Chelsea worry for Arsenal’s Arteta

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s shock defeat at Dinamo Zagreb could have damaged their chances of victory at Chelsea tomorrow.

|||

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s shock defeat at Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday could have damaged their chances of victory at Chelsea tomorrow.

Arsenal beat Chelsea in the Community Shield but Arsene Wenger has yet to beat Jose Mourinho in a competitive fixture and hoped to take advantage of a poor start by the Barclays Premier League champions.

‘It doesn’t help before a big game,’ said Arteta. ‘We haven’t managed to win three games in a row, which is very important. We had two in the pocket and wanted a good result in Zagreb.

‘We have to react quickly. We’re quite good at that. We’ve done it in the past. Saturday will be a very different game.’

The Gunners did not get back home until 4am yesterday and Arteta added: ‘We have to recover the best we can and start to prepare for the game because we only have 48 hours.’

Meanwhile, Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Paulo Machado said Arsenal had underestimated them. He said: ‘Sometimes it is so in football, a great team does not respect enough a small one. Well, now they will maybe respect us a little more next time.’

David Ospina, who was one of several changes by Wenger in Zagreb, loses his place to Petr Cech tomorrow as the Arsenal manager switches between his goalkeepers. – Daily Mail