Arsenal Round-Up: Chelsea a must-win game; Wenger regrets midfielder’s loan; double Kante failing

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Arsenal suffered a disastrous defeat to Watford during the week, which severely dented their title hopes. If they are to stand any chance of winning the title, then they need to win this weekend, against Chelsea. That is the view of former Arsenal winger Robert Pires, who has been talking to Sky Sports ahead of the fixture.

“I think this is the last chance for Arsenal and it is a final for the Premier League. If Chelsea beat Arsenal, I think the Premier League is totally finished.”

“Chelsea have played well for four months but if Arsenal beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, anything is possible.”

The Blues are now nine points clear of Arsenal and many believe that a win for them this weekend will spell the end of the title race. They have dropped points in only five matches and have shown a consistency level that the rest of the top six can only dream of. That said, Arsenal did manage to beat them convincingly in the reverse fixture and that should give Arsene Wenger’s men confidence ahead of Saturday. They will know that they have the players to compete against any team in the world, but they will need to be at their best if they are to close the gap on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

There is going to be selection problem this weekend for Arsene Wenger, as he could be without all five of his central midfielders. Francis Coquelin is the most likely to start, with Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Mohamed Elneny and Granit Xhaka all certainties to miss out for various reasons. It is extremely unlucky for Arsenal and Wenger has hinted that he could do with Jack Wilshere back at the club amidst the current selection crisis.

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“He wanted to go because he saw the level of the competitive players we had in midfield and let’s not forget we have as well Xhaka suspended, so there’s a huge level of competition.

“I accepted to let him go and we have to deal with the consequences of that.”

The consequences have arrived now, as Arsenal may be forced to field youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles for his first Premier League start in what is arguably the most important match of the club’s season. The midfielder impressed against Southampton, but it will be a huge ask for him to deliver a similar performance against the league leaders. It is important that Coquelin is fit, purely due to the lack of other options in the squad. The decision to let Wilshere go now looks to be a silly one, but this is an extremely unlucky scenario that couldn’t have been predicted.

One player that Arsenal could do with on Saturday is N’Golo Kante and Wenger has admitted that he tried to sign the Frenchman on two separate occasions. The first was when he was in France and the second was during the summer. However, Chelsea managed to land their man and they are now benefiting from having the best ball retriever in the Premier League. Wenger went on to say that it is no coincidence that Kante has helped two separate teams to the top of the Premier League.

“They are very good in transition. I watched their game against Liverpool and Kante had a huge impact in their team. It’s no coincidence that they are in the position that they are and Leicester were in the position they were last season.”

The Frenchman has won a lot of fans since arriving in England and these comments from Wenger suggest that he is severely disappointed not to have seen the midfielder in an Arsenal shirt. He would have been a great player for them and helped prevent the side from dropping silly points against the likes of Watford. He is set to win his second successive Premier League title with two different clubs, underlining why he is seen as one of the best players to own in the league.

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