Arsenal are heading into their game against Chelsea on Sunday “really believing” they can win, according to manager Mikel Arteta.
The north London side go into this weekend fifth in the Premier League table, seven points adrift of leaders Liverpool following a run in which they have lost two and drawn one of their past three matches. They also lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League this week.
But Arteta can take optimism from his record against Chelsea. Of opposing managers who have faced the west London side at least 10 times in the Premier League, only Kenny Dalglish (77 per cent) has a better record than the Spaniard’s (60 per cent).
Arteta has managed Arsenal on 11 occasions against Chelsea in all competitions, with the 2020 FA Cup final win the only clash outside of the Premier League.
Although that was his first taste of silverware after taking charge, it is not the moment that comes to mind when Arteta is asked for his favourite coaching moments against Chelsea.
“One of those was in a difficult moment,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “It was December (2020) when Emile Smith Rowe came in and I think he changed something. I don’t know what it was! Momentum, energy, and belief, but that was a key one.
“We had some away games as well that have been very, very nice, especially having our supporters there, the connection that that generates, that belief.”
Arteta has spoken about the changing effect Smith Rowe had in that game already in press conferences this season.
The 3-1 win he referred to on Boxing Day 2020 ended a seven-game winless run that season and kick-started Arsenal’s season. The following campaign, they won 4-2 at Stamford Bridge after three successive losses in April 2022.
Similar happened with a 3-0 win at the Emirates in May 2023 after a four-match winless run in April of that year, while they had already stopped a three-game winless run with a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers before beating Chelsea 5-0 in April this year.
On whether these are things he mentions to his players, Arteta added: “I remember one against (Thomas) Tuchel where we were lucky as well to win it (the 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in May 2021) – we didn’t do enough in the game to win and we actually won it.
“It depends. Earning the right, having the right preparation. I really like how I see the boys today, and how we are going to the game, really believing that we can win it and make it happen.
“Winning is the best formula for everything – for energy, belief, for confidence, for the noise inside and outside, to create momentum, to generate positive surroundings. It helps for everything, even if you don’t deserve it.”
While victory would be the best way for Arsenal to help shift the momentum after a disappointing run of results, a key shift for Arsenal last term was their mid-season trip to Dubai. The new Champions League format, which has two matches in the January weeks that Arsenal used for that trip last year, will make a similar break difficult this time around.
Even so, Arteta is not closing the door on something similar on a smaller scale this season.
“We don’t know where that clicked,” he said of Dubai.
“I don’t know, I think it (Dubai) helped. The sun, being in contact with nature, getting away for a week. It was so intense until Christmas and we needed it. We don’t have that.
“We will do something different in a way. But every day, I think it is trying to put every day something that helps the mood, the energy, the belief. That is what we try every single day without exception.”
(Photo: Jacques Feeney / Offside.)
