EPL - Arsenal vs Chelsea, 21 Apr 12:45pm | SS2

I hope they have this bright idea they need to rest Mata altogether, and perhaps Drogba.
Their real chance might be a temptation to do stuff like that. Their second string might be better, but I'd still feel better than playing some of their first choice.

You could bet Drogba and Lampard will be rested. Spurs on Sunday, Barca on Wednesday night and Arsenal Saturday lunchtime is such a ridiculously tough schedule in such a short space of time. There is no way their older players will be able to play at a decent level. They surely must be tempted to throw this game and take a real crack at the Camp Nou. It'll be the last time the older Chelsea players get so close to the CL.

Essien will start. Have injuries made him so useless he can't get a game ahead of Mikel?

Whatever happens, we just need to start Oxlade and have him attack Bosingwa. The guy is a joke of a defender and will get torn apart. I suspect we'll see Gervinho which would be disappointing.

3-0 Arsenal. RvP, Walcott and Song to grab the goals. We're fresh, we're at home, they're exhausted and we'll tear them apart. We'll show Barca the way it's done.

They might play Bertrand at LB instead of Cole...don't know much about him.

A week ago I was full of confidence, but right now they have plenty of momentum and we're coming off the back of an embarrassing home defeat.

We can, and have a good chance to beat them, but the lack of Arteta is very worrying - our worst runs this season have come when he hasn't been in the side.

Heart says 3-1 Arsenal, head says 2-1 Chelsea.

Well we beat AC Milan without Artie and Ox in midfield . So no excuses for us .

Fair point. Forgot Arteta didn't play that game. What was our midfield like?

Song ,Ox and Rozza , pretty dynamic combination actually .

Interesting. A 3-0 like that night would be beautiful, but I'd gladly take a 1-0 with a goal off Santos' arse.

Genuinely don't have a clue how this one will go, both teams are capable of going from the brilliant to the laughable.

I don't think it's all too bad that they've won yesterday.

They'll go with momentum into our game, okay, but they'll be tired and drained and maybe their heads won't be on the pitch at the Grove, but rather in Camp Nou already.

We simply have to win this, who knows how many more points we're going to drop until the end of the season, we can't afford to slip at home again, simples.

We're favourites for this, right?

according to Asian handicap we are,

Chelsea could rest the likes of Lampard, Drogba, Cole, Mata etc. If we start how we did against Man City the over weekend, I think we will win the game. Start with a fast tempo and press Chelsea all over the pitch. Some talk on twitter yesterday, people saying Diaby might not be in the squad and Henderson/Ozyakup are on stand by. Could be false rumours.

Don't think we have it in us to tear them apart really. Can see us scoring one, maybe two at best. Hopefully enough to get the win, although I'm less optimistic without Arteta - beginning to think a draw is very likely.

Ox on the wing or on the bench, don't think we should be putting him in midfield.

I'll be pretty worried if Drogba plays any part in the match. What's his record against us now? He's Wenger's bogey player.

I'd say Torres will come in for Drogba, they need him against Barca if only for his play-acting. Would expect Essien, Kalou to come in too, Sturridge has been on the bench recently aswell.

I can see Cech, Terry, Cahill, Cole all playing. Chelsea have a fairly big squad.

The players who seemed to be knackered to me were Drogba, Lampard, Mata. After that, I don't see Chelsea making wholesale changes.

That Wigan defeat was so bloody costly, major **** up. You can never trust this team, always some facical result just around the corner.

I think our biggest concern is if Chelsea park the bus again, and if they do, we'll be lucky to penetrate even once. I also wouldn't discount Torres from scoring against us. Oxlade needs to start on the flanks.

I doubt that Terry, Lampard, Drogba etc. will start against us.

Arsenal:

RVP
AOC Rosicky Walcott
Ramsey Song
Santos Vermaelen Koscielny Sagna
Szczesny

I see Chelsea playing something like this:

Kalou Torres Sturridge
Essien Mata Ramires
Bertrand Cahill Luiz Ivanovic
Cech

Ivanovic is suspended, and Ramires looked dead on his feet last night. Add that to the fact he is probably their most important player these days im sure he will be rested.

Other than those I can see the rest of Bossa's team playing. Altough Question marks oer Luiz's fitness.

Who will play instead of Ramires

If Luiz and Ivanovic are out then I think that we will definitely win. Terry still has his rib problems so I dont think that he will play either. Cole is also too old to play 3 high intense games in a week.

Bertrand Cahill Mikel Bosingwa?

Luiz is definitely out. Terry will almost certainly play. Ivanovic is suspended.

All this talk of fatigue etc usually has no bearing anyway. Chelsea have form, momentum and luck on their side right now.

Things change very fast in football. We're suddenly sweating about Top 4 if it all goes pear-shaped on Saturday.

They will pack the defence and counter at pace. Predictable yawn-fest for us.

I think our biggest concern is if Chelsea park the bus again, and if they do, we'll be lucky to penetrate even once. I also wouldn't discount Torres from scoring against us. Oxlade needs to start on the flanks.

Don't see Torres getting much joy against Kos and TV tbh, he's the kind of forward they prefer facing. Sturridge vs Santos could be a problem though. First half at the bridge Santos got embarrased over and over.

You would think so, but we have a tendency to give off-form players confidence. Santos definitely should not start. He can't defend with his right foot, and Sturridge will always be looking to cut inside. Gibbs is a must.

Gibbs is fit hopefully he plays instead of Santos.

All this talk of fatigue etc usually has no bearing anyway. Chelsea have form, momentum and luck on their side right now.

Things change very fast in football. We're suddenly sweating about Top 4 if it all goes pear-shaped on Saturday.

That's all true. But it could prove to be a big factor after all, the longer this affair is hanging in the balance. A worry for us is that they can play 3 forward players without any fatigue concern, all good enough to be at least taken seriously (form, no form - who knows?). Still, I prefer to play them than Drogba.

I'll be happy if these predictions about resting Ramires too are true (Thought he was really on top of his game yesterday), but still Mata is the one I'd like to see left out most.

The Santos Gibbs thing: I agree with outlaw there's a risk there (and that Chelsea would no doubt try to exploit that). Perhaps with the added mayhem risk in the absence of Art (Song less free/mindful for covering, etc.), the point is even stronger. On the other hand, going forward we're not exactly brilliant these days, and Santos is just beginning to get back to where he was (he was a significant part of our forward play pre Olympiacos). So I'm in two minds about that. Anyway - if it's Gibbs, this is one hell of a test: if he can nullify whatever Chelsea has to throw at him, plus contribute something real going forward, he just might swing things in his favor for that spot (do we have another spot so evenly matched in our team now? don't think so).

Well arteta out for rest of the season is really blow for us ramsey need to improve and i wish diaby stay fit in the last 4 games. The ox must start this game.

Just play Rosicky at CM and Oxlade-Chamberlain at CAM. A little risky but I think it would work out great in this game. Benayoun restores the balance on the wing. We should show some boldness for a change against that grandpa team of chelsea. We have the better player in almost any position. Not much to be afraid of really.

Ox on the wing is all right as well, but the problem is that this implies that Ramsey starts.

*EDIT: no benayoun. Thank you for the reminder Quicker than Walcott. Oxlade-chamberlain on the wing it is. Playing Ramsey would be a mistake though.

BENAYOUN IS INELIGIBLE.

Ches

Sagna
Kos
Verms
Santos

Song
Rosicky
Ramsey

Ox
RvP
Theo

For me.