Wenger sees ‘new era’ with Arsenal ahead of Chelsea

Daniel Storey

Arsene Wenger believes that his Arsenal side are welcoming in a ‘new era’ where they can be dominant over Chelsea.

Chelsea have had the upper hand in the fixture, not losing to Arsenal in the league since 2011.

Yet Wenger believes that his team can change the “inconvenient facts” of recent history by asserting their dominance over Chelsea.

“It is an important game for us because we feel we are on the way up and Chelsea is a good test and a good opportunity for us to continue our progress,”Wenger said.

“Chelsea in the last 10 years had very, very strong teams. You realise that today as well. Before that period, we were always beating them, after they were always the stronger team for a few years.

“Now, it looks like it’s a new era where it’s a bit more balanced again and we feel we are progressing at the moment so we have a good opportunity to grab and to change what I call ‘the inconvenient facts’ of the recent years.”

Wenger also discussed Antonio Conte’s likely tactics:

“Chelsea have always come to the Emirates with a strong defensive solidity and to [try to] catch us on the break, because they know we like to take the initiative.

“[Antonio] Conte has very strong players in transition, like Hazard, like Willian, like Diego Costa. For us to stop them, these three players, from being dangerous will be one of the keys of the game.”