Arsenal Vs Chelsea: Last chance saloon

Arsenal travel to Chelsea on Tuesday night as the Premier League rumbles towards its closing stages. If they harbour any hopes of a top-four finish, this is the last chance saloon.

After spending more money in a single summer transfer window than ever before, including breaking their transfer record on a flashy new attacking toy, Arsenal expected to challenge for a top-four finish in the 2019/20 season. That was the quite clear and publicly stated goal for Unai Emery and his team.

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As we all know now, Emery was not up to the task. Moreover, the board was unwilling to pull the plug quickly and left his underperforming team to dangle in mid-table mediocrity as the top four slipped away. Nevertheless, despite the Gunners’ ineptitude this season, largely due to the inability of the other teams in the league, a top-four finish is not yet entirely out of reach.

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Remarkably, Arsenal are only ten points off Chelsea in fourth. They only five points behind Manchester United, who currently sit in fifth, and could leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur with a win and a loss in the next round of matches, which take place this week.

It is unlikely to expect this team to turn around their form so drastically after an underwhelming campaign that has shown few signs that they are able to, but despite the proof on the pitch, the table does not lie. A top-four finish, somehow, is not yet out of reach.

However, if new head coach Mikel Arteta is to rectify the wrongs of his predecessor and lead his team into the Champions League qualification places, it must start with a victory on Tuesday night when his team travels to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. And Arteta himself admitted as much in his pre-match press conference:

"It doesn’t matter where we go, my ambition is to go anywhere and win playing our way. We want to go with the same direction every time and with the same intention. It’s really important [to win to keep the top-four hopes alive]. It’s very, very important for us to win this game to fight for that. Also, the game we played at home, it could have made a big difference and we were very close to it. Tomorrow we need to win.”"

With a victory, Arsenal would move to within seven points off a wildly inconsistent Chelsea team that lost to Newcastle United at the weekend. With matches against Spurs and Manchester United still to come, there are plenty of opportunities for Arteta’s side to claim back lost points against their direct rivals.

Man. Utd have just lost Marcus Rashford for two to three months with a back problem, Spurs have no Harry Kane until April and relied on a penalty save to snatch a draw against Watford at the weekend, while Wolves have the Europa League knockout stages to contend with. The other contenders are Sheffield United and Crystal Palace. The ground that the Gunners have lost throughout the season can be made up.

But it all starts on Tuesday night. Win at Stamford Bridge and there is reason for hope. Lose, and it is game over. The good news? Arteta knows it, and he will prepare the team with the victory in mind.