from Emirates and they just do not look like the same side at all away from home especially against the Big teams, Personal wise and Gibbs, Van Persie and Djourou are all still out.

Recent Results: Played 6, Chelsea 3, Arsenal 2, Drawn 1…..Round 14, 29-Nov-2009 at Arsenal : Arsenal vs Chelsea 0 - 3…..Round 36, 10-May-2009 at Arsenal : Arsenal vs Chelsea 1 - 4…..Round 15, 30-Nov-2008 at Chelsea : Chelsea vs Arsenal 1 - 2…..Round 31, 23-Mar-2008 at Chelsea : Chelsea vs Arsenal 2 - 1…..Round 17, 16-Dec-2007 at Arsenal : Arsenal vs Chelsea 1 - 0….Round 37, 06-May-2007 at Arsenal : Arsenal vs Chelsea 1 – 1

The Final match of this weekend is again a Blockbuster with Chelsea looking to redeem themselves after their draw with Hull while the Gunners are just looking for any sort of result after the thumping they received at the hands of Manchester United last week, but it won’t be easy here as the Gunners are really looking void of scoring chances up front and really although having a great mid field and defence they just do not seem to have the killer instinct against the bigger sides in the EPL and last weeks match against United was a pretty fair example of that, their passing is great and their build ups are great but their finishing is just not there and I think they could be beaten again here by a Chelsea side who do not have the same goal scoring woes as the Gunners do, I’m thinking that Chelsea will win this in the second half as the Gunners crowd the pitch and look to stay in the match up until half time , I was tempted at the -1 for the Blues but decent odds which are pretty low for me has me thinking that Chelsea are good enough at 1.86 and I’ll do what I don’t do much and take the lower odds with confidence on Chelsea to rise to the occasion and win….Good Luck.