A derby is not played, it is won. And this one more than ever. Struck by Manchester City, six days ago (4-1), Arsenal left a lot on the way. The three points to start, but also his chair as leader to his adversary for a day and a whole season. Fallen to second place in the Premier League, the Gunners absolutely must recover if they do not want to definitively give up their title dreams. And it starts this Tuesday with a London derby, against a sicker Chelsea than ever.
“It’s a difficult evening but we’re going to have to get up, take a step back and realize that we can compete with this team, which is already incredible frankly”, explained Mikel Arteta after the debacle against City, before warning “We still want to compete and we will never give up. There are five games left and anything can happen.
For the first of these five meetings, Arsenal receives Chelsea in one of the many derbies in London. Meetings that are successful for the Reds of the capital. This season, the Gunners have won their first eight derbies against Chelsea, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Fulham. Mikel Arteta’s men also won 1-0 against the Blues at Stamford Bridge on November 6th. A shock against Chelsea which does not worry the former midfielder. “I did not have to worry about the state of mind of the players, they keep the sacred fire for tomorrow (Tuesday), assures the Spanish coach. It’s very difficult to predict what they (Chelsea) will do, but we have to be prepared to win the game.
Still, Arsenal haven’t been at their best in recent weeks. The residents of Wembley remain on four games without a win and have not tasted success since April 1 and a river score against Leeds (4-1). Martin Ødegaard’s team-mates have drawn three times, including a 2-2 draw against West Ham, the only London side to take a point against local rivals, and a rout against Manchester City.
But if Arsenal are fragile, what about Chelsea? The Blues have not won any of their last eight matches in all competitions. Only one goal scored but eleven conceded in the last seven meetings. Even the beautiful course in the Champions League (eliminated in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid) does not create illusions for the 12th in the Premier League. A climate that weighs heavily in the locker room. “Sometimes when we finish a game, we sit in the locker room staring into space because we don’t understand what just happened,” striker Raheem Sterling recently explained in an interview with The Sun.
Frank Lampard, who arrived as a firefighter at the head of the first team a few weeks ago, is asking for time. The Blues manager even wants to draw inspiration from… Arsenal. “There is a long process to get where you want to get. There has been a good job done at Arsenal, which now has a clear identity. Do we have the ability to do that? Yes. Will it take time and good decisions? Absolutely yes. But we can get there. The manager was questioned, the players and the owners too. This process can take two or three years. They are an excellent example of this well-executed process.”
Chelsea, who are already planning for next season, have a complicated schedule since they will also meet the two teams of Manchester and Newcastle by the end of the championship. Arsenal, now second one point behind City but with one game more, still wants to believe in the coronation. “We can still win the Premier League because there are five games to play and a lot of things can still happen,” said Mikel Arteta on Monday. Now the title race is no longer in our hands. But what remains in our hands is to try to play and win the matches that we have left. It starts this Tuesday against Chelsea.
