SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT
HUNGRY GUNNERS LOOK TO TAKE HUGE STEP IN EARLY TITLE CLASH
Wat Up My Peoples, The weekend is here!
I want to start today by giving you a sense of what it's like to be a blogger.
Do you think the blogging life is easy? Well, let me give you some insight into my day and how hard it is to fit running a website around an everyday schedule.
So I'm lucky enough not to work a Friday, I'm a 4-day-a-week guy. You might think that on a day like today, I roll out of bed, plonk my arse in front of a keyboard, and we're off to the races. No, no, no, my friends.
First off, I have to walk my dog Gooner (yes, he's called Gooner, sue me). After that, I have the school run to do. Next up, I have to clear out the log burner and have it ready to flame on for tonight's Stranger Things marathon. Then it's general tidying up, i.e., washing the dishes, because if you don't, they multiply when you aren't looking. This is before I've even injected some caffeine into my system. By the time that's all taken care of, my furry Arsenal mascot is giving me that look like he senses weakness, and another trip outside is in the offing.
So after all that is done and dusted, you would think it's blogging time, right? Well, it would have been except by now the true villain had arrived, and it was the case of the missing laptop mouse.
I'd left my usual laptop mouse at work, and there's no way I'm using a trackpad on the website. That's a disaster waiting to happen. But wait... I have a spare mouse at home. Disaster averted. I remember putting it in a drawer somewhere.
You can only imagine how that went. Queue me tearing the house apart on a domestic archaeological dig for two and a half hours with no success. I mean, how many drawers can a house have? I found multiple batteries, light bulbs, socks, you name it, but no mouse in the house. In the end, I had to get my patient, as a saint, wife, to bring my mouse home from work (she works near me) so I could bring you this blog. I hope it's worth it. I still have absolutely no idea where I put the spare. Must be an age thing, I guess?
By this time, though, it's lunch, you see, and after lunch, guess what? Yes, Gooner is giving me 'the look' again.
I am now at 2.15 pm, and I've finally started blogging about ...how hard it is to start blogging.
I know, I know, cool story bro. Hey, I just wanted to let you all know that blogging ain't easy. I salute those Twitter guys who fire off quick takes. They are the content sprinters. I am the content marathon runner who first has to complete a triathlon to just get to the starting line.
Now onto the football, right? That is why you are all here. You didn't visit to hear me yap endlessly about how hard it is to supply you with a football fix every couple of days.
SETTING THE STAGE
Chelsea at the Bridge. Top vs Second. London Derby. You all know how big it feels, despite it still being relatively early in the season. We win, we go NINE POINTS CLEAR of them. NINE. We lose, and it's viewed as a huge opportunity missed, and the gap is down to only three. It's what the pundits like to call a "six-pointer"
FORM BOOK
If we look only at the domestic form, we are on top with nine wins, two draws and one defeat in our 12 games so far. We have the joint-best attack with 24 goals (with City) and the best defence, conceding only six goals. One goal against every other game. It is some defensive record.
In the five games since returning from the interlull, we have won four and drawn one, scoring twelve goals and conceding three.
Chelsea are second in the table, having won seven of their 12 games, with two draws and three defeats. They have scored one fewer goal than we have, with 23, but have conceded almost double, with 11.
In their last five games, they have won four and lost one, scoring 10 goals and conceding 2. Their four wins in that time have all come with clean sheets.
HISTORY BOOKS
Our record against Chelsea goes in streaks of feast or famine.
Before the Russian oil money (and Mourinho) arrived, we had the peak Wenger years and were unbeaten in NINETEEN games against them for almost a decade (1995-2004).
Then the football landscape changed to who had the most money, and the roles were reversed. In what I call the Oligarch years. They had submarine loads of infinite cash, and we had to pay for the Emirates. From 2004 to 2011, they had an unbeaten spell of 24 games against us.
Now, in the 'current' era, we are unbeaten in our last seven—the longest streak since the 95-'04 spell. We are also unbeaten in our last six visits there.
KEY MATCHUPS
Like most games, whoever wins the midfield battle will prevail. We have Moises "Shin Kicker" Caicedo vs Declan "Half Price" Rice, then it's Enzo Fernandez against Martin Zubimendi. Two key battles that will be massive in determining the eventual outcome.
Another area to keep an eye on is in both right-wing/left-back regions.
Saka usually struggles when facing Cucurella. In the six times they have faced off, he has yet to score. It might have something to do with Cucurella's hair, which creates an unpredictable aerodynamic field that throws off Saka's balance. Surely there has to be some FIFA regulation about growing your hair as a tactical advantage.
On the flip side, they have an exciting young Brazilian superstar, Estevao, up against Calafiori. The teen sensation is beginning to find his feet in London and became only the third teenage player to score in three Champions League starts in a row, a feat only accomplished previously by Mbappe and Haaland.
He also has a 95th-minute winner against Liverpool this season, although that's now not looking like the flex it was at the time.
TEAM NEWS
For us, the good news is that Leo might be available with the extra day, giving him a chance. I am saying that is classic Arteta smoke screening, and there is no way he'll make it. When asked about Kai the Guy and Gyokeres, he was very non-committal, so we are going with no and no for that pair as well.
After our hierarchy theory from Wednesday night, we think Madueke will start on the left, and hopefully, the ex-player scoring against former club thing that happens so often kicks in again. We are going with Hincapie back to left centre half as his aggression in a derby atmosphere will be crucial. To top it off, we have Calafiorio returning to left back.
For them, they have the (untimely for us) return of Cole Palmer from injury, as does young Portuguese midfielder Essugo. That only leaves Colwill and the permanently injured Lavia unavailable. That is, of course, not taking the drug-cheat/suspended Mudryk into account.
Our predicted eleven is below.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It's kinda weird, but because of their utterly bonkers transfer policy, hoovering up young talent from every corner of the globe, I never viewed Chelsea as title contenders. It's like they see a young, promising star and say, "Oooooh, he's young AND Brazilian? We'll take seven of them and throw us a teenage Belgian for good measure".
This strategy of throwing multiple darts at a board and hoping something sticks is nothing new. They have been operating this way since Frank Arnesen was their Director of Youth, telling everyone Van Ginkel was the next big thing until he wasn't.
Even though they are second and have some world-class talent at their disposal, I still don't see them threatening to win the league. That might be dumb or churlish to say when they are sitting just below us, but they have already lost nearly a quarter of their league games. Yes, they battered Barca 3-0 midweek, but let's face it. La Liga ain't what it used to be, and the Premier League is feastin on Spanish sides in Europe. We'll find out come Sunday whether they are the real deal. I remain unconvinced.
Hopefully I'm proved right. Yes, it will be a tough outing, but if Sunderland can win there, then so can we. If we stick together and show the team spirit and fight that's been on display all season so far, then we will be okay.
See you on Monday for the review, hopefully one where I have a laptop mouse ready at my disposal.
Enjoy your weekend Legion.