The Big One: Chelsea Preview

Tomorrow at Stamford Bridge our new captain Cesc Fabregas will face his first Premier League game as captain of Arsenal. What a game to introduce yourself as skipper. He's had a good week, Fabregas, winning his first game against Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday and putting Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League, but that was just a tonic for the nerves compared to what awaits us at Chelsea. Our Premier League season will be made or broken tomorrow night.

If we win we'll "only" be seven points behind Chelsea, but a loss will place us thirteen behind. To be honest, I have thought for a couple weeks now that our Premiership title challenge was over, but there is the possibility that a win at Stamford Bridge, combined with an excellent string of results into the new year, could put us right back in it.

Am I really anticipating a title challenge? No. I think we ought now to focus on the things that we still can easily win, the Carling and F.A. Cups for instance, and also focus on the Champions League. All we need to really do in the Premiership is stay in the top four, which, despite the challenges from Aston Villa, and perhaps later Man City, shouldn't be too hard to do.

The bottom line is we need to win silverware this season. And to do that our young side, who live off confidence, will need a big win under their belts; and there's no better place to get it then by beating Chelsea tomorrow. This team seems to raise themselves for big matches like this one, and my only hope is that they do it again tomorrow.

We've only beaten Chelsea once in the last 13 games against them, but that win came last year, which signifies to me that this is as good a time as any to beat them. Add to that the fact that Chelsea's fortress seems to have come down in recent weeks with losses and poor draws at home, and I think we really could get something from this match.

So what will it take to win tomorrow? Well, we'll need to play just as we did against Manchester Utd if we want anything from the game at all, never mind a win. Our side this year just are not as mentally strong as last year, but I think that with Fabregas now leading the ship they may be a bit more cool-headed than the past couple of weeks. Plus the squad is high in confidence right now, and that will probably lead to better football.

A neat passing game combined with some defensive determination, and most of all confidence, will give us the path to victory tomorrow night. We are being written off by everyone, just the same as before the Man Utd game, but we surprised them there, why can't we do it again? We seem to love to be written off, because when we're written off nobody expects anything from us, and then the pressure is relieved. This lets us play our neat football and sweep teams aside. We have no expectancy to win tomorrow, so that means we might just do it.

Fabregas will have to lead the troops like a true inspirational leader and the troops themselves will have to raise their game to the highest possible level in order to win. Our Premier League hopes, whatever they are, are hanging in the balance at Stanford Bridge; but win or lose we will still be the Arsenal, and still well capable of getting a trophy this season, whether in the cups or Champions League. So let's not overplay the importance of this game too much: let's just enjoy it and see what happens.

Fab 4