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Arsenal host Chelsea at Emirates on Sunday in the most looked forward to fixture of this weekend in the Barclays Premier League. Chelsea are sitting pretty on top of the table with a comfortable 5 point lead while Arsenal is in third place, 3 points behind Manchester United though with a game in hand and an excellent goal difference. A win for Arsenal will keep them within reach of the leaders as well as be a favor to Manchester United who will have a chance of cutting Chelsea's lead to two points if they defeat Portsmouth at Fratton Park. While a win for the visitors at the home of th eir great London rivals will undoubtedly put a huge dent in Arsenal's title aspirations.

Chelsea have been irresistible recently winning each of their last six games which includes a 1-0 victory over champions Manchester United at home. Carlo Ancelotti's men have scored a stunning 24 goals in their last seven games (in all competitions) while conceding only two. Last week's 4-0 thumping of Wolves with a second string side at Stamford Bridge shows how effortlessly this team is scoring. As if Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka weren't enough, goals seem to be coming from all over the park with the likes of Michael Essein and Joe Cole also entering the scoring charts. The Blues have shown an ability to grind out results even if they have been off color on the day. A 1-0 win over Manchester United despite a poor game and a hard fought 0-1 victory against FC Porto in the Champions League bears signature characteristics of would be champions.

Meanwhile, Arsenal's recent run of results has propelled them to the upper echelons of English football once again, though a 1-0 away defeat to Sunderland last week saw them relinquish second place to Manchester United. A powerful performance in the Champions League in midweek saw them return to winning ways as they registered a 2-0 win over Standard Liege, with the beautiful football that is forever associated with Arsene Wenger's men. With the return of Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky, Arsenal's midfield is looking more potent than ever, while the creator of cosmic proportions for the Gunners, Cesc Fabregas, appears to have rediscovered his scoring touch with four goals in his last five games. Though the Gunners have looked good this season they have dropped points away from home, last week's 1-0 defeat to Sunderland and a 2-2 draw with West Ham United blot the otherwise fabulous form Arsenal has been in.

Encounters between these two London sides have usually ended with a result and it is the team in blue who have been on the better end of these in recent times, with three wins out of the last four ties. The last game between the two ended in humiliation for the Gunners falling to a 4-1 defeat at home with Alex, Nicolas Anelka, Kolo Toure (OG) and Florent Malouda scoring the goals for Chelsea. In fact the last time Arsenal won against Chelsea was almost exactly a year back in November 2008. Robin van Persie, who will be unavailable for Sunday's clash, scored both of the goals in a 2-1 Gunners victory.

No two teams in the Premiership have scored more goals this season than these two and the Chelsea defence will have to be at its best to stop Arsenal from scoring at the Emirates. It won't be surprising if Chelsea allow the Gunners to come at them early on in the game and take the initial bite with a packed defence and then have their say as the game wears on. Arsenal on the other hand would like to score early though their shaky defence will remain a concern for them. Arsenal's left back spot has been a major concern for Wenger this season. Gael Clichy's absence due to injury has made the position an Achilles Heel for the team. To add further woes, a shocking tackle on youngster Kieran Gibbs in the midweek clash against Standard Liege put him out of action for at least three months. Armand Traore may step in to fill the spot though he will have his work cut out for him against a strong Chelsea side who will be looking to make the most of the situation. One more factor which could work advantageously for the visitors is the "vertically challenged" defence of their opponents. No one in the Arsenal side has a height of more than 6 feet 1 inches and tussles for aerial balls with the likes of the Drogba (6ft 3in) and Michael Ballack (also 6ft 3in) are unlikely to end in their favor. Chelsea's aerial ability in the form of Drogba, Ballack , John Terry, Carvalho, Anelka and Ivanovic make the Gunners sitting ducks at the back and Arsenal will be very keen to take a leaf out of United's book and ensure they give away as few corners or freekicks from wide positions as possible.

Both the sides have great attacking strength and Arsenal's excellent home form coupled with Chelsea's somewhat shaky away form might just hand the home side the advantage they lack on paper. The key to Arsenal getting something from this game could lie on the fitness of former skipper William Gallas. Gallas suffered a swollen eye in the midweek game against Liege in the Champions League and had to be substituted at half-time. Coupled with the fact that the French defender wears contact lenses, him being able to compete against Chelsea in Arsene Wenger's own words appears to be "a huge question mark".

A weakened defence and Robin van Persie's absence might be too big a hurdle to overcome for the Gunners. Chelsea, on the other hand look much more solid and with almost no injuries to complain of, are likely to field a full strength side. A hard fought 2-1 score line in favor of Chelsea seems to be the most probable result though with big match players like Andrei Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal can never be written off.

Arsenal Form Guide (Last 5 games: W-4, L-1, D-0)

Arsenal 3 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal 4 - 1 AZ Alkmaar
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 - 4 Arsenal
Sunderland 1 - 0 Arsenal
Arsenal 2 - 0 Standard Liege

Chelsea Form Guide (Last 5 games: W-4, L-0, D-1)

Bolton Wanderers 0 - 4 Chelsea
Atlético Madrid 2 - 2 Chelsea
Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester United
Chelsea 4 - 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
FC Porto 0 - 1 Chelsea

Injuries

Arsenal: V Diaby (Calf Muscle Strain), R Van Persie (Sprained Ankle), G Clichy (Back Injury), J Wilshere (Ankle/Foot Injury), L Fabianski (Thigh Muscle Strain), N Bendtner (Inguinal Hernia), J Djourou (Knee Injury), K Gibbs (Metatarsal Fracture)

Chelsea: Deco (Groin Strain), J Bosingwa (Knee Injury),

Expected line-ups:

Chelsea: Cech, Carvalho, Terry, Ivanovic, A Cole, Malouda, Essein, Deco, Ballack, Drogba, Anelka

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore, Song, Nasri, Fabregas, Denilson, Eduardo, Arshavin

File Photograph copyright: Ryu Voelkel

2 Comments

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mshocks November 26, 2009 207.61.252.194 Votes: +0	Cum on the Gonners get a few early ones and put theses guys to sleep report abuse vote down vote up
Adetola November 28, 2009 94.246.126.127 Votes: +0	It's a sad story, Arsenal's injury woes otherwise they're a good team. May the best team win! report abuse vote down vote up

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