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GUINNESS MADE OF BLACK MATCH OF THE WEEKEND: ARSENAL VS. CHELSEA
Guinness Made of Black Match of the Weekend: Arsenal vs. Chelsea
Where: Emirates Stadium, London
When: 16:00 (GMT), Sunday, January 24
Who could possibly have imagined, back in the heady days of the summer of 2015, thatArsenal would be 19 points and 13 places ahead of Chelsea when they welcomed the reigning champions to the Emirates Stadium on January 24.
It was surely unfathomable.
Yet here we are, approaching Gameweek 23, with the Gunners—much maligned and oft-ridiculed as potential title contenders—riding high in top spot, joint first with Leicester City on 44 points, while last year's winners sit in 14th, having won only six games all campaign.
Team Comparison
| Arsenal | Comparison | Chelsea |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Games Played | 22 |
Defence
Arsenal Comparison Chelsea 21 Goals Conceded 34 10 Clean Sheets 6 94 Shots Faced (on target) 103 321 Tackles Won 353 103 Tackles Lost 107 75.7% Tackles Won (%) 76.7% 1,274 Duels Won 1,331 1,121 Duels lost 1,251 53.2% Duels won (%) 51.5%
In the Autumn, they joked about a relegation campaign, at Christmas, they promised the Blues would soon improve, but now, 22 games into the season, with the Stamford Bridge heavyweights only four points above the drop zone, it's becoming worryingly easy to imagine the rebellious bunch at west London being dragged deeper into the dog fight as the season wears on.
How Arsene Wenger, allowing himself a brief moment to ponder in the cold afternoons at London Colney, must smirk to himself, remembering how his great tormentor Jose Mourinho was dispatched, his fine title-winning team in tatters, while Wenger, the great survivor, guides Arsenal to their most credible title challenge in a decade.
By the time that kick off in the weekend's last match, however, Arsenal are unlikely to still be top—such are the dimensions at play at the pinnacle of the table. Leicester City—at home against Stoke City—and Manchester City (away at West Ham United)—would both move ahead of the Gunners provisionally by avoiding a defeat.
Sunday's London derby will be a fascinating affair, with the Gunners desperate to prove that they are the new dominant force in the capital, primed to take Chelsea's mantle.
Barclays Premier League
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 22 | 44 |
| 2 | Leicester | 22 | 44 |
| 3 | Man City | 22 | 43 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 22 | 39 |
| 5 | Man Utd | 22 | 37 |
| 6 | West Ham | 22 | 35 |
| 7 | Stoke | 22 | 33 |
| 8 | Crystal Palace | 22 | 31 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 22 | 31 |
| 10 | Southampton | 22 | 30 |
| 11 | Everton | 22 | 29 |
| 12 | Watford | 22 | 29 |
| 13 | West Brom | 22 | 27 |
| 14 | Chelsea | 22 | 25 |
| 15 | Bournemouth | 22 | 24 |
| 16 | Norwich | 22 | 23 |
| 17 | Swansea | 22 | 22 |
| 18 | Newcastle | 22 | 21 |
| 19 | Sunderland | 22 | 18 |
| 20 | Aston Villa | 22 | 12 |
The visitors, meanwhile, will be gagging to demonstrate more defensive solidity than they showed against Everton in last weekend's 3-3 draw, but will be keen to retain the resolve, the resiliency and the togetherness evidenced during that bout, as they twice fought back to snatch a point.
If and when Chelsea are to be revived, it will be this spirit, this character and this poise—so often missing in recent months—that will restore them to their former glory.
There's unlikely to be a better occasion than a trip to their would-be usurpers on Sunday to show that there's life left in the old dog yet.
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