Key events
Half-time entertainment: there’s been a development at Parkhead!
HALF-TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
It’s not been great, but Arsenal lead at the break.
45+3 min Since scoring, Arsenal haven’t done much. They need Odegaard and Rice to take control of midfield, but we’ve seen little of both.
45+2 min Martinelli takes on Cucurella and crosses, Sanchez again botching his flap, but Trossard can’t control and Chelsea eventually clear.
45+1 min We’ll have three additional minutes.
45 min Fofana lands awkwardly after contesting a header, clutching his midsection, but I think he’ll be OK.
43 min “I see what you’re doing VAR,” emails Zach Neeley, “taking a hands-off stance so that when you swing in later to micro-analyse something for seven minutes then make a nonsense decision, it’s all the more frustrating.”
My biggest problem with VAR – save the ruination of the world’s greatest feeling, a goal for your team – is as much a problem with laws, as regards drafting and application. I’ve been watching football 43 years and I’m also a qualified lawyer, yet I can see an incident from every angle, be certain what’s happened, and yet have no idea what the officials will decide is the case.
42 min Chelsea have, though, been a bit better these last few minutes.
39 min “Looks to me from my position lying on the sofa maybe regretting last night’s over-indulgence that Maresca has done to this Chelsea side what Guardiola has done to Jack Grealish,” says Adam Griffiths. “All the fun and unexpectedness has been sanded away leaving, well, this. Booo everything.”
Mourinho and Joe Cole is always my go-to example of that, although it’s worth noting that Cristiano Ronaldo did it to himself sometime in 2007-08. I agree, though, Chelsea should be fun to watch given the players they have, but the problem all managers, but especially those at the Bridge, struggle with, is building something without getting fired before it’s finished. It’s a tricky line to walk.
37 min Now it’s Raya behaving in dodgy manner, Neto’s shot blocked and bouncing up before falling for Cucurella to volley. He makes a decent contact too but the shot is straight at the keeper, who somehow allows it to squirm out of his grasp and will be relieved to see the ball spin just outside the far post.
36 min At Parkhead, Celtic have just made it 2-2, Rangers having led 2-0 at half-time.
34 min Strong challenge on Fernandez from Gabriel, who goes down and stays down; Fernandez, displeased, offers him some moral guidance as Odegaard slips a pass to Martinelli, who wellies over the top.
33 min It’s not remotely apparent what Chelsea are trying to do here. We’ve barely seen their central-midfield three, Caicedo, James and Fernandez all struggling to get on the ball.
32 min When that ball came in, Badiashile seemed to shove Timber, who spends a bit of time recovering; VART sees no reason to involve itself in proceedings.
30 min Rice finds Trossard on the left and he sees Colwill coming, flicking inside and through his legs, before wearing the inevitable scythe. Colwill is booked and the free-kick, swung into the box by Odegaard, yields a throw.
29 min On the other had, if Chelsea were playing into Nkunku, back to goal, he and Neto both have the ability to play the kind of one and two-touch passes that might open Arsenal up.
27 min I don’t want to get after Jadon Sancho, but he’s so undynamic. I was amazed Maresca wanted him given how he likes his teams to play, and his lack of power and intensity makes him of limited use against a side like Arsenal – especially off the right, where he is today, because he doesn’t have the gas or strength to go at Lewis-Skelly on the outside.
25 min Chelsea have offered nothing so far. Arsenal are faster, stronger, and more obviously bothered.
24 min Fofana fells Rice then treads on him. Rice fails to see the funny side, and VAR adjudges the force applied insufficient to impose a red card.
22 min No we did not contact our local turf accountant.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea (Merino 20)
It’s been a while, but set-piece again! Odegaard swings in, Merino runs towards, and his flick, intended as a flick-on, soars into the far side-netting. And that was coming – Arsenal have started with bad intentions, Chelsea haven’t started.
19 min Nice from Marintelli, taking a pass from Timber and skirting around the outside of Badisahile – Chelsea are struggling down their left – but there are too many defenders between him and the men in the middle, so his low cross is blocked behind for a corner.
18 min It’s Partey down the line to Timber, who sends Nkunku one way than the other before crossing’; naturally, Sanchez flaps at the ball, which drops for Trossard, whose shot into the ground loops wide
16 min Contesting a loose ball, Partey plunges into a stretch, feathering the ball before introducing studs to Neto’s shin; VAR takes a look and decides all is fine.
15 min Chelsea have yet to muster a single touch inside the Arsenal box.
13 min Looking again, Cucurella quite clears arms the ball into his path. I’m not sure why that isn’t a penalty, because it was deliberately done, but VAR upholds the on-[itch decision then Rice scuds a low drive wide of the far post.
12 min Perhaps nudged by Timber, Cucurella falls on the left edge of his own box, the ball coming off his arm as he falls. Timber then takes over, his low cross hitting a defender and forcing Sanchez to adjust position and push out, before Colwill clears into Badiashile’s head and Merino hammers over.
11 min It’s not often we see the words “sublime” and “Roger Sanchez” in the same sentence, but EXCUSE ME WHILE I INTERRUPT MYSELF!
9 min Raya humps one downfield and Trossard almost gets on the end of it, then Sanchez, not atypically, passes straight to Martinelli, who dips inside Fofana and drags a shot straight back at the keeper.
7 min At Parkhead, the second half of the Old Firm derby has just kicked off.
5 min I watched a really good interview with Pedro Neto recently, in which he said because he’s not a big guy, he likes to initiate contact before the ball arrives, so that he can then move away rather than absorb the physicality of a bigger man. I can’t say I love him through the middle – his skillset makes me think he should be playing off the flank and running towards goal, especially when Nkunku is there for him to play off.
3 min Immediately, though, Arsenal go again, Martinelli picking a nice cut-back that Odegaard misses, allowing it to reach Trossard … who should shoot first tie but doesn’t, taking a touch before curling wide.
2 min Rice swings into the near post but doesn’t get enough air on the ball, Timber flicking behind.
1 min Chelsea are looking to press high, but very quickly, one pass from Raya through the middle of the pitch finds Rice, and seconds later, Lewis-Skelly wins a corner down the left.
1 min And off we go.
Gosh, North London Forever; it’s not great is it?
Our players are tunnelled … and here they come!
Myles Lewis-Skelly is another – like James – I only had to see once to say “player”. I love his fearlessness and intelligence and like Saka – another in that category – I think he could excel almost anywhere on the pitch.
Maresca laughs that Palmer is “not in the toilet, for sure; Palmer had diarrhoea ugh, ugh*, last week. He should, though be back after the break.
Otherwise, he accepts Arsenal are ahead of them now, and offers very little else.
*was this just a chant in my primary school?
That said, I’m far from certain James could’ve saved Tuchel – even winning the Champions League couldn’t convince Todd Boehly that good management outranks insufficient deference.
“Emphatically agree about Reece James,” says Rob Hobson. “I’m convinced that if he and Chilwell had stayed fit, Tuchel would still be manager. For me, James has the skill and engine of Ashley Cole with an extra stone of muscle on top. I sincerely hope his career won’t be a series of brief returns from injury.”
I first saw James in October 2019, in a League Cup tie against Manchester United. There was a moment Marcus Rashford got away and usually when that happened he stayed away, but James had the gas to catch up and the ability to make a proper tackle. Obviously there’s loads more to him than that, but in that moment i was sure I was watching a player.
Arteta says this is a big game and the players are focused on that. They’re excited to face Real Madrid and the international break is coming next so they need to play well and hopefully get some players back afterwards.
Where is the game? Arsenal will fancy Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to run off James and Moises Caicedo, while their left flank of Lewis-Skelly and Leandro Trossard will surely target Jadon Sacnho, unrenowned for his physicality or relentlessness, and Wesley Fofana, a centre-back playing out of position.
Chelsea, meanwhile, might feel able to commit more men forward than usual given Arsenal’s absent attackers. There’s not, though, much weakness in the hosts’ defence, so I’d expect Neto to dart in behind with the three behind him looking to move the ball quickly as they probe for space.
Also going on:
Email! “What perplexes me is why Arteta starts with Merino as a striker, rather than using him as the super-sub role that worked against Leicester,” writes Kieran McKintosh. “By that point there were some tired legs on the field bar Nwaneri, and the two combined for two goals. Lo and behold, when Merino starts as a striker he doesn’t get much of a look in. To me a wiser idea would’ve been to start with Martinelli in the centre and Newaneri on the left wing, then swap Martinelli for Merino about 70/80 mins in. But hey, I’m sat at home typing this and he’s at the Emirates. So we shall see.”
I imagine it’s not just about who is the better centre-forward, but about the physicality Merino brings. Arsenal will want to play into and off him, which isn’t doable with Martinelli, and I daresay his presence in both boxes will be useful at set-pieces. If we were a year further down the line, it’d be Nwaneri through the middle, I think, and I’m a little surprised he’s not playing off the flank today because there’s not much magic in Arteta’s front three.
So what do we make of Reece James in midfield, then? I guess I can see it because I think he’s a brilliant footballer who has the skill, will and brain to play anywhere, but I also think that if he can stay fit he can be the best right-back in the world. It felt like there was a time when England were arguing over whether Kyle Walker or Trent Alexander-Arnold should play there, but actually James, a mixture of the two, is better than both. Still, it’s great to see him back.
Enzo Mareca, meanwhile, brings in Benoît Badiashile and Reece James who, by the looks of things, will be playing in midfield; missing out are Cole Palmer, who’s injured, and Tosin Aderabioyo, who’s on the bench.
Mikel Arteta makes two changes to the side that drew at Old Trafford last time out: Myles Lewis-Skelly returns at left-back – though of course he also played in midweek – replacing Riccardo Calafiori – while on the right wing, it’s Gabriel Martinelli, not Ethan Nwaneri. Oh, and Raheem Sterling, player of the match in midweek, is ineligible to play against his parent club.
I’ll write these down, then we’ll look at them in greater detail.
Teams!
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Martinelli, Merino, Trossard. Subs: Neto, Tierney, White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Calafiori, Butler-Oyedeji, Nwaneri.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Fofana, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Enzo, Nkunku, Sancho; Neto. Subs: Jorgensen, Bettinelli, Tosin, Chalobah, Gusto, Acheampong, Lavia, Dewsbury-Hall, George.
Preamble
There are few emotions more acute than disappointment. Though, on the face of things, it is more benign than its more intense relations – devastation, wrecked and so on – it is that exact benignity that makes it so powerfully consuming, a sense that things haven’t gone as the cosmos planned for them to go, leaving a lingering, nagging, feeble sense of entitlement, powerlessness and injustice.
Arsenal weren’t meant to sit 15 points off the top of the table with 10 games to go. After the surprise challenge of two seasons ago, they got closer still the following year and, fortified by those experiences, were expected – expected themselves – to have another serious tilt at the title.
Not so, and if that weren’t enough, the champions this time will be not a state-funded front under investigation by the football authorities and managed by the foremost football genius of the generation. After pushing Manchester City so hard and even injuring the man who makes them tick, it is Liverpool set to benefit from the subsequent drop-off. And because it’s happened slowly, without drama, there’s no sense of rebuild and repair, rather the constant irritation of opportunity spurned, with no guarantee it will return to a team now three years into a cycle.
However there’s a however: Bukayo Saka is nearing full fitness and might be available when, early next month, Arsenal meet an unconvincing Real Madrid in the last eight of the Champions League. Immortality is still not beyond them.
In the meantime, though, they must secure their spot in next season’s competition, with today’s visitors, Chelsea, keen to do the same. After a decent period early in the season, in recent times they’ve found it harder to hit a consistent level as Enzo Maresca seeks the best deployment of his frankly ludicrous resources. But they have the talent to give anyone a game and if they win today will be just three points behind their London rivals, bringing the various teams behind them back into the equation, which is to say disappointment may morph into devastation yet.
Kick-off: 1.30pm GMT