WENGER ON A ROCKY ROAD
Emirates boss rubbishes talk of Arsenal’s dreadful away form but the stats don’t lie (especially their woeful record at the Bridge)
ARSENE WENGER has dismissed claims Arsenal have a mental block away from home ahead of tomorrow’s “acid test” at champions Chelsea. The Gunners have lost both games on their travels this season, including a 4-0 humiliation at Liverpool. The thrashing continued a horror run of only two wins on the road in 22 attempts against top-six rivals since 2013-14. Those results have cost them any hope of winning the title – and seen their bottle repeatedly questioned. Since December 2013, their away record is worse than that of West Ham or Swansea. Wenger admitted the Anfield rout gave the trip to Stamford Bridge added significance. “That should be an even greater motivation for us to turn up with an even better performance,” said the Gunners boss. “It’s very important, of course. Nobody would deny that. If you calculate the positions in the top four then it will be decided by your results against your direct opponents.” The man who led the Invincibles to an unbeaten season defended his current side, who were unbeaten away in the league for more than nine months before defeat at Goodison Park in December. “If you look at my record, you will see I played two years without losing a game away from home in the Premier League,” he said. “Last year, until we lost at Everton, we hadn’t lost away from home for a whole year. “After that, we lost at Manchester City. It’s true it gave us a problem of confidence away from home. But I don’t believe in that. The pitch is 105metres long and 68m wide everywhere, and never in my life could I accept or understand that it’s different away from home. “It’s just a question of how much you want it, it’s about football, it’s a good opportunity to show that and that we have that quality.” Stamford Bridge has not been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal in recent seasons, with defeats in their last five visits. “Basically, in last few years, Chelsea has had great teams so it was always difficult to win there,” added Wenger. “But our record against Chelsea has been good, we won at home last year, we won the FA Cup Final (above), on penalties in the Community Shield, so let’s focus on the quality of our game and not too much on where we play.” Per Mertesacker, the FA Cup Final man of the match, called for a repeat of the performances which earned the Wembley wins. The German said: “They have habits in their game and we need to read that well. That’s what we did, especially at Wembley twice in three months. “Those who watched the games closely could see they have habits, especially playing out from the back. We allow them a little bit, but not too much, and stand on the right side of our position. The key is to stick to what we have done. We have high expectations of ourselves.” Asked if Europa League goalscorer Alexis Sanchez is happy and motivated to have a good season, he added: “Obviously he’s going to be vital. I think he’s happy to join in and just sacrifice. That’s what he always does.”