Will Arsenal beat Chelsea today ?
Well, Arsenal’s back four are quicker than Chelsea’s.
But Cech is much, much safer than Almunia.
Drogba is much more composed than Adebayor, but Drogba’s injured.
Van Persie is more inventive than Kalou or the ageing Shevchenko, while Bendtner can come on and threaten the Blues when van Persie tires.
So Arsenal are in good shape. Both sides have talent and team spirit, so it will be a very close contest.And it is the biggest Arsenal-Chelsea game since the Champions League quarter-final in 2004, when Wayne Bridge scored the winner.
Who will score ? Gallas with a near-post header? Rosicky with a rocket his friend Petr can’t reach? A more likely goalscorer than either of those two ? Fabregas !
Since Arsenal haven’t beaten Chelsea in their last 10 games, it will be tight compared to most Arsenal home game but I reckon they will just shade it this time. The Professor is a master of rehab, good at tuning up injured players and bringing them back at the right time.
We saw how sharp RVP was after two months out and if Flamini, Hleb and Fabregas all play, Gooners will have little to fear, except at set-pieces, where Chelsea will be very dangerous. If the Blues win, it will be from a corner or a free-kick.
Avram Grant rested Joe Cole against Valencia for a reason : he thinks Joe will be a big player in this game and wants him fresh.
Chelsea, owned by the oligarch, want to win friends and influence people. They crave the praise showered on Arsenal’s attractive style of play. They want to be popular at home and abroad, to be respected, to be a global brand. Their players regularly pipe up and say : We play some good stuff as well, give us some credit.
With Avram Grant getting a four-year contract, his job doesn’t depend on beating Arsenal, so he is not as paranoid as Mourinho was. He’s not scared of losing, so he will be looking to attack and score a couple of goals. If Grant had Drogba, Carvalho and Essien playing at the Emirates, he would be super-confident. And if those three were playing, I would not fancy Arsenal to win. But they’re not and I think Cesc and the boys can shade it.
Despite being a local derby, and the possibility of aggro between the fans, I don’t think this will be a mean-spirited or controversial game.
Indeed, it may be quite tame after the earlier contest between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield, which is always fiery.
My main interest at Anfield will be Mascherano versus Tevez & Rooney. The two chunky strikers will alternate as runner or provider, trying to play each other into the United box, and trying to take him out of the zone he patrols so conscientiously. The Argentinian anchorman, a steely tackler, will try to interrupt their link-up play with well-timed interventions.
Mascherano knows Tevez very well, having played with him for Argentina and Corinthians before they joined West Ham together. He says the pair are “very big friends” and talk all the time.
It will be great for Arsenal if Liverpool beat United but they have not won this fixture for six years. However, they didn’t have Fernando Torres in those six games.
Torres can score every type of goal : shots from distance, dribble-and-shoot goals, headers, volleys, you name it. He has only been there five minutes and played 19 games but he has scored 12 goals and he’s a big game player, a warrior. Rafa says, “They know his qualities and they will be worried about him.”
Sure, Cristiano Ronaldo is the most gifted footballer in the EPL but Liverpool, collectively, may have the means to stop him. If they nullify Ronaldo they can win the game in front of their American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. A defeat in this game would do Manchester’s red devils no good at all.
Liverpool are fifth, just below Man City, who beat Bolton 4-2 yesterday after being 2-1 down at half-time.
BBC2 will show the Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton highlights at 1pm Sunday.
Having now seen the whole ten rounds, Joe Cortez should never referee another world title fight. For the first six rounds, Hatton was fighting two black Americans at the MGM Grand. It was ridiculous.
Welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather is an amazing athlete and a phenomenal boxer, so he does not need the help of a referee. He would have won anyway. He could fight Hatton, a light-welterweight, 10 times in 10 different cities with 10 different referees and knock him out seven times and win the other three on points.
But the truth is that, in Las Vegas, Hatton was fighting two men for the first six rounds. Every time the champion was hurt, Cortez intervened. In the sixth round he deducted a point from Hatton for a punch that never landed. Hatton’s glove never hit Mayweather on the back of the head. It hit the top rope as Mayweather leaned out of the ring. After the fight, as Mayweather posed for photos in the ring, he put his left arm round Cortez’s shoulder as the cameras flashed. Those two bring big $$$$ to the MGM Grand, so nobody will be allowed to beat Floyd.
For me, and many other people, the little guy was ripped off. We will never know what would have happened in those first six rounds if Cortez had not protected Mayweather as he did.
Having said all that, a rematch would be folly for Ricky Hatton. He should fight guys his own size.