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December 09, 2004
Match Preview: Arsenal v Chelsea
Welcome to a new series of posts that'll bring the Match Previews you used to find in the old fanzine to the web site. I'll try and preview all the upcoming games, a few days before the fixture, so long as demands on my time allow. These posts will include injury news, head-to-head comparisons and memories of previous notable recent fixtures, as well as my prediction for the squad. - NY Gooner
| Arsenal v Chelsea |
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| Sunday December 12th @ 11.05am EST Highbury, London | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Despite the alleged goal-keeping crisis and our predictable dip in form through the month of November, Gooners should take heart in the fact that, since the formation of the Premier League, Chelsea have never beaten The Gunners at The Home of Football in that competition; their last League victory at all coming at The Bridge in September 1995.
The head-to-head record between The Arsenal and our West London neighbours is heavily in our favour, especially in the last few years with Arsenal having won 14 out of 24 Premier League games, neither team getting an advantage in seven, and The Rent Boys taking all three points in just three games (all of which were at The Beach). This time, of course, we'll be missing our captain, Patrick Vieira, who is suspended for this game after picking up five yellows so far this season - but this may prove to be a blessing-in-disguise given that the game's being officiated by the beast from Tring - Graham Poll. Equally as worrying is the continued absence of Gilberto and Edu in midfield, leaving our youngsters to again fill in the gap in the centre, all while defending against The Rent Boys potent attacking threats. Luckily our defence is back to full strength with Lauren, Toure, Campbell and Ash all being available for the game - though who will be behind them between the posts is less clear. My suspicion is that The Boss will stick with Almunia. Everything he says seems to suggest that he's hoping for a good result for the Spaniard to bolster his confidence - though, of course, the opposite could remove him from contention forever. I suspect that Dennis and Henry will almost certainly start up front, but expect to see Reyes at some point in the game (maybe from kick-off if Freddie has another migraine) - after all, he does seem to like scoring against Chel$ki (three goals against them since he joined the club last season). Given all this, my team prediction for Sunday's game is thus:
Hopefully the lads will be well up for this game, losing it not only allows Chelsea to go eight points clear (which is more than an inconvenience at this point in the season), but also allows Everton a chance of overtaking us and Manchester United to get within 1 point of us - a psychological setback that needs to be avoided if at all possible. Interesting facts: Should Freddie play and score, that would be his 40th goal for The Gunners. Assuming Sol plays, he will be making his 350th League appearance. If Arsenal take all three points, this will mark the club's 150th home victory in The Premier League. Notable Recent Games January 1st, 2003: Arsenal 3 - 2 Chelsea This was a quiet game for the first 80 minutes with the only goal coming from a Desailly own goal off a Bergkamp strike. The match broke-open in the 81st minute when van Bronckhorst struck from 20 yards out for his second goal as a Gunner and, in the 82nd minute, Henry appeared to have put the game beyond doubt with Arsenal's third. Chelsea fought back though and after goals from Stanic and Petit in the 85th and 86th minutes, they almost had the equalizer when Hasselbaink narrowly missed a dangerous cross just before the final whistle. May 4th, 2002: Arsenal 2 - 0 Chelsea | Arsenal v Chelsea Head-to-head statistics
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| Injury News Jermaine Pennant is expected to be available for selection after recovering from a hamstring injury. Edu is still out with a toe injury and unexpected to return before December 19th (for the Pompey game) Gilberto's back injury is still troubling him and the club will make a further decision about his return in the New Year Jeremie Aliadiere is making good progress in his recovery from a knee injury and may return before the end of the season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Premier League Table:
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| Recent Match-Ups: 2003/4 Season 2002/3 Season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Posted by gcurtis at December 9, 2004 11:51 AM
Comments
Almunia = awesome!
Posted by: Jason K at December 10, 2004 09:43 AM
Yeah, I have to agree! Nice job!!
Posted by: Blue Mike at December 10, 2004 10:25 AM
Do you think giving up 2 goals in 3 games is bad?
Posted by: Mehdi at December 11, 2004 12:34 AM