All attention will be at the Emirates this Sunday when Chelsea travel to face Arsenal in what will be the 13th occasion that managers Arsene...
All attention will be at the Emirates this Sunday when Chelsea travel to face Arsenal in what will be the 13th occasion that managers Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have met.
The previous 12 have seen either a Mourinho win or a draw with Wenger still yet to experience victory over the Portuguese manager.
Arsenal are on a run of eight successive wins in the Premier League, including victories over Manchester United and Liverpool, however Chelsea remain the true test of the current Gunners side. Something has to give.
The Genesis
The Wenger/Mourinho saga began 10 years ago in December 2004. Arsenal were the ‘Invincible’ Premier League champions and Mourinho – the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ in his first season of English football. Arsenal took the lead twice at the Emirates, with Chelsea equalising twice to scrape back a 2-2 draw.
The third meeting between the pair came at the Millennium Stadium in the Community Shield in August 2005. The Premier League winners faced the FA Cup winners as the dawn of the Didier Drogba Arsenal love affair began with the Ivorian hitting a brace in a 2-1 win for Mourinho’s men.
The following game two weeks later at Stamford Bridge celebrated Arsene Wenger’s 500th game in charge of Arsenal, but again Drogba ruined the party with a freak goal in a narrowly fought 1-0 win for Mourinho.
The Drogba Show
In December 2006, the pair met at Stamford Bridge in a tense 1-1 draw. Mainly remembered for Didier Drogba’s and Jens Lehmann’s penalty box antics and, later in the game, Michael Essien’s excellent swerving strike to rescue a point for Mourinho and extend the hold he had over Wenger to six games.
Two months later, the pair met at the Millennium Stadium for a second time in the League Cup final. Again, Didier Drogba came up trumps with another brace to lead the Blues to a second League Cup in three years.
When the pair met in March last year at Stamford Bridge it was Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge of Arsenal but one he’d rather forget. Chelsea won the game 6-0..
Finally, the most recent and 12th meeting between Wenger and Mourinho at Stamford Bridge last October. Chelsea won 2-0 in another game where the pair continued their fondness of each other in a touchline tussle.
It’s clear that there’s no love lost between the two managers. The 13th match-up between Wenger and Mourinho should entertain us, even if the football doesn’t.
Predictions Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal
