Arsenal vs. Chelsea – EPL, December 26, 2020

The situation at the Emirates is getting serious for Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side now – and the visit of Chelsea on Boxing Day could only make it worse.

The Gunners are just four points off the relegation zone and not looking like getting out of its current sticky patch any time soon. 

BetOnline has joined thousands of Arsenal fans in not being confident of seeing their team win a game again anytime soon. Chelsea is odds on to win in north London on Boxing Day – and it is only the nature of a London derby that would make me think that anything but an away win is going to be the outcome.

To give Arsenal some credit, it did pick up its game in the second half against Everton on Saturday. But there was a hunger and determination in the majority of Carlo Ancelotti’s players that just wasn’t evident in Mikel Arteta’s. Nicolas Pepe may have scored the penalty that brought his club back in the game in the first half, but he needs to be doing much more to convince the fans he was worth all that money.

Pepe is not alone in needing to vastly improve in the new year, though. That defeat to Everton was the seventh game in a row that Arsenal was unable to record a Premier League win. If the Gunners lose their EFL Cup quarter-final against Manchester City this week, there will be more calls for the manager to lose his job.

It seems unlikely that Arteta would be sacked after losing an EFL Cup game, but his Chelsea counterpart is having no such worries on the other side of the capital. Frank Lampard has come through some early season criticism over his defense to see his team occupy the fifth position at Christmas and remain in touch with all of the clubs above it in the table.

Chelsea didn’t even play particularly well against West Ham on Monday but still ended up with a convincing 3-0 win, Tammy Abraham stepping up with a brace in the victory. The club actually has one of the best defensive records in the Premier League now – and I will expect that to still be the case after this fixture.

Arsenal definitely needs to start winning games sometime soon, but it is difficult to see when exactly that is going to happen. The lack of enthusiasm and belief shown by the players is rightly angering the fans and showing in recent results. Things don’t look good for Mikel Arteta at the moment.