Written by Mark Brus on Monday, December 6, 2010
Well look who's top of the league! It's far from secure by any means, but it's nice isn't it? Especially considering some shocking home results in November.
Sadly it's because of Arsenal's up-and-down nature that a look at our contenders is so important. These players haven't earned our trust yet, but if Chelsea in particular continue along the path of self-destruction, it'll make our lives a lot easier.
I've been reading some Chelsea forums, and the verdict seems to be that Carlo Ancelotti has severely weakened a team that was pretty lucky to do the double last season anyway; Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Michael Ballack, Juliano Belletti and Joe Cole - all reliable, experienced big names that were allowed to leave the club this summer, with Ramires the only notable player brought in. Hardly a recipe for success for a side that lost seven games and finished just a point ahead of Man Utd in the league.
Is it Ancelotti's fault? It's pretty clear that he did not want Ray Wilkins to leave, so perhaps he wasn't so keen on losing some of the above players, and a lack of control over off-the-field affairs has followed the Italian onto the pitch, as well as some bad luck with injuries to John Terry and Frank Lampard.
Five points from their last six league games is terrible form. They have lost more games than they had at this point last season, and instead of being top with 37 points, they lie in third place with 30.
And their next three league games? Spurs away, Man Utd at home, Arsenal away.
The loss of key personnel and the results that have followed show that Chelsea are weaker than last season, when they scraped the league. Meanwhile their rivals are stronger. Football is anything but predictable, but it's not so crazy to think that the current champions' title bid could be finished by the end of the month.
Sadly, I imagine this will benefit Man Utd more than us. Fergie's team are a bit of a mystery this season, but they remain unbeaten, and with the best home record in the league they will fancy their chances against us next weekend, even though we have the best away record in the league.
Last season was the most open title race in this country for years, and this year it looks even more so. Hopefully Arsenal will be good enough to take advantage this time. We'll know a lot more after the next these games:
Arsenal: Man Utd away, Stoke home, Chelsea home
Chelsea: Spurs away, Man Utd home, Arsenal away
Man Utd: Arsenal home, Chelsea away, Sunderland home
