By Myles Palmer

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Would you play Senderos against Drogba again?

Yes! Because you can't drop him every time you play Chelsea.

It's Arsenal against Drogba.

The team has to stop Drogba, just as the team has to stop Robben and Lampard.

Duff has been lifted by the return of Robben, re-motivated.

But Robben is double-marked and lacks the zip to beat two men, as he did during his purple patch last season.

Also, Robben didn't feel part of the title win because he was not on the pitch in his kit when it was won.

So now he tries too hard to score.He shoots from positions where he should pass.

Robben is desperate to get a goal because Mourinho says things about him that Arsene would never say about any player.

Such as, "He's given us almost nothing this season."

When a creative forward is struggling to find his confidence and form, you don't say that. It's far too judgmental and harsh.

Robben should come to Arsenal.

He would be liberated in an attacking team and find true happiness.

AS you know, most of Chelsea's games are all about the first goal.

If they score the first goal, you are in trouble.And they often play safely in the first half, making sure it is 0-0 at half-time.

IT IS WORTH remembering that Vieira, Edu and Lehmann did not play in the 2-2 draw at Highbury last season.

Lehmann could be Arsenal's big player on Sunday.

Both Chelsea's goals were from set-pieces.

That game was at this time of year (December 12) but it was the first time Jose Mourinho's Chelsea had played at Highbury.

Here's what I wrote about the 2-2 in The Professor :

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In December, Arsenal started the month by losing 1-0 at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup. The Norwegian league had finished, so Rosenborg came for the weekend, went shopping, watched Birmingham being beaten 3-0, and failed to turn up at Highbury, where Arsenal won 5-1 in a strange atmosphere. Almunia was at fault for Rosenborg's goal.

On 12 December, Chelsea came to Highbury and it was a marvellous advertisement for the Premiership, broadcast to 193 countries worldwide. Arsenal started strongly and rocked Chelsea with a sensational early goal. Fabregas hit a 25-yard pass forward to Henry, who headed the ball to Reyes and took the return header and smacked it into the top corner before keeper Petr Cech could move. Almunia parried over a fierce shot by Lampard and from the corner Terry scored with a header after losing Campbell with a dummy run. Then referee Graham Poll allowed Henry to make it 2-1 with a quick free-kick, a controversial goal.

For the second half, Mourinho switched to 4-4-2 and within 35 seconds of the re-start Lampard floated in a free-kick, Gallas headed down and Gudjohnsen stooped to head the bouncing ball into the corner for 2-2. There were no more goals but Henry missed a great chance after a Fabregas-Henry-Fabregas-Pires move.

While the three points at Spurs had looked like a failure, this draw with Chelsea felt like a moral victory for Wenger, who stuck with his kids and Almunia, who had played well. Yes, his team was still unable to defend set-pieces, but he said his players were too small at the moment. Size matters, clearly, but so does organisation.

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For more on The Professor, click Home below.

December 16th 2005

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