Morning all.

This week, Declan Rice sat down with Freddie Ljungberg to talk all about the desire to win trophies, Sunday’s game against Chelsea and more – the whole chat can be read on Arsenal.com.

Freddie: When I arrived at Arsenal, Pat Rice was the assistant manager. He said to me ‘when you come to Arsenal, you have to win trophies’. That was the mentality but unfortunately we came second three times in a row, which he wasn’t happy about. Then we did the double. You’ve had some amazing seasons but how do you keep the standards and keep on going?

Declan: It’s so important to keep believing in the process, still pushing and believing that you can win it. You might have setbacks, but they will help you to push. Missing out last year was so gutting, but it’s another chance to get the Premier League title now. It’s not been the greatest start in terms of points but there’s such a long way to go. There’s a lot of noise, but we’re still positive.

And positive Arsenal have to stay too because as Declan Rice says, there’s a long way to go this season and so much to still play for.

Chelsea are enjoying life under new manager Enzo Maresca who had the luxury of spending £200 million on players back in the summer. Only goal difference separate the two clubs as we go into this game though. Whether Maresca proves to be the real deal with Chelsea remains to be seen but like Liverpool, the new manager boost is working well. Mind you, I do think both managers have a lot to thank their predecessors for.

Anyway, it’s Arsenal what matters to you and I, how we play today and taking three big points back to the north of London.

Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke on what we can expect from Chelsea:

The Premier League’s best central midfielder this season has been Moises Caicedo, so this is a contest where we will need to be especially strong inside the engine room. The Ecuadorian’s ball winning qualities have really come to the fore in a more defensive role under Enzo Maresca, and his partnership with Romeo Lavia is blossoming very nicely. With Chelsea a side who also like to invert their full backs, we must try not to get overloaded in those central areas. Maresca’s desire to slot at least one of his full backs into central midfield is also a ploy we may look to exploit. If right back Malo Gusto is left stranded in an advanced position for example, the Gunners will look to raid quickly down our left.

Chelsea’s front four have been very good this term. The wingers want to stay wide and isolate full backs 1v1 and inside them, Cole Palmer has been one of the players of the season. No one has created more chances in open play than the England international, who boasts seven goals and five assists. The pace of Nicolas Jackson is also something to look out for. He has been rejuvenated, finding the back of the net six times, and he will look to sprint in behind William Saliba and Gabriel Maghalaes as often as he can. In those situations, Palmer and Caicedo are especially good at sliding through balls in behind for him to run onto. His goals at West Ham United and Liverpool were both from Caicedo passes.

Considering the size of his squad I have been very impressed by Maresca’s management this season and his clever use of 4-2-3-1. He has gone about his work calmly, tweaked the style of play, and somehow found a settled side that he can trust. The one issue that should give us encouragement is their lack of clean sheets. Across their last ten matches the Blues have only shut out minnows Barrow and FC Noah, conceding once or twice in the other eight fixtures. There are eight top-flight teams with a better expected goals against record than Chelsea, so if we attack with positivity and conviction, we should create plenty of chances at Stamford Bridge.

Did you catch the part which said ‘if we attack with positivity and conviction we should create plenty of chances’? We certainly attacked Inter on Wednesday night, especially in the second half but what we’ve lacked for too long is conviction in front of goal. We’ve lacked a bit of luck too. Shots which might on another day take a deflection towards goal have gone out of play or to an opposition player. Shots have been blocked or cleared off the line when another day in another game, they might go in. Sounds like I’m clutching at straws but I’m not. We just need a bit of luck to break this difficult period we’ve been through. An impartial Michael Oliver might help too but perhaps that’s a bit too much to ask…

Catch up in the comments..

 

 

 

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