Three Reasons Why Chelsea Can Beat Arsenal Today

Monday’s night’s late kick off at the Emirates stadium pairs two familiar cross town rivals Arsenal and Chelsea in what is the showcase encounter of the Gamewwek 17 of the Barclays Premier League. Arsenal manager Arsene Wengers has already labelled this feisty anticipated clash as a potential six pointer en route to decide the Champions of the current Premier League campaign.

Chelsea, led by the self proclaimed “Special One”  come into the game with a unique record as the Blues haven’t been beaten by the Gunners when the Portuguese manager has been at the helm. So what would Chelsea’s exact gameplan be when they travel to the chilly Emirates stadium to get their job done?

Here is the Soccersouls gameplan for the Blues:

Crowd out the Arsenal Midfield:

There is no doubt that Arsenal have the best midfield in the top tier of English football currently, so Chelsea need to come into the game to contain the Gunners in the middle of the park. Lampard and Ramires can be expected to play the double pivot of the 4-2-3-1 and they have their task cut out. The English-Brazilian pair need to make sure Arsenal’s midfield does not run the show and pass the ball around at will. To ensure this the triumvirate of Mata, Hazard and Oscar need to put a great shift in, tracking back, helping the defence and getting forward. Not just that, the Mazacar trio need to make sure they don’t get stuck between Arsenal’s midfield channels and supply the ball to the lone striker up front.

Get into the Arsenal’s big match psyche:

Even though Arsenal have been sublime this campaign in the Premier League, they just haven’t been at their best in the biggest of games. Yes, they beat both Liverpool and Tottenham but they lost to both the Manchester sides. Against United, they weren’t able to play their usual passing game while against City, they were cut into pieces by Manuel Pellegrini’s side. Here is where Chelsea can take advantage, it might just be the best time to play Arsenal. The Blues need to show resilience, hunger and willingness to go into marginal tackles which at the end of the night might just decide the encounter by the thinnest of margins.

Hit the Arsenal Makeshift defence:

If reports are to be believed Arsenal will be without their inspirational defender Laurent Koscielny, the Frenchman who injured himself against the Citizens in the 3-6 drubbing.  The Chelsea midfield and their lone striker up front in the familiar 4-2-3-1 formation are more than capable to hit the Gunners defence by brute force and skill. They need to press them hard, attack their wingbacks in Sagna/Jenkinson and Gibbs/Monreal and need to make use of their extra man in attack. It’s sure that either of Mata or Oscar will get into the pockets behind the back four to cause enough damage to the home side.