Arsenal vs Chelsea | 10-May-09 @ 16:00 UK

While there are half a dozen teams still fighting the relegation battle, this match between the No. 3 and No. 4 of the league might just look a bit pointless at this stage. But this match is pretty important, at least from the Chelsea perspective.

For the champions league next season, only the top three from the premier league are directly qualified while the fourth placed team will have to play some really tough qualifying matches. For a champions league favourite such as Chelsea, qualifying matches should not be a hurdle but it is just an unwanted entry in the calendar.

On the other hand, if Arsenal is to play qualifying matches for champions league next season against the likes of Sevilla, Valencia, Roma etc, I’d love that prospect.

There is another angle to this match. Liverpool did the double against us this season. We’ve paid them back very well with a one-sided win at Anfield and an eight-goal thriller at the Bridge. Arsenal came to the Bridge and beat us.

We knocked them off the FA Cup, their only hope of a trophy every season. I think that’s not enough. We need to beat them because...they’re Arsenal. I hate Arsenal. I love Chelsea. So when Chelsea plays Arsenal, I want the Blues to thrash the brats.

We’re just recovering from a unjustified, heart-breaking, sabotaged exit from the champions league. We need a big match victory to cool ourselves a bit.

Even Arsenal were eliminated from the champions league but they surrendered to the Mancs. That must have been one of the most one-sided semifinal ties in champions league history. Arsenal were lucky to get beat 1-0 at Old Trafford.

Wenger said that we will see a different Arsenal at Emigrants. Yes, we did see a different Arsenal—the one that got beat 3-1 this time. In a champions league semi final, second leg at home, they lost 3-1 and they completely succumbed and surrendered meekly. They can’t be disappointed because it looked like they did not mind losing.

Today, Chelsea must beat Arsenal to confirm the third place. Once we are through with this match, we can have our Francos and Stochs play the rest of the matches. Remember those dark days of this season.

When Scolari took us from bad to worse in January, there was a very serious concern that Chelsea may not make it to the champions league next season. So when Hiddink was brought in, the big target, challenge, expectation and hope was to get us into the champions league next season.

You can say that Guus has exceeded the expectations. If he was as lucky as Avram Grant, he might have got us the quadruple. If Chelsea wins today, Guus can tick that box of champions league qualification. And if he beats Everton in the FA Cup final, that’s an icing on the cake.

Team news now. Drogba may not be playing today. So, that limping out on Wednesday night is for real, it appears. Anelka must start the game. I’d very tempted to give Franco his first 90-minute game.

He is probably the type of player Arsenal won’t be comfortable handling. He is tall and he seems to be rather physical for a man of his build. He has the right attitude and determination to trouble Arsenal.

I did play out this match in FIFA 09 on XBOX 360. I played at the Emirates under the lights. I started with Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Cole, Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou and Drogba in 4-3-3. First half, it was more of Arsenal and less of Chelsea. Arshavin troubles a lot.

Malouda misses a great one-on-one chance to put us ahead. Then in the 40th minute, van Persie smashes one from outside the box to put them 1-0 up. Half time ends at 1-0 for Arsenal.

In the second half, Chelsea starts in attack mode. In the 58th min, Wenger removes Walcott and Nasri to bring in Rosicky (?) and Diaby.

That means less runs and dribbles and more of consolidation as I saw. Chelsea were still pressing for an equaliser. Another great chance for Malouda and he misses again. In the 67th minute, I brought in Anelka for Kalou. Chelsea are in hyper attack mode now.

In the 76th minute, Drogba very typically hassles a defender on the sideline and somehow wins the ball and passes it to Malouda who nutmegs the ball through Toure. The ball is let loose in the box and as always, Super Frankie is there in the right place at the right time. Bang. 1-1. Chelsea shift the gear to a cautious attack mode.

Arsenal look very tired and careless. Chelsea take full advantage of it. Time running out. Both teams look to settle for a draw. 89th minute.

A simple but effective passing move in the midfield suddenly allows Lampard to slip one through to Drogba who controls the ball before bulleting it in. 1-2. Three minutes of stoppage time. I brought in Obi Mikel for Malouda. Chelsea plays out the next few minutes. Final result: A 2-1 win for Chelsea.

Match details: 40th min van Persie. 1-0. 76th min Frank Lampard. 1-1. 89th min Didier Drogba. 1-2.

Possession: Chelsea 45 percent - Arsenal 55 percent. Shots (on target): Chelsea 7(5) - Arsenal 6 (2).
First time result. No adulteration!

Hope this result comes true. This season we have been terrible in all the derby matches. Let’s end this on a bang. Let’s beat them at Emigrants.