Wenger puts his chips on beating Chelsea

Arsene Wenger has removed Arsenal from two of the four competitions they entered this year. They haven’t been knocked out: they have, rightly or wrongly, been removed.

The team against Manchester City, in the League Cup, had three players with no league starts (Craig Eastmond, Fran Merida, and Jack Wilshere), one with two (Carlos Vela), and one with eight (Lukasz Fabianski).

The team against Stoke, in the FA Cup, had two players with no league starts (Francis Coquelin and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas), one with one (Craig Eastmond, who started away at Bolton after the Manchester City game), one with two (Vela), and one with eight (Fabianksi).

Injuries or not, the novices weren’t picked to progress. They were picked to save the stars, to ensure they didn’t have to lower themselves to the domestic cups. Their legs are precious; more precious than Eastmond’s, or Vela’s. For Wenger, winning cup games is a bonus. Losing is quickly - and easily - forgotten.

As he does every season, Wenger slid all his chips onto two bets: the Premier League, and the Champions’ League. Luckily, there’s plenty of chips. Unluckily, a team ten miles down the road is ready to take them all.

To win the Premier League, you imagine, Arsenal will have to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on February 7. A win would mean a six-point swing, and would set belief in Arsenal’s molten mentality. A defeat would end the league season, and would carve another notch on the five-year waiting list.

But the blue shadow also looms in Europe. Wenger will pray Barcelona, the mongoose to Chelsea’s cobra, play them before Arsenal do. He knows Chelsea are weaker than they were under Jose Mourinho, but he also knows Arsenal can’t capitalise on their weakness: set-pieces.

Before the Sunderland game, 13 out of Chelsea’s 16 Premier League goals against were from corners, free-kicks, or penalties. The problem is, Arsenal’s set-piece delivery is poor - often failing to beat their first defender - and their heading is even worse.

At London Colney, the ball lives a fraction off the surface, like a hovercraft speeding across the sea. No wonder, then, that Arsenal’s players are so poor in the air. Only William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen, raised far from Hertfordshire, attack the ball at height.

The rest ignore it – like, for example, Samir Nasri – or jump with their head tucked into their shoulders, eyes closed, hoping it won’t hurt, like Abou Diaby. Either way, Chelsea won’t panic.

And while Arsenal can’t capitalise on Chelsea’s main weakness, Chelsea can capitalise on Arsenal’s: lack of belief. Arsenal have lost their last three against Chelsea, and won two of the last 16. Two in 16! No wonder that, when Chelsea went one-up at the Emirates this season, the game was over.

In short, to be a success this season, Arsenal have to beat Chelsea. And to beat Chelsea, they’ll need to be brilliant. Chelsea can win by being good.