I was right in my prediction of the points being shared and that it was an open and attacking game. Arsenal were only minutes away from snatching the three points, but with Chelsea hitting woodwork on three occasions a draw was a good result in the end.
I feel like Chelsea will take the lead and then shut up shop and try and defend the game away. But Arsenal will fight to the death and snatch a point late on. I believe that Arsenal would have no problems beating Chelsea with Toure, Gallas, Rosicky and Henry on the pitch but being pragmatic I think a draw would be a reasonable result given the depleted squad.
Although I'd predicted the 1-1 draw my feeling was that Chelsea would score first with the Gunners stealing a point with a late goal. In fact it was the exact opposite that occurred and although Arsenal were missing four world class playerse they deserved the result.
What Arsenal Need: Keep battling, fight for every 50-50 ball and run your socks off for ninety minutes and we'll get the result we deserve. That's what Wenger should be saying to the boys in the dressing room. Money means nothing once there's 22 men on the pitch. It's not about how big your house is, how much money you get paid or how many supercars you have, it's about guts, determination and talent... all of which Arsenal have in abundance.
Arsenal started the match very well and were by far the better team for the first twenty minutes. For a while though, they looked like they were hanging on for dear life as Chelsea created a good number of opportunites. Fortunately, Drogba had his 'last seasons' boots on and couldn't hit a brick wall from six feet. Arsenal took the field with a confident air and fought well for the duration of the match.
Things To Watch Out For: The defence today is young, very young with Eboue the oldest at 23. I hope that they work hard together and communicate well, especially at set pieces.
Chelsea were given too many goal scoring opportunites and were only kept at bay by last ditch tackles, goal line clearances and great saves. Lehmann had absolutely no chance with the Essien goal but nearly blighted his copy book with a fumble in the dying seconds which gifted Lampard the chance to win the game. Thank God he missed.
I hope the referee controls the game efficiently and that as Wenger said, "It's a feast of football", because if it is Arsenal will do well. If it turns into a long-ball hacking match with loads of yellow cards waved around it's going to be an ugly match to watch and someone will end up getting sent off.
The referee stood up reasonably well to the bully boy tactics from the boys in blue but he also refused to give Senderos a yellow when he derserved it. Chelsea's treatment of the referee has even bought a backlash from stand-in captain Gilberto.
| "I think they should respect the referee more. They put too much pressure on him." Said Gilberto. On all their fouls there were three or four players around the referee, putting him under pressure. It is not the type of game that everyone wants to see. Until now, they are the only team I have seen do this. This is not good because you put the referee under pressure and then he makes a mistake and they criticise him after the game. He was doing his job and you do your job on the pitch. The referee tries to do his best but if he is under pressure it is much more difficult.” |
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I hope the Arsenal fans direct their passion in the right direction and get behind the team rather than spending the whole match abusing the old number 3. They should remember that Arsenal got Campbell in an even more cruel swoop from their local rivals who got nothing in return, whereas in the recent swap they got Gallas and £5 million on top. Chelsea weren't greatly improved by the swap but Arsenal benefited significantly from adding Gallas to the team. Equally, I believe it has given Clichy the chance to make the left back spot his own.
I thought the Arsenal support was excellent all game and it was interesting to see Clichy and the old number 3 swap shirts at the end of the game. At that point it was clear that Fabregas refused to shake hands with the Chelsea left back and apparently a skuffle ensued in the tunnel, which was broken up by van Persie amongst others.
Hopes For The Match: I hope Senderos shuts his critics up with a solid performance against Drogba and I hope Djourou makes it through the match without a recurrence of his hamstring injury. If either of the two Swiss centre backs needs to be substituted then Wenger has a problem as there is no cover at this position with Gallas injured and Toure banned. His choice would be to play Gilberto out of position or return Hoyte to centre back. Neither would be a substitution I'd be happy to make.
Senderos played well apart from the odd mislaid pass, but he was lucky not to get booked early on, which would have changed the entire game for him. I thought both Swiss centre backs played bravely, but it will be good to have Toure back for the trip to Wigan.
Team: Wenger will almost certainly go for a 4-5-1 today, so he can pack the midfield and try to stand up to Chelsea in that area of the park. His 4-5-1 will play Adebayor up front on his own, where he works tirelessly for the team, but the formation has a weakness in that van Persie doesn't make the starting eleven. I believe he is Arsenal's most improved player this season and given game time I think he could reach 20 goals this season. Sadly, he doesn't fit into the formation and Wenger will probably play Flamini instead.
I'd predicted that van Persie wouldn't make the starting eleven in a 4-5-1 but Wenger sacrificed Ljunberg so the Dutchman could start. Adebayor ran his socks off once again up front and held the ball up well even when he was surrounded by thre blue shirts. Wenger did play Flamini and he worked hard throughout.
I just feel that Arsenal played so well in the 4-4-2 in the North London Derby as it enables the two strikers to put the opposition's defenders under pressure and it enables Arsenal to play higher up the pitch, which fits nicely with the counter-attacking style of play. So many Arsenal counter-attack goals come from tackles made in midfield and players being quickly released on the wings.
The 4-5-1 was the correct formation on the day and it nearly delivered an Old Trafford-like away win.
Long-term issues: I'm beginning to wonder if Bendtner should be bought into the first team to put pressure on the three more senior strikers. He looks a wonderful player and has even got me watching ITV's coverage of the Championship just to see how he is doing. To be fair Muamba and Lupoli also look good but the young Dane is the one I'm keeping my eye on.
We'll just have to wait and see how Wenger deals with the youngsters at Birmingham but it looks like he'll let Stokes go if Celtic offer more than the £700,000 already on the table.
Prediction: Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1
Score: Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1.................... my first perfect prediction this season.
