Premier League - Chelsea vs Arsenal

I don't think anyone needs to say it, they know.

It's worth repeating

Haha, I'd rather Cesc show it.

That assist yesterday not enough for you?

Against them, I mean.

He'll do

I sure hope so.

Goal + badge kiss please

Pipe dream on that last part


Would be legendary if he did though

I know, imagine the epic hate from the Arsenal support.

Their usual boos would go into overdrive.


Their end would sound like a dairy farm at feeding time. Well, even more so than usual, that is.

Per Mertesacker warns Chelsea ahead of Sunday clash that Gunners are ready to ‘try new things’:
Per Mertesacker has warned Chelsea that Arsenal are ready to “try new things” in a quest to reverse their fortunes at Stamford Bridge in recent seasons when they head to West London on Sunday
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11670/9499440/premier-league-per-mertesacker-warns-chelsea-ahead-of-arsenals-visit

"Obviously it is a good lift. We have got good confidence at the moment and will try to implement that into the game on Sunday."

"We know we can do better than the two consecutive seasons (at Chelsea) before and I think we will try new things on Sunday to get a better result than last year."

Like...defending, maybe?
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This is gonna be emotional, but hopefully not tough for Cesc. I hope he gets a good reception from gunners.

André Schürrle heaps praise on Arsenal's Mesut Özil ahead of London derby at the weekend:
André Schürrle believes Mesut Özil is thriving on the pressure he is under at Arsenal
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/chelsea-vs-arsenal-andre-schurrle-4367986

“Mesut is a player who needs the pressure a little bit. He needs the pressure to perform.”

“He is a great player. He is everything that you need in his position when he plays no.10. He can play the pass and he can score.”

“So I think when you give him a little bit of time he will show you that he is a world class player. Of course, for the national team it is good to have Mesut Ozil in good form.”

“On Sunday, however, it would be good if he didn’t have that good form against us!”

“He is always important for our team because he can play in every second a brilliant pass or score a goal. So I think the critics have been a little bit harsh on him. He is a brilliant player.”

Careful not to lose your tongue up there, André.
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Ozil is moody. Andre you my friend need contact lens, not a tounge.

Arsene Wenger lauds ‘killer’ Chelsea striker Diego Costa as Arsenal prepare for Blues clash on Sunday:
Arsene Wenger has labelled Diego Costa a ‘killer’ in front of goal after lauding the Spaniard’s start to life in the Premier League
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2779350/Costa-killer-Arsene-Wenger-lauds-Chelsea-striker-Arsenal-prepare-Blues-clash.html

"I’ve never seen a player adapt as quickly as he has."

"He’s a very efficient player. The timing of his runs and his determination, his killing determination - you feel he’s a killer. He has that in him."

"He has done fantastically well. He has all the aspects of a striker that you like. He’s focused, always determined, ready for a fight and I’m very impressed."

"He has got players who can feed him like Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard, who can find him with final passes. I just hope he can dis-adapt on Sunday."

Diego Costa will start against Arsenal, reveals Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho ahead of Sunday's London derby:
Chelsea manager José Mourinho has revealed Diego Costa will indeed make his third start in 8 days when the Blue face off against Arsenal in Sunday's London derby
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2779467/Diego-Costa-start-against-Arsenal-reveals-Chelsea-manager-Jose-Mourinho-ahead-Sunday-s-London-derby.html

"I think three matches in a week is too much but he’s going to do that. Why? Because I’m not going to save him to be in perfect condition for the national team."

"If he has a problem playing against Arsenal it is a problem playing for Chelsea. We had three very important matches this week. We needed the victory in the Champions League. Arsenal is also important. So he plays."

José Mourinho hits back at Wenger over Fàbregas move:
José Mourinho has aimed a barb at Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, insisting he doesn't care whether or not Chelsea was Cesc Fabregas' first choice this summer
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/518376/Mourinho-Fabregas-Chelsea-first-choice

"I don't know if Chelsea was his first choice and I'm not even interested in that."

"For me, he is just one of my players."

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain confident Arsenal can make big statement at Chelsea:
Arsenal forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is desperate for the Gunner to "make a statement" at Chelsea on Sunday after their horrorshow at Stamford Bridge last term
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/518435/Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-Arsenal-big-statement-Chelsea

"It was a horrendous day. You would like to say it was one that you forget and don't remember, but I'm sure it's one that I'm going to remember for the rest of my life."

"It was funny because I was always saying that I'd never played at Stamford Bridge. I'd been waiting a few years to play there. It definitely didn't pan out the way I would have liked it to."

"It's a great stadium and it's another great fixture. It's one that we'll really be looking forward to. Chelsea are the league leaders at the moment and one of the favourites to win the title this season."

"They are big competition to us so we'll be looking to go there and make a statement early on in the season. I definitely believe we can."

Mourinho: Arsenal annihilation last season was one-off:
José Mourinho claims Chelsea's thrashing of Arsenal last season was a mere one-off and doesn't expect a repeat of the same scoreline this time around
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/518386/Mourinho-Chelsea-Arsenal-thrashing

"The 6-0 is once every 50 years, it's not year after year. It's something that happens occasionally."

"What happens in the past, happens in the past. Can we win again? Of course we can."

"I expect a difficult match. It doesn't matter their approach or what they're trying to do."

"They will also be a difficult opponent. I always expect every game, every opponent, a tough game."

Apologise for the spam but alot of quotes out there this morning

haha keep it coming. Can't wait for this one

Couldn't help popping in here and checking out what you guys are thinking ahead of the match.
Pretty confident lot you are, especially Kick and Shed. Great preview btw Shed.
But yeah, lol, I guess you can be confident.
The whole of our team will need to play differently from this attack, attack, attack as Shed calls it, our pressing and concentration will need to be top notch if we were to stand a chance. Frankly, I'm worried with Flamini in that midfield, we might be playing with ten men after 20 mins, but yeah who knows what the outcome will be. This is football after all.
I hope Wenger and the team can spring a surprise and get one over Mourinho.

Oh, and btw... I hope our fans in the stadium shows Cesc the respect and appreciation he deserves. I for one, will never forget what he did for us and what he meant to the team for 2-3 years.

I hope my comments in here haven't given a misleading or inaccurate impression of my feelings or
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expectations for this match (and I'm sure I speak for Kicky on this as well). I don't think you'll find anyone in here, least of all myself (the section's Pessimist in Chief ), thinking this will be
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anything other than a proper difficult game. I'd agree with Mourinho that last's year's result was a
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one-off and that we'd be daft to think a repeat of it come Sunday will be some sort of formality. If
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you look over the history of recent meetings between us at the Bridge (which you'll conveniently find in my preview ) the results, just as were the performances, are actually quite close. Just the year
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before last, we went 2-0 up on you within 15 minutes, I believe, but you made a right fist of it in the
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second half which you were dominant in and nearly nicked something – and that was with a far worse
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side than the one you've got now.



So yes, I expect nothing less than a stern test on Sunday.