Arsenal must find their self-belief again before they make the trip to West London this weekend to take on the Champions. The away tie to Partizan Belgrade tonight will need a good result, but perhaps more importantly, a confidence boost after the humiliation of defeat against West Brom.
While Arsenal have been susceptible to lapses, and can come unstuck throughout the duration of an entire season, West Brom at home (all due respect) should be a banker. It has hard to remember a more stunted Arsenal performance, especially their defence who were really poor. After last weekend’s horror show, and the dropped points at the end of the away trip to Sunderland, a loss to Chelsea this Sunday could leave the Gunners seven points adrift of Ancelotti’s men; a wide gap, even at this early stage.
A full strength Arsenal team would have to be at their best to get something from Stamford Bridge, but with the injuries to Walcott, Van Persie, Vermaelen and Fabregas (he might return for Sunday but it looks unlikely) will be a huge loss to the side. Fabregas and Van Persie are the team’s best players, Walcott was scintillating before he was side-lined and Vermaelen in the only senior central defender with PL experience. Add to this the fact that Chelsea will be hurting after being humbled at Eastlands, and will be looking to put that performance behind them, it could be a torrid afternoon for Arsenal.
While seven points (assuming Arsenal lose) is a big gap, it can obviously be made back. Arsenal however, have not proven over the last four or five years that they possess the consistency to make that up over the course of the season. Should they avoid defeat, which is very possible also, then they’ll still be in touch, but it is difficult to imagine them not being defeated a least a couple times more.
I personally wouldn’t call it ‘season over’ for Arsenal, but this is partly down to the fact that I don’t consider them genuine title contenders. Call it predictable, but I cannot see any club other than Man United or Chelsea winning the league. My opinion is that Arsenal should be concentrating more on the Champions League, and if it comes down to having to prioritise one over the other, the European competition is the one they have more chance of winning. One their day, Arsenal can beat anyone, but cannot churn out result after result, in the way that their domestic opponents can.
Last season Arsenal were comprehensively done over, home and away, against Chelsea, and will want to avoid a repeat of those performances. A third place finish would be far from inadequate, but Arsenal’s last trophy was the FA Cup in 2005 and should they go another season failing to add to their cabinet, then that would be six years without success in a single completion – not good for a club with Arsenal’s reputation and expectations.
I think most Arsenal fans have probably reigned in their expectations, and not all believe they are capable of winning the league. But simply in terms of pride, the side will want to come away from Chelsea with at least a point. That said, should Arsenal win, and close the gap to one point between he sides, it will be Chelsea who would have suffered two defeats on the spin and suddenly the pendulum of pressure will swing violently west.
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