Saturday, December 25, 2010

English Premier League Round 19 - Arsenal vs Chelsea - Preview

After a short break the Premier League returns and with it some blockbuster matches. Arsenal an Chelsea, high fliers on the table both looking to catch the elusive Manchester United.

Arsenal come into the match with a very poor home form, currently the gunners have lost three consecutive games at the Emirates Stadium. Arsene Wenger has been criticized of recent as his team has not put up a fight against the big guns of the Premier League including their recent losses against Tottenham and Manchester United. The return of Fabregas in recent weeks has brought back some leadership upfront helping the Gunners get back to their scoring ways.




Chelsea will want to return to their winning form found at the start of the season. The blues have been out of form and will hope that the return of their captain to the starting team will boost morale. Both teams have had little to no match time over the past few weeks - mainly due to the weather.


Arsenal Team News: The Gunners still have a list of injuries including Vermaleen, Gibbs and Almunia. Arsenal will be boosted by the likely return of Diaby and the return of Fabregas from their respective injuries. Fabianski's return from injury will see him once again take over the reigns in goal, over youngster Sczcesny who had a brilliant match against United, making a number of stunning saves.

Chelsea Team News: The fact that Drogba and Lampard will both start this match together will be a massive boost to Chelsea, who have offered little upfront in the recent weeks. Both players were instrumental in sparking Chelsea's rampant run at the start of the season. Alex, Zhirkov and Benayoun are out through long term injury. Bonsingwa will be given till kickoff to prove his fitness after sustaining an injury after the Tottenham match.

The game is the most anticipated match of the week and it should live up to it's expectations of a tight affair. Chelsea will play aggresively with the return of Lampard and Drogba, but Arsenal will be more desperate to ensure they do not break their record of four losses in a row at home.

Match Prediction: Arsenal 2 - Chelsea 1