Arsenal are out to 18/1 for the Premier League with Sky Bet and 8/13 for a top-four finish following their shock 2-1 defeat to Watford on Tuesday.
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Once again, Arsenal were made to pay for a slow start after Younes Kaboul and Troy Deeney made it 2-0 inside 12 minutes, highlighting what has been an Achilles heel for Arsenal.
Alex Iwobi clawed one back for the hosts in the second half, but Arsenal couldn’t find the equaliser and were treated to a chorus of boos from their supporters at the final whistle.
“I think”, Conte said, “this could be a good chance for us to show that, now, we are a totally different team”.
“When you lose a match like that (in September) playing for this kind of club, it is very hard to accept”, said Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic ahead of a derby that never lacks needle. I have no basic regret in the way we prepared.
“Did we think subconsciously we could turn up and it would be OK?” he asked himself.
“I always say that at this level you can not play 80 minutes, or 85 minutes”. We were beaten in the duels, they were sharper than us. “Everybody in the Premier League is strong physically and [to give] 90% is not enough”.
Rather like during Jose Mourinho’s first stint in charge of Chelsea, Desailly believes that with Conte able to further mould his squad in the summer, the Blues have the potential to dominate English football in the coming years.
Wenger opted against starting Theo Walcott for the game despite the England worldwide scoring a hat trick in the 5-0 FA Cup win over Southampton at the weekend. He was stiff still yesterday. “I went to see him the other day at the training ground”, Hasselbaink told Reuters in an interview. Three games is nothing. The decision to sell one of their best players in Van Aanholt and bring in Moyes’ ex-players Bryan Oviedo, Joleon Lescott and Darren Gibson, is a risk but Moyes knows he can’t play it safe if he is to keep this side up.
For Watford, this was a first win in seven league games and relieved some pressure growing on manager Walter Mazzarri. The former Hornets manager died two weeks ago and the Italian gave a special tribute during his post-match press conference. I’m frustrated we didn’t win.
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Sunderland look destined for the drop unless they start to pick up points away from home. But I also don’t like to live off the past.
