Second-place Arsenal likely need a win to keep their remote title hopes alive on Sunday when they host a fifth-place Chelsea side focused on closing its own gap with its fellow Londoners.
Arsenal (15-3-10, 55 points) have taken only two points from their past three matches to fall 15 points adrift of leaders Liverpool, albeit with a match in hand.
A long-term injury to Bukayo Saka has blunted the attacking capabilities of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal squad at times, even if it did score seven in the first leg of a round-of-16 UEFA Champions League series against PSV Eindhoven.
Declan Rice’s 74th-minute equalizer in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United snapped a 257-minute barren patch in league matches.
And perhaps for that reason, Arteta isn’t expecting a repeat of last year’s derby at the Emirates Stadium, when the Gunners thrashed Chelsea 5-0.
“I think it’s going to be a very different game,” the Spaniard insisted. “I think the way they develop as a team as well is very impressive, what they’ve done on the coaching staff, the amount of talent that they have in the squad. So yes, a really tough match but we had our best of luck, a big chance for us to win the game.”
The Blues (14-7-7, 49 points) have won two straight in the league and four consecutive games across all competitions after posting one-goal victories in their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 series against FC Copenhagen.
But the domestic victories came against Southampton and Leicester, two sides looking increasingly destined for relegation. One has to go back to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Dec. 1 to find Chelsea’s last triumph over a top-half side, and they lost four of their recent matches against Manchester City, Brighton (twice) and Aston Villa.
Cole Palmer remains the Blues’ most influential attacker with 14 goals and six assists, but hasn’t contributed directly to any Chelsea goal since Jan. 14. He finally was permitted a brief respite Thursday night, coming on at halftime of the second leg against Copenhagen.
Those trends perhaps all shape manager Enzo Maresca’s view that there is still a considerable qualitative gap to close on Arsenal.
“They have been working with the same manager for five years with the same players so the difference is quite important,” Maresca said. “Our duty is to do our best and close that gap.”
–Field Level Media
