Scoring four goals away from home is relatively rare in modern club football, but in the past week Arsenal did just that, twice – away at Hull City and Nottingham Forest, respectively in the League Cup. Arguably, the standard of opposition was not vintage, but to win these games with two different teams was impressive.
Against Forest, Arsene Wenger fielded a reserve team, a mix of boys and men, with Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Chuba Akpom and Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the former category and £17 million signing Lucas Perez, who scored two goals, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Granit Xhaka with first team credentials. Mohamed Elneny and Rob Holding proved to be good stand-ins. The victory was a testimony to Arsenal’s renewed in-depth strength.
Chelsea played an abysmal game against Liverpool last Friday, reminiscent of the abject days under a teetering Jose Mourinho. Antonio Conte invited wave after wave of Liverpool pressure with Dejan Lovren and Jordan Henderson scoring for the visitors. After the break a Diego Costa goal salvaged little for the Blues. However, they redeemed themselves somewhat with a midweek League Cup victory away to champions Leicester City.
The thorn in Wenger’s flesh
The real division, split or cleavage between the two north London clubs was the arrival of Roman Abramovich in 2003. Arsenal’s contemporary record against Chelsea is reflection of their rise and decline, intertwined with the advent of the Russian businessman.
Wenger has claimed just five wins out of 29 since 2004. It was a Wayne Bridge goal at Highbury in a Champions League quarter-final in 2003 that skewed the momentum, seemingly indefinitely, in Chelsea’s favour. Arsenal fandom henceforth included feuds with Mourinho, a nadir 6-0 scoreline in 2014, and routine defeats against their London neighbours.
Indeed, the balance of power shifted to East London. Arsenal relinquished their status as genuine title challengers in favour of Chelsea, and, more recently, Manchester City, injected with plenty of petrodollars. A bullish Mourinho spearheaded Chelsea, oft with brain and brawn, to the upper echelons of English football. Arsenal slacked, with Wenger in his puberty at the club, shaky, jumpy and undecided over the direction he would take Arsenal towards during the stadium-austerity years.
This season, as Wenger turns 20 at Arsenal, freethinking supporters and media may still admire the unabashed purist approach the Frenchman adheres to. He is cocooned in his own little universe, unperturbed by the infinite cycle of Premier League top-four finishes, Champions League knockout humiliations and FA Cup trophies.
Wenger has been vilified and crucified for his failing grand plan, for blindness in the face of countervailing evidence, for impenetrable stubbornness and the false promise of a renaissance. Yet, in the mad Premier League universe, he remains a steadfast beacon. But, impute his detractors simply and straightforwardly, Wenger does not deliver in the league. They know exactly how and where Arsenal’s season is going to end.
The Gunners have failed to impress since August. On the opening day, they succumbed to Liverpool. A draw away to Leicester followed. Slowly, they gained a measure of composure with wins over Watford and Southampton. The failings, however, have been familiar, and the game on display, not fluent. Newcomers Shkodran Mustafi, Perez and Xhaka have not convinced. But Wenger asserts that this time he has the right mix of men to achieve his goals.
But now Arsenal eye a chance
The game against Chelsea will then be a benchmark. The Blues have stuttered under Antonio Conte, who desperately wants to banish the demons of Mourinho’s miserable season, but faces the reality of a transitional season. The Italian has implemented a 4-4-2 so far, a leap from his routine 3-5-2 line-up.
There is an uncanny shakiness to Chelsea, with only one clean sheet this season and the 35-year old John Terry still as the bedrock of the rearguard. Further upfield, the integration of Cesc Fabregas, no longer the all-action midfielder of his heyday, is problematic. The Spaniard has not started in a Premier League game, with Conte preferring the duo of N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic at the base of his midfield. The Chelsea coach picks power over creativity.
Of course, Chelsea have their gut instinct to rely on. Last season, the Blues made a mockery of their insipid season, beating Arsenal home and away. Diego Costa played a pivotal role with his goal-scoring and shenanigans. He winds Arsenal up.
Laurent Koscielny and Mustafi will have to be on their guard to shackle the brutal Costa. At the other end, the quick Alexis Sanchez may exploit the ageing legs of the Chelsea back four. As a striker, Sanchez has not really excelled, but with four goals, his new position, from a goalscoring perspective, seems to work. He may well reverse Arsenal’s fortunes in this bitter rivalry.
