Chelsea keen to kill off Arsenal challenge
Reuters - Thursday 04 February 2010, 01:00
LONDON - Arsene Wenger knows Arsenal's
hopes of staying in this season's Premier League title race will
be as good as over if they lose at leaders Chelsea on Sunday.
Much was made of his side's crushing 3-1 home defeat by
Manchester United last week being the first English match
screened in 3D but Wenger needs no special glasses to see the
confidence draining out of his side.
Arsenal's season appeared to be coming to the boil when they
went top of the table in January but a miserable 11-day period
in which they lost in the FA Cup at Stoke City, drew 0-0 at
Aston Villa and were then outclassed by champions United has
seen it blow up in their faces.
Hull City did United and Arsenal a huge favour on Tuesday by
holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw.
Chelsea are still two points
ahead of United, however, and six clear of third-placed Arsenal
and Carlo Ancelotti will know that victory at Stamford Bridge
will virtually knock Arsenal out of the equation.
Arsenal have won plaudits for some of their football this
season and have already scored 60 league goals but against
United and Chelsea they have been second best.
To their credit, they responded to a 3-0 home defeat by
Chelsea in November with a hot streak that propelled them back
to the top, albeit briefly, but they look fragile now and
ill-equipped to win the club's first silverware for five years.
Wenger normally shields his players from criticism but even
he looked at a loss to explain Sunday's setback at home to
United - questioning his players mental strength.
"We were naive," Wenger said. "We never had any cohesion,
offensively or defensively. We were completely not at our level.
Why? I believe there are some mental reasons in there."
Wenger was inactive in the transfer market and fans will
again be questioning the manager's instincts, especially with
main striker Robin van Persie out for the season and Eduardo's
fitness unreliable.
Easy on the eye they may be, but Arsenal cannot boast serial
winners like Chelsea's Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier
Drogba or the likes of Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney
and Ryan Giggs at United.
Chelsea scraped a win at Burnley and were disappointing at
Hull in midweek, where the furore surrounding captain John Terry
again overshadowed the match, but Ancelotti knows his side
remain in pole position and clearly regards United as their
serious rivals for the championship.
"I think we are in a good position now, we are in the top,
we know very well Manchester is a fantastic opponent, it will be
a long race until the end of the season," he said.
"We need all the players in good condition and involved
until the end of the season. Now every game is very important
and every game can decide the future of the season."
Under Ferguson United have always had a habit of hitting top
form at the perfect stage of the season and their League Cup
semi-final defeat of Manchester City followed by a top drawer
display at Arsenal looks ominous.
United host bottom club Portsmouth on Saturday knowing
victory will put them top before Chelsea face Arsenal.
"We just want to keep winning, to put Chelsea under
pressure," United's South Korean midfielder Park ji-Sung, who
scored against Arsenal, told the club's website.
"There's still a long time to go in the league, three
months, so we just have to concentrate on our own performances.
We can deal with the pressure. We'll see whether they can."
Underneath the title race, the battle for fourth spot
continues with Tottenham Hotspur, who are still clinging on to
it despite throwing away points with abandon, at home to one of
their main rivals Aston Villa.
Manchester City, who are just a point behind Spurs with two
games in hand, travel to Hull City while fifth-placed Liverpool
aim to continue an encouraging league run in the Merseyside
derby against rapidly improving Everton.