Blues win won't end Arsenal hopes: Scolari

Luiz Felipe Scolari insists that Arsenal will continue to be a title threat even if Chelsea beat them on Sunday.

A Chelsea victory would stretch their lead over Arsenal to 13 points and effectively end their hopes of winning the title.

But Scolari is reluctant to suggest that such a margin is still enough to rule them out of the race.

Scolari is big friends with Arsene Wenger and despite his problems at the Emirates this season, he remains one of the best five coaches in the world, according to the Brazilian.

“Last season Chelsea were nine points behind United at the halfway point and even if you’re 15 points clear with five games to go, you’re not champions,” said Scolari.

“You’re only champions at the end of the last game. This is the first time I’ll have played against Wenger – he’s been my friend for 10 or 12 years now.

“I met him for the first time in Japan and we are big friends. I like him as a coach. If I chose five coaches in the world as the best, he’d be one of the five.

“His team plays football, so it’s difficult to win. They play beautiful football. I watched their game against Manchester United and it was one of the best games in the Premier League. This game against Chelsea will be like that as well.

“This is one of the big games but we are not motivated just for a game against Arsenal or Tottenham. We need to play every game with the same motivation. We need to try to win.”

Scolari will go into the game without the services of the suspended and much-troubled striker Didier Drogba.

He will sit out the second match of his three-game ban with the dust refusing to settle on his alleged meeting with Inter Milan’s sporting director Marco Branca last Monday night.

But Scolari admitted he had not spoken to the Ivorian striker about his alleged attendance at the meeting because he had been focused on the Arsenal game.

However, Scolari is convinced that Drogba is 100% committed to Chelsea despite the recent speculation over his future.

“I think Didier is happy,” said Scolari. “My relationship with him is very good. Very good. All I know is that he can’t play against Arsenal. I have to be thinking about the Arsenal game, not what might happen in 2010 or 2011.

“I’m not thinking about Juliano Belletti, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and Franco Di Santo because none of them can play.

“Drogba has had four months of injury, but he’s training now. Now it’s step by step at Chelsea. I’ll try to play him when he’s back from suspension.

“For me, he has my support every day. Injured or not injured. I’m sure he’s 100% committed to the club.”

And Scolari also made it clear he has no plans to return to Brazil if Chelsea fail to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Chelsea need to beat CFR Cluj at home in their final Group A game to make sure of qualification and Scolari had joked after the draw with Bordeaux that he might as well return to Brazil and stay there if they fail.

But Scolari explained: “First, some people need to understand when I’m joking. It’s my style. I’m very happy here and I want to stay two years.”