Peace And Love Before The Battle

Nick Lowe certainly knew what he was going on about although I am not sure that he was thinking about Arsenal and Chelsea when he penned ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding’ but there has been a lot of it passing around in the build up to this match. Gone are the days of Mourinho’s crass ‘voyeur’ claims, in sweeps an era of admiration, friendship and, shhh, don’t say it too loud, respect. In fact there is so much R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Otis Redding can be heard hollering from The Great Beyond.

Having heard Arsene and Avram strike out with more platitudes than the lead up to a Camp David summit, Fat Frank was at it as well,

Arsenal deserve all the credit they get because they’ve been playing fantastic football. They’ve been a great team to watch and I think maybe the reason everyone has been so excited about it is they’ve caught teams unawares. Everyone knew they had good young players but no one expected them to play so consistently well and score so many goals…I think it was inevitable that Arsenal weren’t going to keep winning. It’s very hard to keep that level up, especially when you go to places like Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

Crumbs. Even John Terry, the ever-bullish John Bull, has been singing the praises of the team, Emmanuel Adebayor in particular, claiming that the Togolese forward is amongst the best in the World. Come on chaps, where is the bile that has been present in the build-up to the last few meetings? Oh, unemployed and at home.

Chelsea go into the match producing much the same form as they have in previous years, albeit with a marginally more open style of play. However, their defence is still the rock upon which those results are built; thirteen clean sheets out of the last sixteen games is not to be sniffed at. No longer defending champions, Arsene thinks it could have been better had they not let William Gallas go,

With Gallas, Chelsea would have pushed United closer. In a side with our youth, he is key and is leading the team very well on and off the pitch. Ashley wanted to go and even without Gallas, I’d have let him

In light of Gallas current form, it is an assessment that is hard to argue with. His motivation is high for today’s game, as is Diarra’s, with wanting to prove a point on top of the beating of a close rival.

It is four years and two months since we last beat Chelsea at home. A good opportunity was spurned last season; this season, the absence of Drogba and Essien presents the same. To consider Chelsea weaker because of their injury and suspension is true to a certain extent but misses the point as their replacements are good quality players. For all of his lack of goals, Shevchenko has not suddenly become a bad player; simply one who did not fit into Mourinho’s plans but now finds himself potentially with a long run in the side when the African Cup of Nations is considered.

The return of the injured quartet of Flamini, Fabregas, Hleb and van Persie is a huge boost for the squad at this time of year with the volume of games coming up. For today though, Arsene has made it clear that not all will start. Van Persie seems the most likely to given his appearance in midweek. From the team perspective, I would hope that Flamini also returns with the same drive to his performance as at Villa Park. Diarra still has a way to go before he will be ready to contest midfield battles on as consistent a basis as his compatriot has this season.

The question then becomes whether or not he feels Fabregas or Hleb is fit enough to fulfil the creative central role. My guess is that the Belorussian is likely to start on the bench with Fabregas making the starting line-up, Hleb more of a like-for-like replacement with van Persie, perhaps offering more flexibility in formation than the Dutchman. If Fabregas is not capable of lasting the pace, Diarra and Flamini may well regroup allowing Hleb to come in on the right from the start to strike some creative balance.

The rest of the team pretty much picks itself. There is no reason to change the back five from that which has done well thus far this season.

My team for this afternoon would be:

Almunia; Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy; Eboue (Hleb), Fabregas (Diarra), Flamini, Rosicky; van Persie, Adebayor

With a bench of

Lehmann, Senderos, Diarra (Fabregas), Hleb (Eboue), Bendtner

It seems unlikely that there will be many goals; a single goal margin of victory appears to be a safe bet. As long as Arsenal score more, I do not care if the ball rebounds into the net via the referee’s backside when he is standing in the centre circle. The result is more important than the performance.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ‘til Tomorrow