This has the makings of another enthralling Premier League encounter, and Arsenal will be raring to go. Mourinho is being forced into making more changes to his squad this weekend as Pedro, Willian and Radamel Falcao are all expected to miss out through injury.
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Even if Maccabi were not the toughest of opponents, Chelsea now have their first home win, first clean sheet and face Arsenal as the only English winners in the Champions League group stage.
Mourinho was coy on the subject.
“I don’t think it’s important now and I don’t think people are focused on that”.
As Chelsea linger in 17th place in the league, with four points out of a possible 15, defeat against arch-rivals Arsenal could leave their hopes of defending their title in ruins.
“[On Wednesday] it wasn’t just important for me because I scored but also for the defence as we didn’t concede”, he added.
“I don’t want to talk about that”, he said. If it’s a pre-season friendly against Arsenal, we want to win.
Petr Cech returns after leaving for North London following 11 years of sterling service at Chelsea.
“After the game, the dressing room door is open”.
Arsene Wenger has refused to get drawn in on Chelsea’s current form, and has warned his side against any complacency.
The relationship between Wenger and Mourinho is frigid at the best, with the latter naming his colleague a specialist in failure. “I like him very much and respect him“.
In statements published on Chelsea’s official website on Thursday, the Spaniard said “This was a vital win, a top performance from start to end and we need Chelsea to play like this week in and week out”.
“People come to football to watch football – everything else is secondary”.
“There’s nothing better than a game against Arsenal to win and fix this situation”, he told reporters.
Wenger was asked if he felt Chelsea were in decline.
“I am responsible for my actions and the others are responsible for their actions”.
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The Gunners had a disappointing game midweek, as they lost 2-1 away against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, and will want to bounce back to winning ways here in a huge London derby.
