Chelsea vs Arsenal

Posted on | December 9, 2006 | No Comments

The biggest London derby is upon us and this could be one of the best matches we could witness this season in the league. Chelsea are 6 points behind Manchester United before the start of this weekend and if the result goes well for United they could find themselves 9 points a drift before they even kickoff at the bridge. Chelsea have not lost at home in over 2 years and yet to lose at home under Jose Mourinho. This home form has been their strongest point of winning 2 consecutive league titles. Last season the Blues managed to do the double over Arsenal by winning 1-0 at home against the gunners. This was the first time in 10 years that they beat Arsenal at home. Overall Arsenal have won 14 out of their 28 league meetings in the premier league history.

Arsene Wenger will be without Thierry Henry who is recovering from a neck injury and he will only be back after 3-4 weeks. William Gallas is a doubt for this match and might not recover fully from his thigh injury. Kolo Toure is suspended for this crucial encounter and will be thoroughly missed. Chelsea on the other have do not have any major injury concerns. Ashley Cole will face his form team and will surely be given a tough time at Stamford bridge. Claude Makelele, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho will all be back after resting in Chelsea’s midweek match. Carlo Cudicini is the only doubt for this match with a leg injury but is expected to recover in time.

This could be a tough match for the Blues and I don’t believe they will have it easy for them as they have done last year versus Arsenal. The Gunners did extremely well last week against Spurs without Henry to win 3-0 and played great flowing football. A bet on Arsenal (Asian Handicap, +0.5, +1.0 ) at 1.875 could be a good bet. The ‘Time of first goal after 28 minutes’ is at 1.90 and is a decent bet. A first half draw is at the odds of 2.10 and with both teams trying to consolidate we could surely see a goalless first half.

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