Chelsea v Arsenal - match preview

Didier Drogba - the man Arsenal must stop

I said before the Partizan game that I hoped Lucasz Fabianski had a great game, regained his confidence and then went on to have a fantastic season. I don't claim to be Nostradamus based on one lucky prediction, but Fabianski duly came up with the goods to complete Part I of The Fall and Rise of Lucasz Fabianski and I'm hoping today he can begin start of Part II. The Partizan match should have given him confidence and that, in my opinion, is all that he has ever lacked. Arsene Wenger said that we finally saw the real Lucasz on Tuesday the one that he and his coaches see in training every day. Still, confidence is a fickle thing and Chelsea can be very intimidating. Fab will need to get a few good touches early on.

Certainly we need Fabianski to be confident. Chelsea have won the last four meetings between the clubs and haven't lost in the last seventeen matches against Arsenal in all competitions.

To make matters worse, we go into today's match in pretty average form and with Fabregas, Vermaelen, van Persie, Walcott and probably Diaby (to name but a few) unavailable. That means that the team virtually picks itself unless Arsene Wenger throws us a curve ball by leaving out Arshavin or something. The only question mark is which of our attacking midfielders starts in Fabregas' position, and I think that Nasri will get the nod. Rosicky will be on the right and Arshavin on the left.

Likely Arsenal line-up

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

Subs: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue,Denilson, Diaby, Vela, Lansbury or Emmaunuel-Thomas

I've had a couple of little bets on Arsenal to win (4-1) and Nasri to be the first goalscorer (12-1). I'm not saying I'm confident of either happening, but the odds seem very generous on both, so I thought it was worth a pot..

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Chelsea v Arsenal - match preview