Wenger wants Gunners to kill off Chelsea

Arsene Wenger wants Arsenal to deliver a hammer blow to Chelsea’s title challenge when the champions visit the Emirates Stadium in a crucial London derby on Monday.

Wenger’s side have endured a miserable run against Chelsea recently, but they have a golden opportunity to end that barren streak of five successive defeats in their final home match of 2010.

While Chelsea have slipped to fourth in the Premier League after failing to win any of their last five matches, the Gunners have moved one point above their rivals into second place thanks to some impressive performances.

Arsenal’s only slip came two weeks ago when they lost to leaders Manchester United, but, despite being widely written off as title contenders in pre-season, they have managed to outshine Carlo Ancelotti’s team over the last two months and Wenger knows they can significantly damage Chelsea’s chances with victory in the first of their Christmas fixtures.

“Of course this is a must-win game,” Wenger said. “We have mixed feelings because we came out of both games against Chelsea and Manchester United this season thinking we could have won and that there wasn’t a difference between the teams.

“We have a good opportunity to show that in the coming months and that our improvement is bigger than any other team because we are a very young side. “We are confident over taking Chelsea on at home. Chelsea have gone through a period where results are a bit less good but that can happen to anyone in this league.

LONDON, Dec 26, 2010, AFP