Gary Cahill has dismissed the notion that Arsenal hold the psychological edge over Chelsea ahead of their EFL Cup semi-final clash in the new year.
Chelsea defeated Bournemouth 2-1 on Wednesday to book their place in the last four, while the Gunners overcame West Ham 24 hours earlier.
The Blues have won just one of their last five competitive meetings with Arsene Wenger's men - a 2-1 FA Cup final defeat in May denying them the domestic double in Antonio Conte's first season in charge.
With the sides set to do battle three times in January thanks to their Premier League fixture early in 2018, Cahill believes any talk of the Gunners holding a mental advantage is wide of the mark.
Morning all! December 21, 2017
"No, not at all. I have had good and bad times against them," he said, in quotes reported by the Evening Standard.
"They've done very well against us lately, especially at Wembley but if I put myself in the Arsenal camp, I don't think it's ideal for them to play us over two legs.
"Do the recent results against them give us extra motivation? Yes. Obviously there was the FA Cup final last season and they got one over us there.
"But if you look at what's happened over the last 10-15 matches between us, we have had good games too.
"We have played Arsenal many times and we know what to expect. The first leg is at home and that will be massively important. These are two big teams going at it.
"We know it will be a tough test. You expect to see big teams in the semi-finals of cup competitions, even though clubs change their sides up.
"You still expect the big teams to have enough to get through and that's what's happened with our semi-final."
