We defended very well today. I like how Mustafi in particular doesn't commit before he has to and when he does, the tackles are well timed and firm for the most part. He and Koscielny are forming a good partnership. Coquelin might be out for weeks with his knee injury. Luckily we have some depth there now. Xhaka will probably be the starter and I'm not worried about him against the opposition we will face in the next 8 games. I would like Coquelin back and in the swing of things for the Spurs game but we have 3 DM who can do the job in the squad.
@What4- Walcott is actually starting to apply himself. Apart from the moment in the 2nd half where he should've shot but ended up over-hitting a cross to Alexis, I can't fault him. He has actually played well all season.
@What4- Not against the good teams/defences for me. Case in point, PSG- even though they are an above average defence against top attacks themselves. That wasn't long enough ago for us to say he has dramatically improved in the 9 role. What happened today was an error by Cahill and general terrible defensive play from Chelsea. He is far better on the wings imo, with a true 9 in the middle for him to play off of although he played excellently today for sure. I was actually hoping we'd see Lucas play in the 9 for half an hour. The game was won at half time, I think Wenger missed an opportunity to have a look at Lucas against prem opposition.
@denisgrad Which would be very ironic because he was the best defender in the last two seasons. I remember an article here on Whoscored that showed how his workrate grew as Terry's defensive workrate became weaker. Since Luiz is nothing we should call a professional football player, my conclusion is that Cahill is a very good defender with the right partner on his side. "Right" means fast and with a good sense for positioning. Buying the right players is Conte's business.
This is an easy win for Chelsea. Arsenal has barely played any game. Thier 2-1 win against Southampton was pure luck. A 90 min penalty and a lot of Southampton wasting clear chances. Chelsea come down from 2-0 to draw 2-2 FT and leciester. That was amazing. And I think Chelsea has always edged out this rusted Cannons since age from highbury till now at Emirates. Arsenal lack of quality match winning players will cost them here again. Diego Costa. This guy is a beast. The way he be scoring goals is like eating an ice cream. 2 goals against Swansea. He has scored in every match he has played. And against Arsenal. He loves Arsenal. I think he was made to play against Arsenal. He scores Arsenal every day. He brutally harass Arsenal players. Them get red cards. Arsenal fans lament this COST(US) . The fact that Diego Costa is available today is enough for Chelsea to win Out straight
I thought whoscored always predicted arsenal winning most of their games...lol now they didn't want to take risk on this one. Costa will score the winner and fickle arsenal fans will start moaning wenger out.
3:1 Arsenal, I cannot take into account last two EPM meetings of these two where Arsenal played with 10 men in both games! Chelsea have this good record only against Arsenal but Chelsea have flaws right now especially at the back! Lets see who Wenger starts hope all 11 players will finish the game on the pitch!
Chelsea to win 1-3. Arsenal playing Sanchez in central position will prove costly. Expect Costa to torment and eventually win the game for us. Arsenal is just too emotional to play against Chelsea
Arsenal's top performers and starting XI based on recent performances: Cech, Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Monreal, Santi, Xhaka, Sanchez, Ozil, Walcott and Perez. Wenger should start with this lot and play Sanchez on Ivanovic's wing! :))
@albgunn Coq does more defensive work than Xhaka, so prefer him when playing a top table club. Iwobi deserves to be there somewhere - I like him instead of Walcott (I don't like Sanchez as a CF, so would keep Perez).
@6seconds Coquelin is the unpolished version of Xhaka. Xhaka has similar or better interceptions than Coquelin. Coquelin has no passing, no through balls, panics in tight areas and gives the ball away very often! I love Coquelin but Xhaka is the complete midfielder right now and he also has a very accurate left foot!
@albgunn- Coquelin is a better pure DM. It doesn't matter that his passing range is limited, he plays next to Cazorla. I also think you're being unfair on Francis regarding his ball retention skills. Given he is often passed the ball in tight areas, his pass completion percentage of 89% (compared to Xhaka's 86%) is fairly high. Xhaka goes for more longer passes therefore an element of risk attached, which in turn could explain how he has a lower percentage, but Coquelin is at least as good a passer as Matic and people were saying Matic "could do everything" 2 seasons ago. The only thing I dislike about Coquelin, which he needs to improve, is his discernment in the tackle. He still lunges in too much. Xhaka does too incidentally, we've seen this season he has made stupid fouls on players who were going absolutely nowhere with the ball. I think both players need to learn when not to commit to become world class in their position.
@SteveHyland Given Wenger has always relied on intelligent players and midfielders, Coquelin possesses little attributes of a typical Wenger midfielder. He's more of a destroyer rather than a builder in the team!If you watch last season's Arsenal big games, where Coquelin played next to Cazorla. He's not comfortable on the ball and this is a fact. has no long range pass or shot. he has almost zero key passes in any games. He's a tough tackler but Wenger bought Xhaka because he prefers a midfielder who's comfortable on the ball. is early to compare the players but Xhaka is the best Swiss midfielder now and was Monchengladbach's anchorman in Bundesliga. the whole midfield run through him. do you think Coquelin can play as a holding in a 4-1-4-1 formation? I dont think so. Dont get me wrong I love Coquelin and I believe he's underrated but Xhaka is probably what Arsenal been crying for. Xhaka would walk into any top team's midfield, not sure about the latter! Salut
@albgunn- Coquelin's role in the team isn't to be a builder or as a creative player though. You seem to expect every midfielder in a Wenger team should be a great passer or create chances but actually the highest rated DM in the Emirates-era Arsenal have been Gilberto and Song. I don't see either of those as a clearly better passer than Coquelin and their role wasn't to be creative. It was to break up play, protect the back 4 and the give the ball to somebody who is creative. When you have Cazorla and Oezil in the side, what you need most is a genuine DM, not a jack of all trades. Playing as an anchor in a 4-1-4-1 is largely irrelevant since Wenger's formation of choice is 4-2-3-1 and has been since we had Vieira, Petit and Bergkamp in midfield. You also seem to constantly assume all leagues are created equal. It matters little that Xhaka was the BMG lynchpin, this is Arsenal- a better team in a far tougher league. Xhaka hasn't been a regular for a reason, he isn't good enough yet.
@albgunn From what I've seen on the pitch, Coq makes himself well known with his tackles. Xhaka less so. Considering those stats are from the Bundesliga (or else a very small EPL sample size), I'm inclined to give Coq the benefit of the doubt here. I don't argue that Xhaka is a better passer and is more composed.
Whoscored completely dismissing the fact that Arsenal bought £100m of very good buys just recently and have a completely different and more equipped squad than what we've seen lately.! Head to head Arsenal have better players than Chelsea! Head to head Cech vs Courtous. Bellerin vs Ivanovic. Cahill Vs Koscielny. Monreal vs Azpilicueta. Oscar vs Xhaka. Sanchez vs Hazard, Ozil vs Willian, Cazorla vs Matic etc. I can tell you that Arsenal have better players and bar Hazard, Costa and Willian the rest of Chelsea first team are inferior to this Arsenal first team! I would take John Terry before any EPL defender but he's not a a top performer anymore due to his 35 years old age! I'd take Perez before Batshuyi, I'd take Walcott before Moses, I'd take Holding before David Luiz, I'd take Coquelin before Mikel! Arsenal will only lose this match if they put it on the plate to Chelsea. Conte wont start Cesc Fabregas in this game but I believe he's Chelsea most dangerous player! 3:1 Arsenal!
@albgunn To me, the only scary player in Chelsea's line up is Kante. As far as I am concerned, he was Leicester's backbone last season. I have a lot of respect for him. He can easily quiet down Ozil.
@Valor Kante had rubbish stats against Ozil in both meetings with Leicester last season. Although Kante is a hell of a player, he is not a threat to a team. He just covers more ground than anyone else but if Ramsey was fit to play Arsenal would have their own Kante. I know one thing for sure that a player like Ozil can split any defense or leave any player for dead with a deadly pass. This game will be won strategically and I believe If Wenger gets the right line-up Arsenal have a massive chance to kill Chelsea who I believe have major issues in the whole backline. Perez should start as Chelsea wont be prepared for him!
After such a fantastic performance from Xhaka, it will be interesting to see if Wenger will insist on the 'Carzoquelin' at the central midfield. I would start Lucas upfront for this match and drop Walcott to the bench. The media recently crowned Iwobi as the new Arsenal 'assist king'; its nice to see other players step up so we won't have to be reliant on Ozil to provide goals. Cech, Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Monreal, Coquelin, Carzola, Iwobi, Ozil, Sanchez, Lucas. Arsenal to win this one 3-1. Sanchez MOTM. Xhaka to score from long range again.
@Valor- Coquelin has been excellent in a number of big games since starting for Arsenal so I'll be shocked if he doesn't start next to Santi. Xhaka can, and did often, go missing in big games for club and country. He doesn't provide enough offensively to warrant being started ahead of Francis given he isn't as good defensively against top midfielders. Wenger has said he fancies Xhaka as a box-to-box midfielder more-so than a pure DM a la Coquelin. It's good we have options, but against the big/top teams I would want a pure DM because Santi offers little defensively. Well, barring last week when he did his best Robbie Savage impression. Ha ha
@Valor Good lineup, but Walcott has been quite good lately. I feel like we'll have a surprsing starting XI again on saturday. There really are plenty of decent options, wonder if Xhaka will play.
I think I'd go like that Cech - Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Monreal - Coquelin, Cazorla - Sanchez, Özil, Walcott - Giroud/Lucas (Giroud if fit but Lucas coming in at the 60th). I absolutely love Iwobi but we'll need experience for this one.
Arsenal 2 - 0 Chelsea
Hopefully Mustafi, Koscielny, Coquelin etc are savvy enough to not engage in any physicality with Costa. Everybody knows what he is like. The 3 aforementioned Arsenal players have been around long enough to ignore his antics. Much like with the annoying little kid at school, once you ignore them they stop playing up. I also hope Cahill and Luiz play how they did against Leicester. For a Conte team, this is such a terrible defence. I'm going to predict we'll win, 3-1.
This is a new Arsenal side and they are just gathering momentum. They look very improved unlike we've seen them recently. There's huge contribution from all departments in this new team so far. Arsenal's defenders look very good, their midfield is very strong and attack, I believe Perez will be a menace, He's an intelligent forward and having seen him last night against Forest where he was hunting down the ball, It was a glimpse of Diego Costa in him. Xhaka is probably the best midfielder in the EPL right now even though he's played little. Chelsea's solid record against Arsenal this time might change due to their tactics and playing defensive football and a very suspicious defense. Apart from Azpilicueta every single Chelsea defender is a liability right now. Cahill, Luiz, Ivanovic are prone to errors. Also the fact that Conte doesnt like Cesc, would not be surprised he didnt start against his old club. Im going for an Arsenal win this time.
arsenal barely had any of its starting 11 for the league on Wednesday,so i see the arsenal boys giving chelsea a had time,will go with 2-1 arsenal winning it..But diego costa a big threat.
@Overmars Costa will probably try to get one of our defenders sent off again. Kos and Mustafi only need to keep calm & concentrated and NEVER fight back.
We defended very well today. I like how Mustafi in particular doesn't commit before he has to and when he does, the tackles are well timed and firm for the most part. He and Koscielny are forming a good partnership. Coquelin might be out for weeks with his knee injury. Luckily we have some depth there now. Xhaka will probably be the starter and I'm not worried about him against the opposition we will face in the next 8 games. I would like Coquelin back and in the swing of things for the Spurs game but we have 3 DM who can do the job in the squad.
Ozil and Sanchez were great, but you have to give credit to Walcott too, he worked very hard, there was one moment where he was even filling in at RB!
@What4- Walcott is actually starting to apply himself. Apart from the moment in the 2nd half where he should've shot but ended up over-hitting a cross to Alexis, I can't fault him. He has actually played well all season.
Deserved win for arsenal.. the first time i feel Arsenal as a perfect team in defense and attack.. great job gunners.
What a great f**king win! Ozil is the highest rated player but whoscored haven't given the MOTM to anyone weirdly.
@Overmars It always takes some minutes until they give MotM.
@BeautifulLoser thanks, didn't know
@Overmars He was brilliant today. i thin he is growing stronger in the role
So, Sanchez as a striker, what do you guys think now?
@What4- Not against the good teams/defences for me. Case in point, PSG- even though they are an above average defence against top attacks themselves. That wasn't long enough ago for us to say he has dramatically improved in the 9 role. What happened today was an error by Cahill and general terrible defensive play from Chelsea. He is far better on the wings imo, with a true 9 in the middle for him to play off of although he played excellently today for sure. I was actually hoping we'd see Lucas play in the 9 for half an hour. The game was won at half time, I think Wenger missed an opportunity to have a look at Lucas against prem opposition.
@What4 He was brilliant today. i think he is growing stronger in the role
Fantastic! Brilliant! Sit down and shut up you Chavs! All it took was a fair and competent ref.
This was #AGGHIACCIANDE!
Once again, Chelsea keeps on under-performing against good teams.
Alexis 3 dribbles, 3 key passes, 2 tackles and 3 interceptions
Same old Arsenal... Should be 6:0 by now!
Now I see why Oscar has been starting over Fabregas, defensively he is atrocious.
@bradley.fcb he was never great defensively
Cahill and Luiz must be given to ISIS.
@denisgrad Luiz IS ISIS :-D
This looks very much like "Ciao Ciao Conte" :-D
@BeautifulLoser no its only ciao ciao to Cahill. This man will only be playing in the reserves now.
@denisgrad Which would be very ironic because he was the best defender in the last two seasons. I remember an article here on Whoscored that showed how his workrate grew as Terry's defensive workrate became weaker. Since Luiz is nothing we should call a professional football player, my conclusion is that Cahill is a very good defender with the right partner on his side. "Right" means fast and with a good sense for positioning. Buying the right players is Conte's business.
chelsea cant defend
Chelsea to win or draw.
Chavs been living on borrowed time for too long, time to put them back in their place!
Probably 1-1 or 1-2
This is an easy win for Chelsea. Arsenal has barely played any game. Thier 2-1 win against Southampton was pure luck. A 90 min penalty and a lot of Southampton wasting clear chances. Chelsea come down from 2-0 to draw 2-2 FT and leciester. That was amazing. And I think Chelsea has always edged out this rusted Cannons since age from highbury till now at Emirates. Arsenal lack of quality match winning players will cost them here again. Diego Costa. This guy is a beast. The way he be scoring goals is like eating an ice cream. 2 goals against Swansea. He has scored in every match he has played. And against Arsenal. He loves Arsenal. I think he was made to play against Arsenal. He scores Arsenal every day. He brutally harass Arsenal players. Them get red cards. Arsenal fans lament this COST(US) . The fact that Diego Costa is available today is enough for Chelsea to win Out straight
@njamimaranga Costa indeed had a good game. Thanks to Mustafi and Koscielny
@njamimaranga Nice prediction, mate.
@njamimaranga Unfortunately for Chelsea, Michael Oliver is reffing this one, Costa is unlikely to get away with his CHEATING this time around.
1-1 I think, with the usual caveat about an early sending off changing things etc etc. Don't fancy Kante to give Özil much room.
Arsenal -Chelsea 1-1
@florescum Floor scum, the best description of Chelsea I've ever seen.
I thought whoscored always predicted arsenal winning most of their games...lol now they didn't want to take risk on this one. Costa will score the winner and fickle arsenal fans will start moaning wenger out.
3:1 Arsenal, I cannot take into account last two EPM meetings of these two where Arsenal played with 10 men in both games! Chelsea have this good record only against Arsenal but Chelsea have flaws right now especially at the back! Lets see who Wenger starts hope all 11 players will finish the game on the pitch!
Diego Costa will be replace Didier Drogba as new Nightmare in Emirates stadium. 0-1 for the blues.
Stop being deluded people. Arsenal never beats Chelsea in the premier league. 1-2 to Chelsea with Costa scoring a double and silencing the Emirates.
@denisgrad tomorrow Arsenal will break this rule. 2-0 for the gunners
0-0 or 1-1
Chelsea to win 1-3. Arsenal playing Sanchez in central position will prove costly. Expect Costa to torment and eventually win the game for us. Arsenal is just too emotional to play against Chelsea
Arsenal's top performers and starting XI based on recent performances: Cech, Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Monreal, Santi, Xhaka, Sanchez, Ozil, Walcott and Perez. Wenger should start with this lot and play Sanchez on Ivanovic's wing! :))
@albgunn Coq does more defensive work than Xhaka, so prefer him when playing a top table club. Iwobi deserves to be there somewhere - I like him instead of Walcott (I don't like Sanchez as a CF, so would keep Perez).
@6seconds Coquelin is the unpolished version of Xhaka. Xhaka has similar or better interceptions than Coquelin. Coquelin has no passing, no through balls, panics in tight areas and gives the ball away very often! I love Coquelin but Xhaka is the complete midfielder right now and he also has a very accurate left foot!
@albgunn- Coquelin is a better pure DM. It doesn't matter that his passing range is limited, he plays next to Cazorla. I also think you're being unfair on Francis regarding his ball retention skills. Given he is often passed the ball in tight areas, his pass completion percentage of 89% (compared to Xhaka's 86%) is fairly high. Xhaka goes for more longer passes therefore an element of risk attached, which in turn could explain how he has a lower percentage, but Coquelin is at least as good a passer as Matic and people were saying Matic "could do everything" 2 seasons ago. The only thing I dislike about Coquelin, which he needs to improve, is his discernment in the tackle. He still lunges in too much. Xhaka does too incidentally, we've seen this season he has made stupid fouls on players who were going absolutely nowhere with the ball. I think both players need to learn when not to commit to become world class in their position.
@SteveHyland Given Wenger has always relied on intelligent players and midfielders, Coquelin possesses little attributes of a typical Wenger midfielder. He's more of a destroyer rather than a builder in the team!If you watch last season's Arsenal big games, where Coquelin played next to Cazorla. He's not comfortable on the ball and this is a fact. has no long range pass or shot. he has almost zero key passes in any games. He's a tough tackler but Wenger bought Xhaka because he prefers a midfielder who's comfortable on the ball. is early to compare the players but Xhaka is the best Swiss midfielder now and was Monchengladbach's anchorman in Bundesliga. the whole midfield run through him. do you think Coquelin can play as a holding in a 4-1-4-1 formation? I dont think so. Dont get me wrong I love Coquelin and I believe he's underrated but Xhaka is probably what Arsenal been crying for. Xhaka would walk into any top team's midfield, not sure about the latter! Salut
@albgunn- Coquelin's role in the team isn't to be a builder or as a creative player though. You seem to expect every midfielder in a Wenger team should be a great passer or create chances but actually the highest rated DM in the Emirates-era Arsenal have been Gilberto and Song. I don't see either of those as a clearly better passer than Coquelin and their role wasn't to be creative. It was to break up play, protect the back 4 and the give the ball to somebody who is creative. When you have Cazorla and Oezil in the side, what you need most is a genuine DM, not a jack of all trades. Playing as an anchor in a 4-1-4-1 is largely irrelevant since Wenger's formation of choice is 4-2-3-1 and has been since we had Vieira, Petit and Bergkamp in midfield. You also seem to constantly assume all leagues are created equal. It matters little that Xhaka was the BMG lynchpin, this is Arsenal- a better team in a far tougher league. Xhaka hasn't been a regular for a reason, he isn't good enough yet.
@albgunn From what I've seen on the pitch, Coq makes himself well known with his tackles. Xhaka less so. Considering those stats are from the Bundesliga (or else a very small EPL sample size), I'm inclined to give Coq the benefit of the doubt here. I don't argue that Xhaka is a better passer and is more composed.
Whoscored completely dismissing the fact that Arsenal bought £100m of very good buys just recently and have a completely different and more equipped squad than what we've seen lately.! Head to head Arsenal have better players than Chelsea! Head to head Cech vs Courtous. Bellerin vs Ivanovic. Cahill Vs Koscielny. Monreal vs Azpilicueta. Oscar vs Xhaka. Sanchez vs Hazard, Ozil vs Willian, Cazorla vs Matic etc. I can tell you that Arsenal have better players and bar Hazard, Costa and Willian the rest of Chelsea first team are inferior to this Arsenal first team! I would take John Terry before any EPL defender but he's not a a top performer anymore due to his 35 years old age! I'd take Perez before Batshuyi, I'd take Walcott before Moses, I'd take Holding before David Luiz, I'd take Coquelin before Mikel! Arsenal will only lose this match if they put it on the plate to Chelsea. Conte wont start Cesc Fabregas in this game but I believe he's Chelsea most dangerous player! 3:1 Arsenal!
@albgunn To me, the only scary player in Chelsea's line up is Kante. As far as I am concerned, he was Leicester's backbone last season. I have a lot of respect for him. He can easily quiet down Ozil.
@Valor Kante had rubbish stats against Ozil in both meetings with Leicester last season. Although Kante is a hell of a player, he is not a threat to a team. He just covers more ground than anyone else but if Ramsey was fit to play Arsenal would have their own Kante. I know one thing for sure that a player like Ozil can split any defense or leave any player for dead with a deadly pass. This game will be won strategically and I believe If Wenger gets the right line-up Arsenal have a massive chance to kill Chelsea who I believe have major issues in the whole backline. Perez should start as Chelsea wont be prepared for him!
After such a fantastic performance from Xhaka, it will be interesting to see if Wenger will insist on the 'Carzoquelin' at the central midfield. I would start Lucas upfront for this match and drop Walcott to the bench. The media recently crowned Iwobi as the new Arsenal 'assist king'; its nice to see other players step up so we won't have to be reliant on Ozil to provide goals. Cech, Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Monreal, Coquelin, Carzola, Iwobi, Ozil, Sanchez, Lucas. Arsenal to win this one 3-1. Sanchez MOTM. Xhaka to score from long range again.
@Valor- Coquelin has been excellent in a number of big games since starting for Arsenal so I'll be shocked if he doesn't start next to Santi. Xhaka can, and did often, go missing in big games for club and country. He doesn't provide enough offensively to warrant being started ahead of Francis given he isn't as good defensively against top midfielders. Wenger has said he fancies Xhaka as a box-to-box midfielder more-so than a pure DM a la Coquelin. It's good we have options, but against the big/top teams I would want a pure DM because Santi offers little defensively. Well, barring last week when he did his best Robbie Savage impression. Ha ha
@Valor Good lineup, but Walcott has been quite good lately. I feel like we'll have a surprsing starting XI again on saturday. There really are plenty of decent options, wonder if Xhaka will play. I think I'd go like that Cech - Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Monreal - Coquelin, Cazorla - Sanchez, Özil, Walcott - Giroud/Lucas (Giroud if fit but Lucas coming in at the 60th). I absolutely love Iwobi but we'll need experience for this one. Arsenal 2 - 0 Chelsea
Hopefully Mustafi, Koscielny, Coquelin etc are savvy enough to not engage in any physicality with Costa. Everybody knows what he is like. The 3 aforementioned Arsenal players have been around long enough to ignore his antics. Much like with the annoying little kid at school, once you ignore them they stop playing up. I also hope Cahill and Luiz play how they did against Leicester. For a Conte team, this is such a terrible defence. I'm going to predict we'll win, 3-1.
This is a new Arsenal side and they are just gathering momentum. They look very improved unlike we've seen them recently. There's huge contribution from all departments in this new team so far. Arsenal's defenders look very good, their midfield is very strong and attack, I believe Perez will be a menace, He's an intelligent forward and having seen him last night against Forest where he was hunting down the ball, It was a glimpse of Diego Costa in him. Xhaka is probably the best midfielder in the EPL right now even though he's played little. Chelsea's solid record against Arsenal this time might change due to their tactics and playing defensive football and a very suspicious defense. Apart from Azpilicueta every single Chelsea defender is a liability right now. Cahill, Luiz, Ivanovic are prone to errors. Also the fact that Conte doesnt like Cesc, would not be surprised he didnt start against his old club. Im going for an Arsenal win this time.
@albgunn +1
arsenal barely had any of its starting 11 for the league on Wednesday,so i see the arsenal boys giving chelsea a had time,will go with 2-1 arsenal winning it..But diego costa a big threat.
1-2 Chelsea , Diego Costa MOTM
@Overmars so glad iwas very wrong, Chelse are so bad. Only Costa & Willian turned up.
Can we finally get a league win over Chelsea? I wouldn't bet on it as Diego Costa is our personal nemesis!
@Overmars Costa will probably try to get one of our defenders sent off again. Kos and Mustafi only need to keep calm & concentrated and NEVER fight back.