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ARSENAL NEED GIROUD TO SHOW HE'S NOT THE ANTI-DROGBA
The Frenchman boasts a record of 18 goals in 30 appearances so far this season and goes into Sunday’s fixture at the Emirates Stadium on the back of nine strikes in his last 10 games.
But Giroud will know that Chelsea are his bogey team. In eight appearances against the Blues, he has never scored. The only other team currently in the Premier League that he has not scored against is Bournemouth - and he has only faced them once.
In is an unwanted statistic for Giroud and his barren run is mirrored by the entire Arsenal squad, with Arsene Wenger’s side failing to score in their last eight hours and two minutes of Premier League football against Chelsea.
Once criticised for disappearing in the big games, Giroud has stepped up this season. The 29-year-old scored twice away at Liverpool last week, netted in Arsenal’s two wins over Manchester City in 2015 and his hat-trick away at Olympiakos in December kept the Gunners in the Champions League.
He has re-established himself as Arsenal’s first-choice striker having spent the summer hearing of the club’s interest in Karim Benzema before starting the season as back-up to Theo Walcott.
Giroud’s next, most immediate, challenge is to finally score against Chelsea. He does not want to risk becoming the opposite of Didier Drogba in this fixture.
Drogba gave Arsenal defenders nightmares for years and ended his Chelsea career with 15 goals in 15 matches against Wenger’s men.
The Ivorian would always raise his game, and bully Arsenal defenders with his power and strength. In the tight matches, Drogba would make the difference, with his astonishing record including a number of winners.
Giroud must buck his own trend against John Terry and the rest of the Blues defence. Arsenal head into the game after draws in their last two matches - against Liverpool and Stoke - and are desperate to get back to winning ways.
The perception this season is that Arsenal are favourites to win the league, but there is a nagging worry that they still cannot be relied upon, especially in such a competitive season.
The Gunners will consider their defeat at Stamford Bridge in October as three dropped points - and Giroud will be expected to lead their pursuit of revenge on Sunday.
Giroud’s style is one of the major reasons for his poor record against Chelsea, with defenders - particularly Terry - able to stay tight to him, challenge him physically and win headers when balls are delivered into the box.
Giroud actually almost joined Chelsea when he left Montpellier in 2012 before eventually deciding on a move to the Emirates.
"Why did I choose Arsenal rather than Chelsea?" Giroud said at the time. "Because it is a club I love and I thought it would be easier for my adaptation.
"Arsenal is a great club, the facilities are wonderful, but I feel it is a club that takes big care before signing a player, notably considering human values.
"There are French players. There is also Wenger [the manager] who let me understand he really wanted me. Chelsea is very nice, it is a great club, but I am not convinced [Roberto] Di Matteo knows who I am."
Giroud, after Mesut Ozil, is probably the most important player in Arsenal’s quest to depose Chelsea as champions and win their first Premier League title since 2004.
On Sunday, he must find the net and show he is not the anti-Drogba.
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