* Arsenal v Chelsea *

r00fie1

r00fie1

Well-known member
Preview:
1683050288954.png
Arsenal fans have experienced a season of surprising highs followed by unnerving lows in the four most recent rounds.

The Premier League (PL) title race is effectively over according to some bookmakers, though Arsenal stopper Aaron Ramsdale was keen to point out that “stranger things have happened”, but if Arsenal pick up maximum points, they’ll need Manchester City to drop at least four.
1683048966721.png
That is a situation Arsenal must believe in until the title becomes mathematically impossible, but the revival has to start here in this previously postponed London derby against Chelsea.

Frank Lampard’s Blues may not threaten that run after losing all five games since their former coach took interim charge in what is their worst losing run since 1993!
1683049048664.png

In fact, Chelsea are at risk of losing 20 competitive games in one season for the first time since 1987/88 should they fall again here, as this once-great club sleepwalks towards their first bottom-half finish since 1996.

Trying to keep a squad of more than 30 players happy was always going to be a mammoth task for any manager, but it appears that the £500m+ gamble hasn’t paid off in the short term. For all the negatives, Chelsea can at least boast a relatively respectable record in PL London derbies this season (W3, D4, L4), even if they do come into this on the back of a 2-0 defeat to West London rivals Brentford.

Players to watch: Arsenal’s ever-present forward Bukayo Saka has as many home league goal contributions as he has PL home appearances this season (G9, A7), he also assisted in the reverse fixture.
1683049134102.png

As for Chelsea, Conor Gallagher remains the scorer of their only goal in Lampard’s second coming.
1683049218925.png

ARS 3-1 CHE | Arsenal - Chelsea

www.flashscore.co.uk www.flashscore.co.uk

Premier League Table:
1683049420476.png
 
Last edited:

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Gunners have opportunity to teach London rivals a lesson as gap widens​

1683049889395.png
Blues out to emulate Mikel Arteta’s rebuild with Gunners focused on re-sparking title challenge. Arsenal have gone from being leaders to chasers in the title race, but tonight they can return to the summit of the Premier League. Victory over Chelsea will mean they leapfrog Manchester City, who on Sunday went top for the first time since February when they beat Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

City are a point ahead, with a game in hand, but Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal will fight until the end as they bid to get back on track after four games without a win and last week’s 4-1 humbling at the Etihad.

All eyes are on how the Gunners respond before City return to action at home to West Ham tomorrow. Whatever happens, it has been a remarkable season for Arsenal, who have spent an incredible 247 days at the top of the League.

That is in stark contrast to Chelsea, who have had one of the worst seasons in their history and are preparing to embark on a major rebuild this summer. The Blues have lost five successive matches since Frank Lampard returned as caretaker manager.

Mauricio Pochettino is expected to take charge in the summer, and Chelsea’s owners would be wise to learn from tonight’s opponents.
1683050071087.png

Arsenal’s resurgence under Arteta is admired by the Todd Boehly-Clearlake ownership group. Privately, when Graham Potter was hired, there was a belief he could be their Arteta. That phase of the Chelsea project failed and Pochettino, or whoever comes in, must be given time. Patience was vital to Arteta’s success, and the problems he faced at the start of his rebuild are similar to the ones facing Chelsea.

Arsenal’s squad was so bloated when he took over in 2019 that Mesut Ozil could not be registered for the Premier League or Europa League. Chelsea had that issue in Europe and were unable to play Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Benoit Badiashile in the Champions League knockout stage.

As Arteta found out, and Chelsea are discovering, it is impossible to keep that many players happy and squads easily become fractured. Arsenal’s answer was for a ruthless clear-out, terminating the contracts of some players.

The decision was made to target young players, both from the academy and in the transfer market, and Arteta was given time for the project to grow. Given Pochettino’s track record with young players, such a strategy would make sense for the Blues.

There is pressure on Chelsea’s owners after this season, and it was a similar story when Arteta came in at Arsenal, with disillusionment among fans over the direction of the club. Now, the atmosphere at Emirates Stadium is better than ever.

<p>Arsenal have won five of their last six against Chelsea</p>

Arsenal have won five of their last six against Chelsea

It has, though, been a painful rebuild. Their first two seasons under Arteta resulted in eighth-place finishes, and Chelsea should prepare for bumps in the road. Chelsea have struggled for goals all season and their only one in the past seven games was a deflected shot by Conor Gallagher against Brighton.

Kai Havertz should return tonight after overcoming a knee injury and that should help resolve their scoring woes. Aubameyang could feature, with the striker preparing to return to the Emirates for the first time since leaving last summer.

For Arsenal, Leandro Trossard is vying for a starting spot after impressing off the bench at City. The Gunners need a spark to reignite their title charge and Trossard could be the man to provide that.

www.standard.co.uk

Arsenal have opportunity to teach Chelsea a lesson as gap widens between rivals

Blues out to emulate Mikel Arteta’s rebuild with Gunners focused on re-sparking title challenge
www.standard.co.uk www.standard.co.uk
​
 
Arsenal have been an ever-present in the top flight, but we know Chelsea havent......

Boro relegated Chelsea in 1988, 2-1 on aggregate.

1683051249617.png

1683050967084.png

Chelsea "fans" turned to violence after their precious little club was relegated.
Untitled.jpg
 
1683051590872.png

Do You Remember When Boro Sent Chelsea Down?​

Merlin | 12:50 08/05/17

Back in 1997 it was Middlesbrough who Chelsea beat in the FA Cup Final, at Wembley, to win their first major trophy for an eternity.
A year later the two teams met again, also at Wembley, in the League Cup, once again Chelsea took the glory.
However, there is a fixture, a game that took place back in May 1988 that those of an older persuasion will recall that didn`t quite turn out so well.
1683051970182.png
Chelsea, playing in the old 1st Division, had a poor season, so poor that our final league position dictated that we`d be involved in the play-offs.
Back in those days, the team that finished third from bottom went into the Division 2 play-offs with their top-flight status at stake.
In the semi-finals, Chelsea were paired with Blackburn Rovers, comfortably beating the Ewood Park side.

Next up, unlike the play-off finals today, Chelsea were faced with a two-legged encounter with Middlesbrough.
The winners would play 1st Division football, the losers 2nd Division football.
The first leg, at Ayresome Park, didn`t go Chelsea`s way, with the blues losing 2-0, courtesy of strikes from Trevor Senior and Bernie Slaven.
1683052015785.png
The second leg, at a packed Stamford Bridge, saw Chelsea grab a goal through Gordon Durie, but although they mounted a sustained period of pressure, Chelsea couldn`t level the tie and lost 2-1 on aggregate. The fixture ended with a mass pitch invasion as Chelsea supporters attempted to get at their Middlesbrough rivals in the sprawling curved terrace that was the away end.
1683052067022.png
The scenes were so bad that the football authorities decided to impose a six-game terrace closure on the club for the following season.
But, to this day, Chelsea remain the only top-flight club to be relegated through the play-offs. In their infinite wisdom, the authorities changed the rules the following season with four teams from the second-tier fighting for promotion.

That following season also saw Chelsea bounce back, winning the Division 2 championship and rightly claiming their place back in top-flight football.

chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk

Do You Remember When Boro Sent Chelsea Down?

Fixtures against Middlesbrough form an important part of our history.
chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk
 
Last edited:
Most recent League Trend before Arsenal`s result last Wednesday night.
[Gunners currently second behind Citeh].
Chelsea havent had a steady team .
Since Tuchel was sacked in September 2022, Chelsea have had three Managers.

1683054167558.png
 
Flashback:
Arsenal 2 Boro 0

FA Cup - 5th Round
15th February 2015.

Its not unfair to say we were outclassed by Arsenal.
Nice stadium. (y)

Just L00K at the Arsenal sub on 83 minutes who came on for Olivier Girou!
1683054967344.png
1683055118496.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top