Arsenal versus Chelsea preview

Arsenal host Chelsea on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates for a place in the top four at stake. Arsenal are in 5th 6 points behind Chelsea in 4th and need to win the game to keep in touching distance. A loss would mean that they would be 9 points behind, which would be a real blow to their hopes of a top 4 finish.

Chelsea have had a pretty good festive period with their only loss being to Wolves at the beginning of December, which was followed by beating Man City 2-0. However, Chelsea are having problems with their strikers, although have apparently reached an agreement with Juventus to Higuain on loan according to Sky Sports Italy, to solve those problems with Morata heading to Atletico. If Higuain can fit into their team and start scoring goals, then they can maybe still mount a title challenge if Liverpool and City slip up.

Arsenal haven’t had the best of festive periods. They started December with a 4-2 win over Spurs which gave them lots of confidence. However, in mid-December they lost 3-2 to Southampton and their worst result came right before the new year when they lost 5-1 to Liverpool. Emery seemed to bring new life and a revival to Arsenal, however, this last month and a half has shown that they still have a long way to go before they can be competing for the title. Emery still needs time to fully implement his ideas and buy a few more of “his” players and then we can judge how well he is doing.

The last time these two teams met, it was back in August and was only the second game of the season in the Premier League. It was a very exciting game with Chelsea winning 3-2. With so much at stake now this will be a tight affair, with both teams wanting to win, although will not risk losing either and could be decided by just one goal.

Predicted result- Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea