We have to win this one, need to beat teams around us at home to win the title. I would hate to see us getting into the habit of drawing, 2 draws are worse than 1 win and 1 lose. I think they are there for the taking even their form hasn't been terrible this year. They are missing a few central midfielders, which is also been a problem area for us lately, hopefully we will take our chances. If Wenger been watching us, he'd play a mobile 3 attackers to try to beat us via speed, and press us high up. I think we need to play Cesc, even that means sacrifice a Hazard/Willian, ideally it's Matic.

I expect us to return the favour by hammering them 3:0, and let Arsenal TV go melting.

 

If kante plays like he did against liverpool then we really dont need matic in there aswell.

Im hoping for a big performance and victory that will gives us confidence going in the next 5 games, that are all very winnable, and 6 straight wins will see us out of sight.

 

Might be better for us that Hazard is out. He's been pretty average these last few matches and switching up personnel could give us something different. 

What's the chance of Conte playing a 3-5-2 with Cesc in over Hazard?

Cannot see conte dropping hazard even if he is carrying a knock. Unless he is not medically cleared to play, he will pick him. 

 

Edited February 3, 20179 yr by axman2526

6 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Cannot see conte dropping hazard even if he is carrying a knock. Unless he is not medically cleared to play, he will pick him. 

 

I hate sh*t like that excuse my french. I wud rather he miss a game than 2 months because he aggravates an injury. It is obvious he is carrying something hence his form in the last month. I have said it a million times Hazard is one of those luxury players who has to be 100 percent to really blossom. We saw him last season play knackered and we are doing the same thing again. 

What i'd like to see:

                  Courtois 

           Azpi  Luiz  Cahill

Moses   Matic  Kante  Alonso

                  Cesc

          Costa  *Hazard/Willian/Pedro*

 

What i think we'll see:

                Courtois

          Azpi  Luiz  Cahill

Moses  Matic  Kante  Alonso

       Pedro  Costa  Hazard

 

I think the three in the middle would help massively against the bigger teams. We looked much more comfortable when Cesc came on against 'pool and we had much more opportunities from there.

Hope we win this because I don't think I could take the moaning that would come if we even draw. You'd think we weren't top of the table coasting to a 2nd league win in 3yrs. We have to smash everyone 6-0 to make some people happy. 

What i'd like to see:
                  Courtois 
           Azpi  Luiz  Cahill
Moses   Matic  Kante  Alonso
                  Cesc
          Costa  *Hazard/Willian/Pedro*
 
What i think we'll see:
                Courtois
          Azpi  Luiz  Cahill
Moses  Matic  Kante  Alonso
       Pedro  Costa  Hazard
 
I think the three in the middle would help massively against the bigger teams. We looked much more comfortable when Cesc came on against 'pool and we had much more opportunities from there.

I like your first pick 3-5-2 it would totally screw them as they would be expecting a 3-4-3 and Cesc creativity would be great in this match

All games are important but this game in particular as it's a London rival fighting.

 

would like to see a 3-5-2 formation with cesc involved.

 

i would go with 

courtois 

azibi luiz cahill

moses Kante fabregas matic  alonso

Costa hazard

subs: begovic ake Pedro Willian batsman chalobah terry 

 

keep it tight in midfield with fabregas being the man to distribute the ball forward for costa and hazard 

Absolutely nutty putting Dave at right wingback. He is so important in providing the reliability to the back 3 and is nowhere near as good as Moses attacking.

Fortunately it ain't gunna happen.

I've been worried about hazards fitness for some time. Pretty sure he is carrying some kind of injury for a while.

Take the game against Tothenham at the Bridge for example. Spurs try to stop our front three from threatening them throughout the game. It took a brilliant solo effort from Pedro to get us back level with them. Meanwhile Moses on the RWB position has been brilliant defensively all through by neutralizing Tothenham attacks from their left position which force them to try to break our defence by switching to our LWB, they realized its easier to penetrate us through Alonso. So judging by Moses solid defensive display in the first half, they went into the dressing room thinking that Moses playing RWB won't ever give them a chance to get pass him. In the second half they still tried to stop our front three from being a threat but they forgot Moses was naturally a winger and can also hurt them if given the chance. That turns out to be the biggest mistake of the night when Moses got into there box and struck the winning goal.
For me Moses is the best option we currently have for the RWB position. When we need to be defensive, he willingly drop back and play as a RB and when we need a goal he gives us an extra attacking option and usually take the opponent by surprise when he moves to the RW position. Honestly, right now I won't sacrifice him on that RWB for a player that will only give us an extra defensive option.

i think arsenal will start with chamberlain and walcott. wenger will probably aim to attack us down the wings with pace and get in those crosses to giroud, seeing as crosses into the box are probably our main weakness at the moment. having xhaka missing will probably benefit them more than hinder them. 

Edited February 3, 20179 yr by enigma

1 hour ago, Jezq8 said:

All games are important but this game in particular as it's a London rival fighting.

 

would like to see a 3-5-2 formation with cesc involved.

 

i would go with 

courtois 

azibi luiz cahill

moses Kante fabregas matic  alonso

Costa hazard

subs: begovic ake Pedro Willian batsman chalobah terry 

 

keep it tight in midfield with fabregas being the man to distribute the ball forward for costa and hazard 

New signing?

In the middle they're missing Elneny (AFCON?) Ramsey (injured), Xhaka (suspension?) and Cazorla (injured). Leaving them with Coquelin and Ox to anchor the middle, unless they draft in a youth player. Arsenal have won all 10 games that Coq hasn't been involved in this season and only won 12 of the 24 he has played in, a stat which clearly shines in our favour. As for Ox he's incredibly talented yet blows very hot or cold and CM wouldn't be his natural position. 

 

This begs the question as is this not a game we should be looking to dominate and put a few past them with their obvious weakness in the middle? 

 

Let me know if any of the above unavailable players are wrong or if I've missed anyone that they play in the middle.

15m15 minutes ago
Chelsea FC ?@ChelseaFC
Conte says tomorrow is a chance to show what a good shape the team is in. #CFC

I'm abit worried reading all these articles saying things like Arsenal can't beat Chelsea etc. I'm always so nervous when we play these gits only reason I wasn't last time was because my wife was in labour.

8 hours ago, Don Conte said:

I hate sh*t like that excuse my french. I wud rather he miss a game than 2 months because he aggravates an injury. It is obvious he is carrying something hence his form in the last month. I have said it a million times Hazard is one of those luxury players who has to be 100 percent to really blossom. We saw him last season play knackered and we are doing the same thing again. 

I agree with you, I would prefer he is rested as you are right, eden is not the same if not at 100%. Unlike Luiz, who we desperately need fit and are nursing him through his injuries, we do have people who can come in for eden. Cesc being the obvious one. 

Thing is though Haz loves a game against Arsenal so I'd start him. What I will say though if he is gonna get burn out every season then I think that's very worrying.

If we don't pick Hazard tomorrow from the start, and we end up dropping points, Arsenal fans will be thanking us after. 

Imagine if we heard they were thinking of not playing Sanchez because he's been a bit quiet of late. 

I don't know how bad the Hazard injury is but Wenger played Ramsay on Tuesday knowing he had a knock then he went off after 15mins, but Ramsay is always injured.

3 hours ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

I'm abit worried reading all these articles saying things like Arsenal can't beat Chelsea etc. I'm always so nervous when we play these gits only reason I wasn't last time was because my wife was in labour.

They were all saying we could not beat Liverpool on Tuesday. Diego's miss proved them right so kinda hope they are right on this one too. 

The nerves are there Bobby because we should be winning this game. They are missing 4 midfield options and we are at home. I doubt you will find one of us on here happy with a draw. Unless we are 0-3 down with 10 mins to go then we would likely celebrate a draw like Liverpool did. 

52 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Thing is though Haz loves a game against Arsenal so I'd start him. What I will say though if he is gonna get burn out every season then I think that's very worrying.

The thing is he is never rested and doesnt have the luxury of missing a game due to suspensions. Not only do we never rest him but belgium never rest him either i am sure if we measure the amount of games he has played in the last 5 years it will be close to ronaldo and messi numbers. Also add the fact that the prem refs dont protect him and allow teams to kick lumps into him it is imperative that WE HIS CLUB PROTECT HIM  by resting him because no one else would. willian costa and pedro isnt a bad front 3 and a fresh hazard off the bench will annihilate tired defenders. 

5 hours ago, wallosh said:

Take the game against Tothenham at the Bridge for example. Spurs try to stop our front three from threatening them throughout the game. It took a brilliant solo effort from Pedro to get us back level with them. Meanwhile Moses on the RWB position has been brilliant defensively all through by neutralizing Tothenham attacks from their left position which force them to try to break our defence by switching to our LWB, they realized its easier to penetrate us through Alonso. So judging by Moses solid defensive display in the first half, they went into the dressing room thinking that Moses playing RWB won't ever give them a chance to get pass him. In the second half they still tried to stop our front three from being a threat but they forgot Moses was naturally a winger and can also hurt them if given the chance. That turns out to be the biggest mistake of the night when Moses got into there box and struck the winning goal.
For me Moses is the best option we currently have for the RWB position. When we need to be defensive, he willingly drop back and play as a RB and when we need a goal he gives us an extra attacking option and usually take the opponent by surprise when he moves to the RW position. Honestly, right now I won't sacrifice him on that RWB for a player that will only give us an extra defensive option.

And in the away fixture he cost us 2 goals not defending the back post 

After the Arsenal game we have some easy fixtures so I reckon we should play our strongest team and then rest those with knocks against those. We get a result in this one and the title is pretty much wrapped up.

Burnley away isn't easy in the slightest.

Massive opportunity tomorrow. A win would be absolute massive and a long, long stride towards the title for me.
Always confident againt Arsenal at home so got to go for the win here.

They are thin in midfield and we should be able to dominate them there.