Last year no barometer, says Wenger

ARSENE WENGER has cautioned against judging his Arsenal team against last season's record-breaking exploits.

The Gunners head into tomorrow's Premiership encounter with Birmingham in the middle of a rare dip in form, having gleaned just six points from their last six league matches, seen their Champions League campaign slide to the brink of disaster and tumble out of the Carling Cup to arch-rivals Manchester United.

Critics have been lining up to write them off, with most pundits now predicting Chelsea will go on to clinch their first title since 1955.

After a decade of duelling with Wenger even Alex Ferguson now claims Chelsea are the team he fears most. Yet despite the gloom, Arsenal are just four points behind Jose Mourinho's men, five in front of United and suffered only their second league defeat in 55 matches at Liverpool last weekend.

Wenger admits his team's poor form is a worry but feels the situation is not as bleak as it is being depicted because they are being measured against their phenomenal unbeaten campaign last term.

"You cannot look back at what happened last season and use it as a reference for what we are doing this year," said Wenger.

"I can't say I am happy with the number of points we have so far but we also have to be realistic. Look at the history of English football. No side has gone through a season as long as we did last year and not lost a game. It was exceptional, so you cannot look at our results this season, compare them to last year and say it is disastrous.

"What we can do is play to our potential and get back to the level of performance we know we can produce."

Wenger insists he is not paying any more attention to Chelsea than he did a year ago, even though Mourinho has moulded Roman Abramovich's millions into a potential championship- winning outfit.

"Maybe they are a little bit stronger than they were last year but only time will tell," he said.

"At the moment, I am not worried about having one more hard competitor. If you look at the number of points we have lost and the teams we have lost them against, the problems are on our side."

Victory over Birmingham at the weekend would usually be dismissed as a formality, but the pressure is on to overcome Steve Bruce's men just to raise confidence levels ahead of the most significant week of Arsenal's season so far.

Next Tuesday, they entertain Rosenborg in the Champions League requiring victory to ensure their place in the knockout stages.

Then, five days later, Mourinho takes his team to Highbury for the first time looking to emphasise the Blues' current superiority.

It is the kind of challenge Wenger would normally relish. This time though there is a nagging doubt over how his team will cope without Patrick Vieira.

The influential Gunners captain will miss both games through suspension and Wenger must have been a worried man at Old Trafford as likely replacement Mathieu Flamini was virtually anonymous against Manchester United's second-string midfield.

Wenger is still considering his options but there are not many available.

And while the Arsenal coach might claim to have found some players of first-team potential from the wreckage of Wednesday night's defeat, he knows Vieira's boots will not be easy to fill.