Arsenal host Chelsea in a midweek London derby in the Premier League tonight. The Gunners have the chance to move four points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League table, but the Blues and Mauricio Pochettino will be out to deny the hosts and land a blow in the title race.
Chelsea have won the Premier League five times since Arsenal last won the title 20 years ago, but Mikel Arteta’s side are set to finish above the Blues for the second consecutive year and can add further disappointment to their difficult season with a victory tonight. Chelsea were beaten in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday, despite being the better side against Manchester City, as missed chances cost Pochettino’s side once again.
The visitors could be without star forward and the Premier League’s top scorer Cole Palmer tonight, while Arsenal will be looking to build on Saturday’s win at Wolves. Arteta’s side were facing the prospect of another late-season slump after back-to-back defeats to Aston Villa and Bayern Munich, and tonight is a must-win for the Gunners as they look to put pressure on champions Manchester City.
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Arsenal vs Chelsea
The Gunners have lost just one of their last eight Premier League games against Chelsea (won five, lost two).
Their current four-game unbeaten run is their longest against the Blues in the league since a 19-game streak between 1995 and 2005.
Mike Jones23 April 2024 15:55
Arteta pleased with Wolves result
Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League again at the weekend with a comfortable 2-0 over Wolves and the manager was impressed with the way his team played.
The Gunners were knocked out of Europe last week by Bayern Munich and responded in style with Arteta saying: “It was really good, I really liked the performance, the result, the clean sheet but also the way individually and a team they showed they still have a step forward to make.
“We realised we want to be involved in big competitions, fighting for the Champions League, fighting for the Premier League, the level it requires, we have to do something special. You have to have that love to compete.”
Mike Jones23 April 2024 15:48
Arteta agrees with Guardiola over hectic schedule
“It’s not about us, Pep or myself, it’s about the well-being of the players,” Arteta said when speaking about how bust the schedule is becoming for teams that are also competing in European competitions.
“Especially when you are competing in European competition, everything has to be competed in the same way.”
He added: “You cannot have a team that hasn’t played for seven days or three days before and has more recovery time and you have to play in the Premier League or the FA Cup.
“It is not right. If you look at it any angle it’s not right. If you want to protect and you always talk about the players and the protagonists, let’s protect them and think about them and do everything we can to give them the maximum time so they can recover and they can maintain the show they put on every week.
“We stayed in Munich, I think we had two hours sleep, wake up and we started to talk about Wolves first of all and then understand what we had to do to win the game.
“The boys were unbelievable. You look at the amount of games we have played in the last few weeks, the type of games we have played and the attitude and the way they have run today is top.”
Mike Jones23 April 2024 15:41
Let’s protect the players – Mikel Arteta criticises scheduling as Arsenal go top
Guardiola said it was “unacceptable” that his side had to play an FA Cup semi-final less than 72 hours after being in action in the Champions League on Wednesday night…
This article was originally published by a www.independent.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .