Arsenal In Positive Pressure Against Man City
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Arsenal play hosts to Chelsea in a top of the table encounter at the Emirates Stadium on Monday with the Gunners looking to stay top of the table at Christmas.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 8pm GMT. Live coverage will be available on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD. Highlights of the game will be on BBC Match of the Day on BBC One from 10:35pm GMT.

Overview

Arsenal will be looking to go back on top of the Premier League with a win over title rivals Chelsea and give themselves a huge boost after a demoralising end to their week at Manchester City. The Gunners have managed only one point from their last two games in the league, in a week where they had to face Everton and Manchester City. The north London club also suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of Napoli in the Champions League, in between their league fixtures, which relegated them to second in their group, which led to them being pitted against Bayern Munich in the knockout stages.

A win here will take them two points clear of Liverpool at the top while a loss will push them back to the fourth position after having stayed at the top for more than two months. Arsene Wenger will be hoping that his team are able to brush aside the 6-3 humiliation they suffered at the hands of City and come back strongly to put a message across to the rest of the teams.

Jose Mourinho will be licking his lips at the prospect of meeting Arsene Wenger again in the league, with the Portuguese manager yet to lose a contest against the Frenchman thus far in their confrontations.

The former Real Madrid manager has already had the better of Wenger in the league Cup earlier this season but will realise that this is a completely different contest from the one where both teams had made a lot of changes to the first team. They come into the game on the back of a league cup defeat at the hands of Sunderland in the quarter finals. A win here for Mourinho will take Chelsea level on points with Liverpool and right back in the title race.

What the Managers Say

Arsene Wenger: " I thought Mourinho would come back. It is the same with players, they come to England then they say, 'Maybe I'll go to Italy or to Spain' – but they always come back. Why? Because this is a football country. The No1 football country in the world, that is why everybody comes back. There is something special in this country, something unique about the game. The foreign managers do not always like everything here, but they all like to come back. "

Jose Mourinho: "Eight years of developing these players and making the likes of Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey – these boys have become men and really very good players – and at the same time buying people like Mesut, that's why they are good. Mesut and the evolution of the other players can transform ­Arsenal into champions.''

Form Guide

Arsenal

  • Last Five(all competitions, mot recent first): L L D W W
  • Last Result: Manchester City 6-3 Arsenal

Chelsea

  • Last Five(all competitions, mot recent first): L W W L W
  • Last Result: Sunderland 2-1 Chelsea

Team News

Arsenal

  • Injured: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain(knee), Abou Diaby(knee)
  • Doubtful: Laurent Koscielny(knee)
  • Supended: N/A

Probable Line-Up: Szeczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscileny, Gibbs; Walcott, Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla; Ozil; Giroud.

Chelsea

  • Injured: Ryan Bertrand (knock), Marco van Ginkel
  • Doubtful: N/A
  • Supended: Michael Essien

Probable Line-Up: Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard, Hazard; Oscar, Torres.