Premiership fever: The Arsenal Bug and the Chelsea Game

For the Gunners' fans; today is a very important day. We are doing battle with the Blues, Jose Mourinho's men. The match is set to be played at Chelsea's home; Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are favourites according to football pundits but for the rest of us, the Highbury faithful, we are strong enough to punish what is perhaps the most expensive football side assembled. Under manager Arsene Wenger, Arsenal's fluid passing game means that any slip up in the Chelsea defence means a victory for the North London side. wenger upbeat That hasn't escaped West London fans; they are going to rally behind Chelsea in what is going to be an exiciting game today.

Chelsea have a depth of squad unmatched by any other team in the premier league. That has out them in pole position in the race for the premiership title. The club's shopping spree has been a successful one and they have added quite a number of dependable players in the last few months. With players like Shaun Wright Philips and Michael Essien added to the squad and others like Hernan Crespo back after a successful loan outing with AC Milan, Chelsea are hopeful that their title defence ship is foolproof and unsinkable.

That depth of squad has now started showing itself to be a chink in the armour. A rotation of players policy is seeing a number of players disheartened as they cool their boots in the subs' benches. Some have spoken out in public (Carvalho, Robben etc). Others like William Gallas have refused to commit themselves to a future contract with the club unless they are told where they will feature (first team action is what most of the players want and whicn they can't get as the team becomes bigger). That tension between players nearly translated itself into the pitch. In their first match against newcomers Wigan, Chelsea seemed to have lost the pace and firepower that became their trademark last season. A last gasp 93rd minute strike by Crespo saved Mourinho blushes and shattered hopes of a dream start by Paul Jewell's Wigan side.

Even Mourinho confessed that his side were lucky to win the match. "We didn't deserve to win the match," Mourinho told journalists after the game. It was hard, he said, to know who were the premiership champions and who were the newly promoted side from the Coca Cola championship. In their first outing this season, Chelsea never showed the kind of hunger and thirst for success like their competitors Manchester United. The Old Trafford outfit, enjoying the recovery of their striker Ruud van Nistelrooy have tormented all the sides they have met in the past few weeks. Even an improved Everton side had to watch as United clawed, tore and made mincemeat of their defence. The weaker teams have to watch out; the reds mean business this season.

That makes today's match a promise of fireworks. This is Arsene Wenger's 500th game in charge at Arsenal and he will want to prove a point. And what better way to do it than to sore and bruise the mood and buoyancy of the special one Jose Mourinho. The two don't see eye to eye and with Mourinho keen to stamp his authority on the title race after a rather lacklustre first game, the two teams are bound to stress each other to the limit. Chelsea fans will be roaring from the stands. What adds strength to the match is that the two teams met for the Charity Shield final just weeks ago and used the match (which Chelsea won) to correct their weaknesses and identify strengths.

Both sides will not want us to read too much into the match. They say the season has just started but the truth is that they will push themselves to the limit for everything is at stake here. Wenger's pride has been punctured, what with Mourinho ranting on about his plans for the season and some pundits placing their bets that it is Manchester United that is posed to give Chelsea a run for its money. Just last year, Wenger was hailed as a hero after his side won the league after an unbeaten run, a feat not achieved for decades. Suddenly a dip of form saw his side struggle to hold onto second spot. Chelsea became the new champs and Mourinho the blue eyed boy of the press. Wenger will want to prove that Arsenal are still in the race for the title. Three points and not a draw is what the two teams will be going for. Winning the premiership has gone a level higher; losses are just incomprehensible. Forget about this being the start of the season; the game means everything for the two men, two clubs and the entire premiership.

Arsenal are also keen to shore up confidence amongst the Highbury faithful. This is the last season for the club before the move to Ashburton Grove and the club has set sights on the title. To do that, this has to be a different season. A new outlook at defence is a must to steady the title assault ship. The last FA cup final was dominated by rivals Manchester United (whose strikers' tenacity at attacking the Arsenal half was impressive) only went Arsenal's way after a penalty shootout.

The resilience in Arsenal's previously leaky defence is perhaps a positive point to take from the last gasps of last season. They managed to plug a hole that cost them the title. Philippe Senderos has tried his level best to partner Kolo Toure in a new defensive wall that has been tested by the premiership's best strikers. But in the Charity Shield final, Chelsea's menacing and powerful striker Didier Drogba has shown that Senderos has his work cut out for him. I believe that the Swiss international has something in store for Drogba today. This should be an interesting dimension to this afternoon's game.

Arsenal are essentially a scoring side. Manager Wenger has committed himslef to this saying 'when a person fifty pound to come to Highbury, he knows he will see goals..' Good point. However, the hunt for goals upfront has become much harder. Many clubs have realised that packing their midfield wreaks havoc to Arsenal's trade mark passing game clinical finishes. A lapse in defence means an avalanche of goals like that which embarrassed David Moyes' Everton.. the Gunners fired seven goals past them at the end of the season. Now Arsenal need some goals from raw striking power to shake off this sticky midfield situations.

Even then, clubs have also realised packed midfields only delay the Arsenal goals, not ruling them out. It has now become a feature of the Arsenal game: goals that come in the last ten minutes of the match. Teams want to frustrate the fluid, passing game and Arsenal are now countering that. The exception is Sir Alex Ferguson's men; the pioneers of this tough physical game to shut down the Arsenal attack. Man Utd have shown that they can cut down the Arsenal passes and attack relentlessly. Arsenal players on the other hand have evolved and take this Man U approach with level headedness unlike the past when it got them sussed out and led to bust ups in the tunnel.

What I'm trying to say is that we are a new side and I have hopes that Chelsea are the first casualties of our title assault. The cannons are ready and the arsenal will be fired... GO ARSENAL GO ARSENAL.