Arsenal takes on Chelsea on Sunday in Premier League

“We needed to bounce back after the Southampton defeat and now we are on a really good run”.

The next five weeks for Arsenal could be decisive, as the hosting of Chelsea is followed by the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, crucial Premier League fixtures against the likes of Leicester City and Manchester United, as well as the first-leg of a Champions League clash with Barcelona.

Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester City are now nip and tuck at the top of the table, and it would not be too unlikely that all three fail to bag a win this weekend.

A win for any of the top three this weekend is likely to be huge in their bid to win the title, and I would go as far as to say that two of them winning would shock me. When it comes to these two teams – and two of the worst defensive records in the Premier League – you simply have to expect goals when these two strugglers meet at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon.

That loss meant Arsenal have failed to win any of their last eight league meetings with Chelsea dating back to their previous success in October 2011 and, even more remarkably, they have been unable to muster a single goal in the last five of those matches. This season there have been exceptional circumstances for them and they will be back.

The Premier League have said they are in discussions with Arsenal and Leicester City to see how they can help the fans that have been inconvenienced. Successive victories on their own pitch against Newcastle and Stoke just after Christmas show what they are capable of and it looks more likely to be business as usual with another defeat for Villa in this derby.

Arsenal have been beaten by Chelsea, West Ham United, West Bromwich Albion and the Saints.

You would think the Gunners will be confident of securing a win however, with home advantage and the fact that the Blues have lost five of their 10 away matches this season.

“The game against West Ham will be very important for us because we are in the title race, fighting game by game, and we need to reach a consistency with a series of wins”, City defender Nicolas Otamendi said.