As we move into the business end of the season 1 thing is clear, Chelsea have been labouring 1 goal victories for 3 straight months. We have watched the team switch from flamboyant mode to efficient mode.
It’s very clear that Jose Mourinho prefers attacking players who can put in a good shift in defence every game. That’s why he preferred Oscar to Mata and that’s why he preferred Cuadrado to Schurlle. Despite this clear focus on defence Chelsea have averaged 2.38 goals a game in the EPL this year, Arsenal have an average of 2.06 goals per game.
Heading into the clash of the highest scoring teams I will give a short run down of how both teams have played over the last 8 games and what we can expect on Sunday.
In the red corner we’ve got Arsenal, great in possession and launching failed attack after failed attack and then finally making a breakthrough after the 100th attempt at goal.
In the blue corner we have Chelsea patiently defending marshalled by the best centre back in the EPL, a man who reads plays very well and knows what needs to be done to stop teams dead in their tracks.
Chelsea also ship with management utility that analyses teams and identifies threats at the click of a button. If the threat assessment score is too high the application tags the threat and executes the Zouma command to neutralise the threat.
Chelsea also have a clinical striker leading the goal scoring charts, and he comes equipped with the player leading assists and the best player in the league right now who will probably clinch every individual accolade at the end of the season. Collectively these players can pick the right moment to attack and execute with perfect precision.
Mourinho clearly wants something from this encounter, so the big question is do Arsenal have a Fellaini in their ranks to warrant the Zouma protocol? I personally don’t think so. I expect Zouma to get replaced by Ramires in Midfield. I also expect Willian to also start this game.
Chelsea will be a compact, well-coordinated machine picking the right moments to attack. That is what tactics and strategically approaching a game are all about.
I am backing Chelsea to leave the Emirates with some points in the bag.
