The Game

It just doesn’t get any bigger than this – it’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for us today and a must win game if we are to keep the distance to a minimum at the top.

After last week’s shock defeat at the Emirates against West Bromwich Albion and the relatively easy win away from home against Partizan Belgrade, it’s time to show that the Premier League is indeed one of our main objectives of the season and to also show that despite missing key players we can still challenge and beat Chelsea on their own pitch.

Unlike what we were hoping for, captain Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen both failed to recover in time for this game and some worrying questions are being asked on the fitness level of the Belgian who was supposed to make his comeback from injury last week.

But enough talking, in less than an hour our lads will be involved in a battle at Stamford Bridge, they need to approach the game with the right spirit and of course, they need all our support, no matter where you are, no matter what time is it because today it’s Chelsea against Arsenal!

And, until you wait for kick-off, make sure to check what Samir Nasri had to say about Arsenal’s new signings and why Paul Merson believes this will be an easy win for the Blues.

As always, please do join the discussion in our chat room which will also be active after the full time whistle. You will be glad to know that from this season, to provide a better chat experience to our readers, users can be banned if they post offensive comments.

Streaming Links

For those who don’t know where to watch the game, maybe we can help, follow this link for streaming options. Links are updated before and during the match.

The Line-Ups

Chelsea

Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Essien, Ramires, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba

Subs: Turnbull, Zhirkov, Ferreira, Sturridge, Van Aanholt, Kakuta, McEachran

Arsenal

Fabianski, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Diaby, Nasri, Wilshere, Song, Arshavin, Chamakh

Subs: Szczesny, Rosicky, Vela, Denilson, Djourou, Eboue, Emmanuel-Thomas

Half-Time Thoughts and Analysis

I must say the scoreline at the end of the first 45 minutes is a fair one, in a way that we played a very good half of football, created chances, didn’t take them whilst Chelsea did.

I still cannot understand how on earth Didier Drogba managed to score in the way he did, that was simply amazing, a piece of skill against which Sebastien and Lukasz could do nothing. Granted, maybe the Frenchman could have done better to prevent the striker in getting there, but that’s just another “maybe” to the long list of Drogba’s goals against us.

We can still recover, I’m confident we can get something away from this match but changes are needed. Abou Diaby will probably not recover from his ankle injury so I believe Denilson is the ideal replacement at this stage of the game.

Andrey Arshavin and especially Samir Nasri need to be involved more as they are doing exceptionally well in creating space and go for goal. That’s the right attitude and the right path for goal.

At half time, it’s Chelsea one, Arsenal nil.