Emirates Stadium, Sunday 1600 GMTARSENAL:
Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal have developed an ability to score goals from all over the pitch and have rarely relied upon a single goalscorer. It's a quality they need more than ever before as they prepare for this crucial London derby where defeat would leave them 11 points adrift of Chelsea.
Without Robin van Persie, out for at least another month with his ankle ligament injury, Arsenal looked toothless in their 1-0 defeat at Sunderland last weekend and they cannnot afford a repeat performance against Chelsea - a point being stressed by Wenger.
He said: "I think there is a period for any team to come out and show its strengths. I think, for my team, this moment has come. We are not a team that has to be considered to be young anymore. I think we have the strengths and we want to show that against Chelsea."
The return of Theo Walcott and the talented Carlos Vela from injury provide good options along with Eduardo as Wenger looks for the right man to unlock Chelsea's resilient backline, with Andrei Arshavin and Samir Nasri playing in the wider roles.
Arshavin has proved himself capable of finding the net with his four goals in eight starts this season while Belgian Thomas Vermaelen also has four from the back.
Eduardo is the favourite to start as Wenger is likely to adopt a cautious approach with Walcott. He said: "Every time I have rushed [Walcott] back he has been injured again. This time I have decided to take the time to get him completely 100 per cent.
"He can play central, I'm very conscious of that because of the quality of his runs and the timing of his runs. I believe he has all the assets to be a fantastic central player. What he needs to work on to play in this kind of position is with his back to goal. At the moment his strengths are central to the counter-attacking role, rather than the distribution role. That's what he has to add to his game."
There appears to be very little home advantage when these two meet, with only two of the last seven Premier League meetings being won by the hosts.
Strategy: Scoring goals against the excellent Chelsea defence may be Wenger's biggest problem. Set pieces are an obvious threat from Arsenal and proved something of an Achilles heel for Carlo Ancelotti's defence earlier this season. Cutting the supply to the unstoppable duo of Didier Drogba and former Arsenal favourite Nicolas Anelka will be paramount, while Wenger will entrust Alex Song with the task of taming Chelsea's midfield that boasts the creative influence of Frank Lampard, Deco and Michael Ballack.
Wenger said Chelsea are more adventurous under Ancelotti and added: "They are a little bit more dangerous going forward. But they have kept a good defensive record because they have conceded only eight goals. At the moment we have scored 36 goals and they have scored 33. We have conceded 14 they have conceded eight. They still look very tight at the back."
Injury Update: Defensive rock William Gallas is rated as 50/50 for the clash after serious swelling to his eye. The former Chelsea man is struggling to get a contact lens into the eye he damaged during a collision with team mate Arshavin. The Russian has shown no ill-effects from his own head injury and is set to start. Van Persie and Bendtner are missing as is left back Kieran Gibbs following his operation on a broken metatarsal.
CHELSEA:
Rarely in recent times has a Chelsea side travelled to Arsenal in a position of such overwhelming strength. Eight points clear of their north London rivals, albeit having played a game more, it is not overstating the case to say that the Blues could bundle Wenger's team out of the title race with a victory here.
That should be incentive enough for Ancelotti and his players, who - despite what he says - rarely pass up the chance to make a resounding statement of intent, having already beaten Liverpool and Manchester United this season, but the manager is sounding a note of a caution.
Ancelotti said:"This is a very important because Arsenal are one of the most important teams in England and Europe, but it's not decisive for the title. It would be 11 points [if Chelsea win], but Arsenal would have a game in hand. It's not about sending out a message. We want to win to try to improve our position, that's all. When you play against a strong team like Arsenal or Manchester United, it's an important test."
This, however, is the first time the Italian has taken his new team to the backyard of a fellow member of the established Premier League elite and he could well be wary. His last encounter with Wenger, while in charge of AC Milan, ended in bitter disappointment - a 2-0 aggregate defeat to the Gunners in the Champions League, a result which sounded an early death knell for his time at San Siro.
Arsenal's bright young things made Milan's grizzled veterans look silly on that occasion but Sunday's game is unlikely to follow a similar pattern. Chelsea's squad might be longer in the tooth than Arsenal's, but they have retained their formidable athleticism and have become accustomed to steamrollering sides who rely on the kind of one-touch combinations that have become Wenger's trademark.
Strategy: In several of their recent meetings, Chelsea have overwhelmed Arsenal through sheer muscle, most notably in the 4-1 hammering they inflicted on their near-neighbours at the Emirates towards the end of last season. It would be a surprise if the visitors racked up a similar scoreline this weekend but expect them to employ similar tactics. Michael Essien will be handed the job of disrupting the fluttering movement of Cesc Fabregas, with Ancelotti all too aware that if Arsenal's chief playmaker can be stifled, half the battle is already won.
The days when poor Philippe Senderos was regularly deployed against Drogba are long gone - thankfully, for Arsenal fans - but the Ivory Coast international should still be relishing the prospect of tussling with Vermaelen in an injury-ravaged Arsenal defence.
Frank Lampard, meanwhile, will be back to lend a serrated edge to Chelsea's midfield. With Drogba and the in-form Nicolas Anelka occupying Arsenal's thoughts, there could be space for the fit-again midfielder to profit from his patented late attacking runs.
Injury Update: Lampard's return from a thigh injury means Ancelotti has a virtually fully fit squad to choose from. Jose Bosingwa, the right back, is the only long-term concern as he recovers from surgery on a knee injury.
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