Five things to look out for
Recent form suggests Arsene Wenger’s men are getting there. Nine successive wins in all competitions suggest a team on the up and leaves the Gunners well placed to finish second and retain the FA Cup. However, even in the midst of such a run, there have been all too familiar signs of brittleness in clutch moments.
Think the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham and the 3-1 Champions League collapse at home to Monaco. Think even of last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Reading when extra-time and a goalkeeping howler was needed to advance.
Then there’s the table. Arsenal go into tomorrow’s game against Chelsea 10 points behind the champions-elect. Defeat would stretch the gap to 13. Last season Arsenal finished fourth but were only seven points adrift of champions Manchester City.
Wenger believes Arsenal are going the right direction and while a win tomorrow would only delay the inevitable it would provide encouragement for next season.
If Wenger ever pens a memoir it’s likely the most interesting chapter will be the one dealing with Cesc Fabregas’s departure and why his former skipper didn’t return to the Emirates after his second Barcelona exit.
Instead Fabregas will return to North London tomorrow wearing the blue of Chelsea. Wenger has called for Arsenal fans to show Fabregas respect but his return raises an uncomfortable question for the Arsenal boss: why did he not exercise the buy-back option on the player?
Fabregas has intimated the reason he didn’t return to Arsenal was down to Wenger not wanting him but the Arsenal boss said this week the situation was “not as clean as that”. The truth of the story for now remains elusive but Fabregas is likely to receive, at best, a mixed reception tomorrow.
Tomorrow night Eden Hazard is likely to be named PFA Player of the Year. A few hours earlier he will get another chance to show why he’s worthy of such an accolade. If Chelsea are to win they will again look to their marquee player.
Alexis Sanchez, another player of the year nominee, will be the man Arsenal look to for inspiration. Hazard will fancy his chances against a rusty Mathieu Debuchy or an inexperienced Hector Bellerin.
Sanchez hasn’t shown the same consistency as the Belgium international but he has enjoyed a stellar first season in England, carrying the Gunners during a difficult first half of the season.
Chelsea’s performances may have been less than spectacular in recent weeks but Jose Mourinho’s men still go the Emirates on the back of four successive wins and a comfortable 10-point lead.
They do not need to win tomorrow but being the compulsive winner he is, Mourinho will be determined not to surrender his proud 12-game unbeaten record against Wenger.
Arsenal will inevitably go on the offensive so expect Chelsea to defend deep and attempt to hit the Gunners on the break. How Arsenal cope with such a challenge will tell plenty about whether the progress of recent months is based on real substance or a largely benign fixture list.
The most memorable thing about Chelsea’s comfortable 2-0 victory over Arsenal in October was a spat involving the managers that resulted in Wenger pushing Mourinho.
It was a crushing indictment of his players that a then 64-year-old showed more stomach for a fight than those on the pitch.
Mourinho may have branded Wenger “a specialist in failure” but the Arsenal boss is a notoriously bad loser and, though he has played down his inability to come out on top against the Portuguese, he will be desperate to change the narrative tomorrow.
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