Prediction: Arsenal vs Chelsea

26th December 2010

All eyes will be on the Emirates come Sunday night as the clash between Arsenal and Chelsea can effectively rule out one or both teams out of the title race. Manchester United are slowly getting away, meaning that both the Gunners and Blues have got to try and win this game or risk slipping further down the standings.

Arsenal have been pretty impressive in most of the games this season, but they also had their share of slip ups and it is the lack of consistency that has cost them dearly in the title race. The Gunners lost no less than three home games, which has to be considered an awful record for the team supposedly fighting for the title, although they have since rediscovered their home form, having won last three matches at the Emirates. The Gunners’ winning run was ended two weeks ago as they suffered an unlucky defeat to Manchester United and if they want to stay in the title race, Arsene Wenger’s men will have to beat out-of-form Chelsea. Despite all the problems the boss currently has with injured players, Arsenal look strong enough to match Chelsea and they are definitely in better form than the Blues, so the Gunners do look capable of winning this derby game. Arsene Wenger will be able to recall Lukasz Fabianski and Abou Diaby to the starting line-up, but Manuel Almunia, Kieran Gibbs and Thomas Vermaelen remain sidelined.

This is clearly a do or die game for Chelsea after the Blues failed to win any of their last five Premiership games as another slip up can end up costing them the league title. Nobody knows what has happened to the side that looked like the only serious title contender at the start of the season, but one thing’s for sure, Carlo Ancelotti’s men suffered a big dip in form lately. The Blues are hoping the return of Frank Lampard will be just the boost they need to turn things around, but the midfield maestro is still far from the desired form and that is likely to be a problem against very fit Arsenal side. To add insult to injury, both Drogba and Anelka are struggling for form, so Chelsea do not have a lot of reason for optimism at the moment. Frank Lampard and Jose Bosingwa are back to contention, but Alex, Yuri Zhirkov and Yossi Benayoun are out injured.

Conclusion

Arsenal shouldn’t be too downhearted after the Old Trafford defeat as they continued the string of good performances but just weren’t rewarded for the effort, so maybe their luck is about to change. Chelsea players are completely out of confidence after going five games without a league win and the Blues will have problems imposing their game on their opponents. I believe Arsenal will just edge this one.

Verdict: Home win Arsenal (1)

Best Odds: 13/8

Bookmaker: Bet365