Jose Mourinho Discusses Eden Hazard, Branislav Ivanovic, More in Chelsea Presser

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has backed his struggling stars, including Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic, ahead of the Blues' Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday.

The defending champions currently lie 17th in the league table after three defeats in their opening five games, and a number of their 2014-15 stars have been way below par in the new campaign.

Most noticeably, Player of the Year Hazard has been a shadow of his former self. But, following his early penalty miss in the morale-boosting midweek 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, Mourinho is insistent the Belgian remains the best player in the division, per Alex Richards in the Mirror:

"

He’s still the best player in England. He’s the best player playing in this country. It’s not before a bad performance or penalty lost or not scoring goals for three weeks. He is the best. He’ll be the best again. One of these days, he’s the man of the match. As for his penalty: Maybe it was an agreement with some sponsor to promote the Rugby World Cup.

"

Similarly, the Portuguese refused to criticise Branislav Ivanovic's woeful form of late, saying he was not keen to make "individual analysis", per Richards.

Per the west London club, Mourinho expressed his confidence in captain John Terry despite having dropped him to the bench for the Maccabi clash:

It is an odd situation for Mourinho to be in that he is forced to defend so many of his players, but playmaker Oscar was also backed by his manager to make the difference against a likely defensive-minded Arsenal, per Richards: "Oscar is a good player, and when the team has the ball, especially, he’s very important because he’s creative and you need that. You need somebody that can beat people 1v1 and associate with other attacking players. So when a defensive opponent, he’s very good."

The last time Chelsea met Arsenal they went down 1-0 in the Community Shield. But historically, the Blues have a terrific record against Arsene Wenger's side, and the Wembley clash was the first time Mourinho had lost to the Frenchman in 14 matches.

However, Mourinho is insistent that the record against Arsenal has no bearing on Saturday's match, which will be taken in isolation, per football writer Miguel Delaney:

The Chelsea boss briefly trotted out one of his greatest hits as he complained about playing early at lunchtime on Saturday, and he arguably has a point considering that both sides were involved in Champions League action during the week, per Richards.

The Stamford Bridge clash is undoubtedly the Premier League clash of the weekend, and Chelsea are in desperate need of three points—but they are being backed by football writer Andy Brassell:

They face the very real prospect of dropping into the bottom three if they lose. Mourinho will be without the injured Willian, while Oscar, Radamel Falcao and Pedro are all doubtful, per Delaney.

If Chelsea are to preserve any hope of mounting a genuine title challenge this season—table-topping Manchester City already lead them by 11 points—they have to win against Arsenal.

A turnaround in form is needed and fast. Players like Hazard, Terry and Ivanovic will need to repay their manager's faith if Chelsea are to avoid further misery at the weekend.