League Prediction Summary:
1st WhoScored 5/10 correct results including 1 perfect score (West Ham 2 Man City 2).
2nd Paul Merson (Sky Sports Expert) 3/10 correct results. 0 perfect scores.
3rd Mark Lawrenson (BBC Expert) 2/10 correct results. 0 perfect scores.
Mark Lawrenson is shown this weeks Red Card.
As an Arsenal fan I'm content with the fact that we lost today, fair play, but I'm even happier that chelsea are STILL only 13th :D lol. I miss when they were awful.
@TacticalMastermind- Which is why Mertesacker was superb at home against Bayern and Gabriel was terrible in the game at the Allianz not to mention Liverpool and the game against Chelsea at the Bridge. You need to realise that you could have the best CB of all time at your disposal but if you have a terrible defensive formation, he will look average. It's true Gabriel suits our system better purely because he has the pace to make up for his poor initial positioning or errors, but it was Wenger who signed Per, he knew then he had to devise a different strategy but he hasn't and Per's weakness- lack of pace, becomes exposed.
@denisgrad Someone was still thinking arsenal can win EPL. Anyway they were 10 for 72mins, so telling Chelsea won tactically before the match is ridiculous
@denisgrad arsenal fans could never beleive that chelsea was dominating the match.Chelsea could score 3 goals if they've had goalscorers.The fact is that Fabregas is dictating the pace and controling very easily the midfeild,as he was doing for Arsenal. I love Arsenal but they were not in form and not as fast as they used to be. 70%of whoscored are gunners fans. Any how, i think chelsea should have players in (frontline and midfeild) who can score like in arsenal and Mancity. Arsen lose it tacticaly and technicaly before the start.
@What4@What4 lol what does that say about Arsenal then? you guys just got beaten by the team you have the most inferiority complex against, who are currently sitting in 14th. Arsenal just took the definition of "lame" and brought it to another level.
PS: Do you know that it has been 3 years since Arsenal scored a goal against Chelsea?
@jayvin83 Actually, if you're looking for people to blame, it looks like Koscielny was napping while Mertesacker was trying to play the offside trap. And then Koscielny defends poorly for the goal. Don't use bad refereeing as a stick to beat Mertesacker with.
@What4- Tbh, most people don't have a clue about defence nowadays and that's at least partly to do with the fact there are no great defensive pundits in the game. In this system, Nesta, Adams, Sammer, Blanc- all world class defenders of their time, would be as exposed as Per is with our high line. Guess those 4 sucked too then?
Chelsea's attack was not particularly quick, so there was nothing wrong with playing a 'high line'. And Mertesacker was not the last man, Koscielny was covering, so how was that a straight red? Was Costa clean through? NO. When are they going to start investigating these games for match fixing, this is ridiculous. Admittedly the defending for the goal was poor, Gabriel, Flamini and Koscielny were marking him, and yet Costa got a tap in. Chelsea fans shouldn't be smug, even when we were a man down, we still carved you open a number of times, and you never dominated the game. It would be nice for once to see an even match between these two teams.
@What4 I am gunner's fans, but total not agree. M4 has mistake and gave wrong respond, you must consider the match still early+ costa still need to face cech. Mertesackaer low speed and then stupid + brainless. no doubt he is second class!
@What4 Stop crying and making stupid comments already. Costa dived, he scored. Arsenal lost - like they always lose against chelsea. There was no match fixing stop being a knobhead.
@MiguelSuave I only ask that question when he is not showing up like today. Getting a 6.2 rating, zero shots, a pass average of 76% and only one key pass gives me any right to ask that question. If that bugs you so much maybe you should get a life ...
@MiguelSuave He is German, and yet for some reason he really doesn't like Ozil, even though he's been named Germany's Player of the Year four times now. He's probably angry Ozil isn't playing for his beloved Bayern, who are used to having their own way in the Bundesliga.
Mhm, Chelsea with more shots, more possesion !, better pass success, more won aerials, more corners, more tackles. And that is for an away from home team !
Deserved lead I would say ...
Oh and we are FAR too nice a team to play against. After the sending off, we should've got in the faces of the Chelsea players who are easily wound up. Against Chelsea, you need to resort to Chelsea rules. Dirty little fouls off the ball which the officials don't see, hard tackles, running at those booked to get them to stick out a leg so they are sent off etc. It's not what the purists would want, including myself, but against dirty teams you need to play dirty or you invariably lose.
@Excalibur- What exactly am I being a cry-baby about? I didn't contest the sending off, only stating the fact that Costa dived. Also, I'm not too sure what you're contesting- whether Arsenal are too soft or Chelsea are dirty. Both are pretty much the general consensus. Ask people from other countries who the dirtiest team in the league is, Chelsea would in all likelihood be the most named. I need to introduce you to the theory of the common denominator.
Costa dived by Per gave him the chance to. I've said before problem if we defend too high against a quality passing midfield. It happened last year at the Bridge with a ball from Fabregas to Costa and it's happened again.
Arsenal have had 3 red cards in the league and every one of them have come while playing Chelsea, coincidence? i think not. If Sanchez is fit enough surely Wenger has to bring him on for Campbell.
Soon every chelsea player is gonna leave the bridge. Its the end. Hazard surely is the only good player they have apart from Courtois whom many top clubs would want. No CL no party.
My prediction: These are must win games for Arsenal if they want to win the league. Problem. Arsenal haven't been used to the pressure of such league-defining games for a very long time. Although they improved on last season's performance against Stoke, they were worse against Southampton & still couldn't beat Liverpool so why expect them to do better than they did last season in this fixture against a desperate Chelsea? On the other hand, Chelsea are extremely unlikely to do the double over an Arsenal team with ambitions of winning the league. That'd be unacceptable. I therefore agree with WhoScored. If I had to choose a winner it would be Arsenal. Realistically, however, this is Courtois V Petr Cech II. Great saves from both keepers with a loss unacceptable to both teams will see this fixture end 0 - 0.
arsenal will want this more then chelsea and have a better chemistry in the team they know this could be the 3 points that keep us on top of the race for title as for BOB chelsea they arnt playing no good football i say arsenal to win 2-1/3-1
Mark Clattenberg is not quiet a Chelsea fan so Arsenal should not worry about another scumbag Mike Dean refereeing! I see Arsenal scoring at 2/3 goals in this match and Chelsea walking away with zero points!
Agree with Martin Laurence. Going with a 1-1. Chelsea to score first and Arsenal to get an equaliser, just hope we don't lose this match as we all know Chelsea will bully Ozil and dive a shitload. Fabregas MOTM.
@goonergunner- No chance of that, the arch self-involver Mark Clattenberg, is in charge. There are 4 refs who shouldn't take charge of a big game and he is 1 of em.
Arsenal fans predict a 3-1, 4-0 or 5-1(so far). How delusional are you? 1-1 or 2-2 here. Both teams are on average form with two draws in their last two games.
@denisgrad- Apart from the fact both Arsenal's draws were away games to 2 of the best home teams in the league in terms of performance and both Chelsea's were at home, 1 being against West Brom who scored twice, yet before that game averaged just 0.666 goals per game in the league away from home. This is why trying to compare form based entirely on results can yield results contrary to the truth. I agree 5-1 and 4-0 are unlikely but a 2-goal Arsenal win with Chelsea scoring is at least a possible score. This isn't a Mourinho team who will stick everyone behind the ball even at 0-0. Hiddink's teams are attempting to play a more purist style of football, which the Chelsea players like, and that in turn should play in to our hands.
@SteveHyland right true. I forgot Arsenal played away. Anyways obviously 2-1 to Arsenal is likely - especially that they are playing at home though I still believe a draw is the most likely result in this match.
"his isn't a Mourinho team who will stick everyone behind the ball even at 0-0."
Not necessarily true. The 0-0 draw with Man Utd for example. Chelsea have been defending the entire first half of the game - rarely attacking. So Hiddink might try to use a defensive approach in this game too.
@denisgrad- Well, true, it depends if he sees a point at the Emirates as a good result given Chelsea's current predicament. I don't see him being a manager who tells his players to defend rigidly for 90 minutes in order to get a point. That was one of the things the Chelsea players reportedly disliked about Mourinho's tactics and I'm sure Guus would look to distance himself from the "anti-football" perception.
@denisgrad Hiddink might use a defensive tactic to neutralize Alexis and Ozil, hit Arsenal on the counter-attack in a classic away, smash & grab performance.
Remember, Chelsea, Lord Voldemort is gone, you're allowed to play actual football, rather than the American football you've used against us in the past. I'm not holding my breath, though. Go on, surprise us all, you Neanderthals.
@What4 This "American football" you're talking about is the reason Chelsea beat Barcelona in their own backyard a man down and secured their place in CL final. Arsenal has been smashed by Barcelona last 2 times they faced them away. Perhaps they should try playing this "American football", its their only chance of proceeding in the next round of CL this year. Good luck in Camp Nou. Try to concede less than 3 goals this time.
@denisgrad So you admit you use thuggery to win some games, something we all knew already. You know the ends don't always justify the means, but of course since you're sloshing about in oligarch money you wouldn't understand. Nobody would use the same reasoning about Stoke in their worst days. And Chelsea is just a Stoke team that won the lottery.
Who will be surprised when Diego Costa pull some despicable, cheating sh*t? He'll probably score too just to enrage us Gooners further haha. Really hope we can win this with Ozil and Alexis returning to the side.
@Goon He's not its BS mind games. His injury is 'bruised shin' last time I checked and I'm sure he will be declared fit to play. Did you not see his play acting in the previous game?
@Overmars- Yep and taken to hospital to have a scan. Lol. Are you kidding me.... for a bruised shin?! If every Sunday league player went to hospital for a bruised shin, we'd need an 8-day per week NHS. It always makes me laugh that the players who give the dirtiest fouls can't even take genuine ones.
League Prediction Summary: 1st WhoScored 5/10 correct results including 1 perfect score (West Ham 2 Man City 2). 2nd Paul Merson (Sky Sports Expert) 3/10 correct results. 0 perfect scores. 3rd Mark Lawrenson (BBC Expert) 2/10 correct results. 0 perfect scores. Mark Lawrenson is shown this weeks Red Card.
Taking off Giroud is a ridiculous Wenger
As an Arsenal fan I'm content with the fact that we lost today, fair play, but I'm even happier that chelsea are STILL only 13th :D lol. I miss when they were awful.
Arsenal has to have a better CB than Mertesacker !
@CirdomAkul Gabriel is already better. Mertesacker is garbage
@TacticalMastermind- Which is why Mertesacker was superb at home against Bayern and Gabriel was terrible in the game at the Allianz not to mention Liverpool and the game against Chelsea at the Bridge. You need to realise that you could have the best CB of all time at your disposal but if you have a terrible defensive formation, he will look average. It's true Gabriel suits our system better purely because he has the pace to make up for his poor initial positioning or errors, but it was Wenger who signed Per, he knew then he had to devise a different strategy but he hasn't and Per's weakness- lack of pace, becomes exposed.
@CirdomAkul and also better manager who can win the title when he has a great squad and skillfull players like what wenger has now.
specialist.
Mertesacker's face.LOL
Chelsea got 99 problems but beating Arsenal aint one. 14th in the league and still beat them :)
@denisgrad Someone was still thinking arsenal can win EPL. Anyway they were 10 for 72mins, so telling Chelsea won tactically before the match is ridiculous
@denisgrad arsenal fans could never beleive that chelsea was dominating the match.Chelsea could score 3 goals if they've had goalscorers.The fact is that Fabregas is dictating the pace and controling very easily the midfeild,as he was doing for Arsenal. I love Arsenal but they were not in form and not as fast as they used to be. 70%of whoscored are gunners fans. Any how, i think chelsea should have players in (frontline and midfeild) who can score like in arsenal and Mancity. Arsen lose it tacticaly and technicaly before the start.
@denisgrad 14th in the league. Say no more.
@What4 @What4 lol what does that say about Arsenal then? you guys just got beaten by the team you have the most inferiority complex against, who are currently sitting in 14th. Arsenal just took the definition of "lame" and brought it to another level. PS: Do you know that it has been 3 years since Arsenal scored a goal against Chelsea?
@vieri Do you know how many years Chelsea went without a league title before Abramovich took over?
@What4 Lol. Why hate on Chelsea when you should be hating on Wenger? Not our fault he's incompetent. Hold those two Ls and accept 4th place.
Mertesacker really stupid and rubbish! brainless player! second class!
@jayvin83 Actually, if you're looking for people to blame, it looks like Koscielny was napping while Mertesacker was trying to play the offside trap. And then Koscielny defends poorly for the goal. Don't use bad refereeing as a stick to beat Mertesacker with.
@What4- Tbh, most people don't have a clue about defence nowadays and that's at least partly to do with the fact there are no great defensive pundits in the game. In this system, Nesta, Adams, Sammer, Blanc- all world class defenders of their time, would be as exposed as Per is with our high line. Guess those 4 sucked too then?
Chelsea's attack was not particularly quick, so there was nothing wrong with playing a 'high line'. And Mertesacker was not the last man, Koscielny was covering, so how was that a straight red? Was Costa clean through? NO. When are they going to start investigating these games for match fixing, this is ridiculous. Admittedly the defending for the goal was poor, Gabriel, Flamini and Koscielny were marking him, and yet Costa got a tap in. Chelsea fans shouldn't be smug, even when we were a man down, we still carved you open a number of times, and you never dominated the game. It would be nice for once to see an even match between these two teams.
@What4 I am gunner's fans, but total not agree. M4 has mistake and gave wrong respond, you must consider the match still early+ costa still need to face cech. Mertesackaer low speed and then stupid + brainless. no doubt he is second class!
@jayvin83 Doesn't change the fact it was not a red.
@What4 Stop crying and making stupid comments already. Costa dived, he scored. Arsenal lost - like they always lose against chelsea. There was no match fixing stop being a knobhead.
@denisgrad You get dubious refereeing decisions that massively swing the game in your favour, like always.
@What4 Lmao what? You must be 11 years old.
Match summary Arsenal: "Team showed no significant strengths "
From now on we should just start all our games against Chelsea with 10 men, save everyone the trouble of having one of our players sent off early.
@What4 Haha Spurs 2 points behind you now, more goals scored and less conceded. Bet Arsenal fans are worried
@JoeTheJaxon Yes we are, we're worried St. Totteringham's Day might be a little later this year.
Willian tripping Ramsey with his hand by the corner flag in added time just sums Chelsea up.
Shots on target 0-6 ! That is a statement ...
Where is Özil ? He is invisable ...
@neumi17 Dude you should seriously consider getting a life. commenting the same thing every week is sad
@MiguelSuave this guy lives on this site and posts same thing every week. Even cheats with predictions. He is epic troll.
@MiguelSuave I only ask that question when he is not showing up like today. Getting a 6.2 rating, zero shots, a pass average of 76% and only one key pass gives me any right to ask that question. If that bugs you so much maybe you should get a life ...
@MiguelSuave He is German, and yet for some reason he really doesn't like Ozil, even though he's been named Germany's Player of the Year four times now. He's probably angry Ozil isn't playing for his beloved Bayern, who are used to having their own way in the Bundesliga.
Arsenal fans before the game { we will murder chelsea, we'll killem init}... After 70 mins Arsenal fans { cricket whistles...}
@schoolworkparty lol true. So many arsenal fans are delusional crybabies.
0-2 is more likely than 1-1 until now. But who knows what will happen in the remaining time ...
Mhm, Chelsea with more shots, more possesion !, better pass success, more won aerials, more corners, more tackles. And that is for an away from home team ! Deserved lead I would say ...
@neumi17 I assume the down votes mean a general dislike with Arsenals performance.
Oh and we are FAR too nice a team to play against. After the sending off, we should've got in the faces of the Chelsea players who are easily wound up. Against Chelsea, you need to resort to Chelsea rules. Dirty little fouls off the ball which the officials don't see, hard tackles, running at those booked to get them to stick out a leg so they are sent off etc. It's not what the purists would want, including myself, but against dirty teams you need to play dirty or you invariably lose.
@SteveHyland wow, what a crybaby. This is why Arsenal fans are considered a joke.
@Excalibur- What exactly am I being a cry-baby about? I didn't contest the sending off, only stating the fact that Costa dived. Also, I'm not too sure what you're contesting- whether Arsenal are too soft or Chelsea are dirty. Both are pretty much the general consensus. Ask people from other countries who the dirtiest team in the league is, Chelsea would in all likelihood be the most named. I need to introduce you to the theory of the common denominator.
Costa dived by Per gave him the chance to. I've said before problem if we defend too high against a quality passing midfield. It happened last year at the Bridge with a ball from Fabregas to Costa and it's happened again.
Once again, our little sisters dashes us another 3 points. Thanks, we need it more than you!
Arsenal have had 3 red cards in the league and every one of them have come while playing Chelsea, coincidence? i think not. If Sanchez is fit enough surely Wenger has to bring him on for Campbell.
@rogue Yeah, someone must be raking in the cash betting on games between Chelsea and Arsenal, they're just becoming so predictable.
1-2
Unbelievable and now the cheat Costa scores.
What a dirty cheat Costa is he dived Mertersacker never touched him.
@rogue sad sad arsenal fan
@Ivan7 i'm actually a Forest fan, i just don't like cheats like Costa.
Surely hazard is leaving this summer. No cL.
Chelsea are struggling but they appear to have a hold over Arsenal and you can't dismiss them - 1-1 2-2...
danger game for Arsenal...Chelsea will be motivated to beat Arsenal and keep them away from the Barckley trophy.
Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1
arsenal 1 - 2 chelsea
easí draw 0-0
1:2
Arsenal 3-1 and the elephant man to score for chelsea
Soon every chelsea player is gonna leave the bridge. Its the end. Hazard surely is the only good player they have apart from Courtois whom many top clubs would want. No CL no party.
My prediction: These are must win games for Arsenal if they want to win the league. Problem. Arsenal haven't been used to the pressure of such league-defining games for a very long time. Although they improved on last season's performance against Stoke, they were worse against Southampton & still couldn't beat Liverpool so why expect them to do better than they did last season in this fixture against a desperate Chelsea? On the other hand, Chelsea are extremely unlikely to do the double over an Arsenal team with ambitions of winning the league. That'd be unacceptable. I therefore agree with WhoScored. If I had to choose a winner it would be Arsenal. Realistically, however, this is Courtois V Petr Cech II. Great saves from both keepers with a loss unacceptable to both teams will see this fixture end 0 - 0.
arsenal will want this more then chelsea and have a better chemistry in the team they know this could be the 3 points that keep us on top of the race for title as for BOB chelsea they arnt playing no good football i say arsenal to win 2-1/3-1
draw for sure
Chelsea win for sure
@wolfmother First prediction you got right in month, congratulation ...
On this day, we are all Chelsea fans!
Mark Clattenberg is not quiet a Chelsea fan so Arsenal should not worry about another scumbag Mike Dean refereeing! I see Arsenal scoring at 2/3 goals in this match and Chelsea walking away with zero points!
2-1
6-2
oh ok 2-1 :P
I expect this to be a very tight game with Arsenal just pinching it 10-0 LOL
@rogue hahaha it would be marvellous !
gunner3-0 bus in 1st half
ARSENAL!
If Arsenal handle Costa smartly the game is theirs to lose. 3-1 Arsenal.
Agree with Martin Laurence. Going with a 1-1. Chelsea to score first and Arsenal to get an equaliser, just hope we don't lose this match as we all know Chelsea will bully Ozil and dive a shitload. Fabregas MOTM.
Arsenal are more likely to win this match 3-1
@Logical Not really ...
Let's hope the referee does'nt not play this time, Mike Dean was a decisive last time
@goonergunner- No chance of that, the arch self-involver Mark Clattenberg, is in charge. There are 4 refs who shouldn't take charge of a big game and he is 1 of em.
Arsenal is more matured and with a little luck will beat Chelsea
Arsenal fans predict a 3-1, 4-0 or 5-1(so far). How delusional are you? 1-1 or 2-2 here. Both teams are on average form with two draws in their last two games.
@denisgrad- Apart from the fact both Arsenal's draws were away games to 2 of the best home teams in the league in terms of performance and both Chelsea's were at home, 1 being against West Brom who scored twice, yet before that game averaged just 0.666 goals per game in the league away from home. This is why trying to compare form based entirely on results can yield results contrary to the truth. I agree 5-1 and 4-0 are unlikely but a 2-goal Arsenal win with Chelsea scoring is at least a possible score. This isn't a Mourinho team who will stick everyone behind the ball even at 0-0. Hiddink's teams are attempting to play a more purist style of football, which the Chelsea players like, and that in turn should play in to our hands.
@SteveHyland right true. I forgot Arsenal played away. Anyways obviously 2-1 to Arsenal is likely - especially that they are playing at home though I still believe a draw is the most likely result in this match. "his isn't a Mourinho team who will stick everyone behind the ball even at 0-0." Not necessarily true. The 0-0 draw with Man Utd for example. Chelsea have been defending the entire first half of the game - rarely attacking. So Hiddink might try to use a defensive approach in this game too.
@denisgrad- Well, true, it depends if he sees a point at the Emirates as a good result given Chelsea's current predicament. I don't see him being a manager who tells his players to defend rigidly for 90 minutes in order to get a point. That was one of the things the Chelsea players reportedly disliked about Mourinho's tactics and I'm sure Guus would look to distance himself from the "anti-football" perception.
@denisgrad Hiddink might use a defensive tactic to neutralize Alexis and Ozil, hit Arsenal on the counter-attack in a classic away, smash & grab performance.
Remember, Chelsea, Lord Voldemort is gone, you're allowed to play actual football, rather than the American football you've used against us in the past. I'm not holding my breath, though. Go on, surprise us all, you Neanderthals.
@What4 This "American football" you're talking about is the reason Chelsea beat Barcelona in their own backyard a man down and secured their place in CL final. Arsenal has been smashed by Barcelona last 2 times they faced them away. Perhaps they should try playing this "American football", its their only chance of proceeding in the next round of CL this year. Good luck in Camp Nou. Try to concede less than 3 goals this time.
@denisgrad So you admit you use thuggery to win some games, something we all knew already. You know the ends don't always justify the means, but of course since you're sloshing about in oligarch money you wouldn't understand. Nobody would use the same reasoning about Stoke in their worst days. And Chelsea is just a Stoke team that won the lottery.
@What4, lol what a great analogy "Chelsea are a Stoke team who won the lottery" that is a classic pmsl
Let's just hope the ref doesn't influence this one, as they frequently have in the past. We want a fair, clean fight, nothing below the belt.
As expected of derby games, there will be lots of bookings. The ref needs to be at his best. COYG!!!
Who will be surprised when Diego Costa pull some despicable, cheating sh*t? He'll probably score too just to enrage us Gooners further haha. Really hope we can win this with Ozil and Alexis returning to the side.
@Overmars He's out for it.
@Goon He's not its BS mind games. His injury is 'bruised shin' last time I checked and I'm sure he will be declared fit to play. Did you not see his play acting in the previous game?
@Overmars well either way, playing or not. We'll smash em.
@Overmars- Yep and taken to hospital to have a scan. Lol. Are you kidding me.... for a bruised shin?! If every Sunday league player went to hospital for a bruised shin, we'd need an 8-day per week NHS. It always makes me laugh that the players who give the dirtiest fouls can't even take genuine ones.