Lampard looks to kill off Arsenal

14 April 2012

Chelsea's England midfielder Frank Lampard is convinced victory against Arsenal tonight will effectively end Arsenal's hopes of retaining the Barclays Premiership title.

The Blues require two more wins to secure their first title success for 50 years but Arsene Wenger's reigning champions still harbour ambitions of catching them, even though there is currently an 11-point gap between the sides.

Lampard, nominated for the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award along with team-mates Petr Cech and John Terry, is determined to bury the Gunners' interest in the title race once and for all at Stamford Bridge.

The England ace said: "If they beat us they will feel the door is open but we are up for it and if we win, I believe the race will be all over. We would then need only two points to make sure of the title.

"It will be extra special to beat them because I have not been on a winning Chelsea side against them in a league match."

Victory over the Gunners would leave Chelsea set to clinch the title at home to west London neighbours Fulham on Saturday - exactly 50 years to the day they last lifted the championship.

Lampard's desire to put one over on Arsenal is shared by goalkeeper Cech. He could have joined Arsenal a few years ago but now believes he made the right decision to wait a few more years before moving to London.

Wenger was impressed with Cech's performances at Sparta Prague four years ago but could not get around the work permit regulations in force at the time.

Cech said: "It was a big blow at the time but, thinking about my career, if I had joined Arsenal three or four years ago, I would not be where I am today.
"At the time I was too young. I didn't play for the national team and the Czech Republic were not in the European Union.

"I was only 18 or 19 and to have got a work permit, I would have had to have played in about 75% of the national team's games."

Chelsea's assistant coach Steve Clarke hit back at Arsenal midfielder Jose Antonio Reyes after the unsettled Spaniard labelled them "boring".

Arsenal's players have already upped the ante ahead of the London showdown with both Lauren and Reyes vowing to make the Blues wait a little longer for their first title in half a century.

The current champions still believe they are the best team in the capital despite Chelsea's complete domination of the Premiership campaign.

And while Mourinho chose, perhaps wisely for once, to stay out of the limelight, Clarke was determined to ensure the jibes did not stick and mocked the Gunners for failing to get as far as the Blues in the Champions League.

"I think we have been the best team to watch," he declared.

"I don't think you can label us as boring - that's not fair to us. We have got through to the last four of the Champions League which Arsenal failed to do. In our eyes, that makes us better than them.

"If we were in the middle of the table, they would not speak about us. They only do so because we are at the top, so it is a compliment.

"But football is all about opinions and Arsenal's players are entitled to theirs. Winning will be satisfying because it will be another three points on the way to winning the league.

"At the start of the season, the sole purpose was to win the Premiership. That was our intention. As a player and a coach, you always say the league table does not lie because the best team is the one at the top.

"In a situation when we are 11 points clear of Arsenal, that, in our eyes, makes us the best team. The idea at the start of any football season is to be champions. If you lose to Arsenal and Manchester United twice along the way and you are still champions, you are the best team because you are top of the league. When you are at the top you are there to be shot at."

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