Chelsea away is arguably the toughest Premier League game we will face this season, and follows a draw and a win in our last two games against Spurs and Galatasaray. This is a massive opportunity to show that we've improved compared to last season, particularly away from home against the big teams, and put to bed the demons still lingering from the equivalent fixture last season. It is also, however, a chance to go 9 points behing the leaders after just 7 games, effectively waving goodbye to our title aspirations already. There is a lot at stake here, to say the least.
In reviewing the Spurs and Galatasaray games, the optimist in me says that a draw and a win from two potentially awkward fixtures is pretty good. It maintains our unbeaten record in the league and, at the end of the season, we aren't going to be highlighting a draw against Spurs as the disappointment of our season or the reason our hopes faded.
On the other hand, the pessimist in me suggests that a point shared was a much better result for Spurs than it was for us, and that Galatasaray were so bad that anything other than a win would have been an embarrassment.
The main positive that I took from the Spurs game was that we demonstrated a leap forward in squad depth, albeit only in the midfield. We were able to lose Ramsey, Wilshere and Arteta without the team being any weaker for it. After they were replaced by Cazorla, Sanchez and Flamini I felt that, if anything, we looked stronger than before! This is not to mention that we were already missing Giroud, Walcott and Debuchy, and Podolski is still nowhere near a look in. In the past this many players lost would have finished us off, and there aren't many squads who could have coped so seamlessly. This is not to ignore, however, that we are still so thin at the back, and that the shear number of injuries we get is still a massive concern.
Against Galatasaray it was wonderful to see Welbeck's first hattrick for the club, with three composed finishes. His pace and strength is going to be a threat against many opponents this season and his performance will have done his confidence the world of good ahead of the Chelsea game.
And so we arrive at the Chelsea game, with the biggest question, for me, being whether Wenger sticks with the 4-2-3-1 that allows Özil to remain in his favoured central position, or whether he favours the more cautious 4-1-4-1, which he seems to have preferred in the bigger games this season, until recently. While the 4-1-4-1 suggests that one of the midfielders is playing further forward, it is actually more defensive, because Özil is pushed wide left, with a more defensively aware midfielder taking his place in the centre. One reason for Wenger adopting this formation was to accommodate both Wilshere and Ramsey in the starting eleven but, with Ramsey injured, this isn't necessary in tomorrow's game. However, Cazorla performed admirably alongside Flamini in the midweek game against Galatasaray, and deserves to be in with a shout for a starting role.
In a similar way, I think it's about time Ospina got his chance to start a League game. Not so much due to his performances, but more because Szczesny hasn't been filling me with confidence. While he's a good shot-stopper, and good in one-on-ones, his distribution too often loses us possession in key areas, and he's not nearly commanding enough when collecting high balls into the box. I suspect, however, that this game is too big for Wenger to risk a change.
So it seems to me that there are two possible line-ups for the Chelsea game:
4-2-3-1:
Szczesny; Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Wilshere, Flamini; Oxlade-Chamberlain,
Özil, Alexis; Welbeck
or 4-1-4-1:
Szczesny; Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Flamini; Alexis, Wilshere, Cazorla, Özil; Welbeck
My heart says to go with the 4-2-3-1, but my head suggests Wenger will go with the 4-1-4-1. At this point, I'd take a draw, but I'm dreaming of a win - How good would it be to see Mourinho, John Terry, and Diego Costa all get what they deserve?!
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