Arsenal America

Arsenal v. Chelsea; Wednesday Jan. 1; 10am eastern

TV: Fox Sports World

Radio: arsenal.com (fee required)

Live Text Play-by-Play: quite possible at Arsenal’s bigsoccer.com page

Arsenal: 1st Place (43 points)

Chelsea: 2nd Place (38 points)

The New Year is upon us and I see no better way to start 2003 than by kickin’ the crap out of Chelsea. This fixture holds even more importance than just a London derby as Chelsea actually sit in unfamiliar territory at second place, five points behind the Gunners. This fixture is always a rough affair and a lot of fun to watch but this Chelsea is a different animal than games past.

Chelsea just ended an eleven game unbeaten streak that saw them move comfortably up the table. Seven wins and four draws, they kept eight clean sheets and scored two or more in six games. They simply were able to get the desired results against the “lesser” competition. Chelsea has had problems with the top of the table and on the road. It just so happens the Gunners are top of the table and Chelsea is on the road, so two big factors move in the Gunners direction. In fact, the Gunners have not lost to Chelsea in over five years (it could be longer but I couldn’t find an archive that went any further back). In all competitions the Gunners have won six with five draws and at home, won five with only one draw at Highbury. More marks in the plus category.

Chelsea do seem to move with a different confidence. The defense has almost a swagger to them as they defend with power and speed. This air about them starts between the pipes in Carlo Cudicini. He has missed the last two games with a thigh strain but when he is in the game he has done everything right. No weaknesses to speak of, he has developed an arrogance most managers like to see in their keepers.

Last year’s Chelsea team was hurt by a squad rotation policy instilled by manager Claudio Ranieri. During the 11-game unbeaten streak Ranieri left a bit more consistency in the line-up and that seemed to help the players move the ball easier. So what does a manager do when he has success with a lineup? He changes it and inserts seven new players. This resulted in a 0-0 draw to Southampton and Ranieri changed again, inserting seven more. This resulted in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Leeds. The game at Leeds could only be described as uninspired. So Ranieri now has to decide what he takes from these experiments and what will work against the Gunners.

Chelsea come into this match with a +17 goal differential. This suggests that they are playing a complete style of football. With Zola magic running wild and a defense that is the best in the Premiership this should be an entertaining match. It’s the Gunners intangibles that should shine through.

Arsenal America Predicts: A tough match, but our defense holds and the Arsenal grabs a 1-0 victory when late sub and Chelsea killer Kanu slots home a rebound in the 83rd minute.