Chelsea cross fingers

LONDON – Arsenal take on old foes and Premier League leaders Manchester United this weekend with champions Chelsea crossing their fingers for a Gunners victory.

Arsenal pose only a distant threat to Chelsea’s hopes of a third consecutive league title, but they could help Jose Mourinho’s men close a six-point gap on United. Fourth in the table on 42 points, Arsenal are one point behind Liverpool, nine behind Chelsea and 15 adrift of a United side they beat 1-0 at Old Trafford last September.Buoyed by League and FA Cup success over Liverpool, plus a 10-man league win at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, Arsenal are in good shape for one of their biggest games of the season.Thierry Henry is on form, strike partner Emmanuel Adebayor, scorer of that winner in Manchester, is delivering on his potential and there are plenty of goals in the midfielders.However, Arsenal are handicapped by the injury absence of defender William Gallas, while a suspension for rock-solid Gilberto, following the Brazilian midfielder’s red card at Blackburn, will be a real blow on Sunday.A few years ago, this was a highly combustible fixture which pitted sides led by Roy Keane and the equally combative Patrick Vieira, causing ructions on and off the pitch.The infamous ‘Battle of the Buffet’, in which bits of pizza were allegedly thrown at United manager Alex Ferguson, followed the end of Arsenal’s record-breaking unbeaten league run of 49 games in October 2004.A year earlier, another fracas at Old Trafford had led to four Arsenal players being banned and their club fined for the ugly scenes at the end of a 0-0 draw.Keane and Vieira, along with the more vitriolic rivalry, are now long gone.However, the Emirates will still host a tightly-contested game between the Premier League’s top scoring sides, with United looking to repeat a swashbuckling 4-2 win at Highbury last year.United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has been superb this season, along with evergreen playmaker Paul Scholes and French striker Louis Saha.Wayne Rooney has a good record against Arsenal since scoring the winner for Everton as a 16-year-old unknown in 2002.United, who lost the 2005 FA Cup final to Arsenal on penalties, still face a probing test of their away form, though, after taking just four points from their last three league games on the road.Chelsea will hope to be only three points behind United when that match kicks off on Sunday afternoon, following their own demanding away fixture at Liverpool on Saturday.Hit by speculation about the future of coach Jose Mourinho and the injury absence of captain John Terry, among others, Chelsea need to show the stuff of champions at Anfield.Despite their League and FA Cup defeats by Arsenal, Liverpool have won nine and drawn two of their home league games this season and the champions can expect a rough ride in the day’s early kick-off.Outside the title race, Bolton Wanderers are at Middlesbrough while Portsmouth host relegation strugglers Charlton Athletic in later Saturday games.Nampa-ReutersFourth in the table on 42 points, Arsenal are one point behind Liverpool, nine behind Chelsea and 15 adrift of a United side they beat 1-0 at Old Trafford last September.Buoyed by League and FA Cup success over Liverpool, plus a 10-man league win at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, Arsenal are in good shape for one of their biggest games of the season.Thierry Henry is on form, strike partner Emmanuel Adebayor, scorer of that winner in Manchester, is delivering on his potential and there are plenty of goals in the midfielders.However, Arsenal are handicapped by the injury absence of defender William Gallas, while a suspension for rock-solid Gilberto, following the Brazilian midfielder’s red card at Blackburn, will be a real blow on Sunday.A few years ago, this was a highly combustible fixture which pitted sides led by Roy Keane and the equally combative Patrick Vieira, causing ructions on and off the pitch.The infamous ‘Battle of the Buffet’, in which bits of pizza were allegedly thrown at United manager Alex Ferguson, followed the end of Arsenal’s record-breaking unbeaten league run of 49 games in October 2004.A year earlier, another fracas at Old Trafford had led to four Arsenal players being banned and their club fined for the ugly scenes at the end of a 0-0 draw.Keane and Vieira, along with the more vitriolic rivalry, are now long gone.However, the Emirates will still host a tightly-contested game between the Premier League’s top scoring sides, with United looking to repeat a swashbuckling 4-2 win at Highbury last year.United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has been superb this season, along with evergreen playmaker Paul Scholes and French striker Louis Saha.Wayne Rooney has a good record against Arsenal since scoring the winner for Everton as a 16-year-old unknown in 2002.United, who lost the 2005 FA Cup final to Arsenal on penalties, still face a probing test of their away form, though, after taking just four points from their last three league games on the road.Chelsea will hope to be only three points behind United when that match kicks off on Sunday afternoon, following their own demanding away fixture at Liverpool on Saturday.Hit by speculation about the future of coach Jose Mourinho and the injury absence of captain John Terry, among others, Chelsea need to show the stuff of champions at Anfield.Despite their League and FA Cup defeats by Arsenal, Liverpool have won nine and drawn two of their home league games this season and the champions can expect a rough ride in the day’s early kick-off.Outside the title race, Bolton Wanderers are at Middlesbrough while Portsmouth host relegation strugglers Charlton Athletic in later Saturday games.Nampa-Reuters