EXCITED

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has said that he is very much looking forward to the Premier league encounter against Arsenal since it gives the club a great opportunity to go top of the table. Chelsea will be able to leapfrog Arsenal with a win over the gunners. Torres, who has scored against Arsenal in the past, says that Chelsea go to the match at the Emirates stadium with a view to get all three points. This is also the opinion of midfielder Juan Mata, who continues to be on the fringes of the Chelsea first team this season.

Torres has failed to score on a regular basis this campaign, but he has worked extremely hard for the club. He is expected to start ahead of the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba. This is not the first time Chelsea will be making the trip to the Emirates stadium. They managed a convincing 2-0 win over the gunners win the two clubs met earlier in the season. It was in the League Cup – a competition in which Wenger usually fields inexperienced players. Arsenal are at their full strength after the return of players like Podolski and Walcott from injury.

A win will be morale boosting former Chelsea team, who will face Liverpool at home just before New Year’s Day.

“We know how important it is for us. It’s a chance to overtake them in the table and we know how important that is for the fans. We’re playing Arsenal, and it’s a huge game for both sets of fans. We’ve beaten them once this season in the Capital One Cup at the Emirates, so we know what we need to do to win there. We just have to ensure we prepare for the game the best we can, and I’m sure we can go and do it,” said Torres.