Chelsea must contain Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, says Jamie Redknapp
Sunday 24 January 2016 14:41, UK
Chelsea's recovery under Guus Hiddink faces its sternest task yet away to Arsenal on Super Sunday - and Jamie Redknapp believes the champions' chances at the Emirates hinge on their ability to deny Mesut Ozil the freedom of the park…
Expectations at Arsenal are so high at the moment - a lot of the Arsenal fans I speak to, my friends, think this is their year to win the Premier League.
What this season has shown us is how quickly things can turn around. Arsenal and Chelsea have undergone a complete transformation, with the Gunners now in the position Chelsea were last year.
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You would have fancied Chelsea to go to the Emirates and at least get a draw last year, which of course they did. Fast forward a year, though, and this current Chelsea side are just lacking so much confidence.
Chelsea are a shadow of what they were, particularly the likes of Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas, who will be desperate to get one over on his former team.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are full of confidence, playing with form and set for a boost with players coming back from injury. You cannot underestimate the importance of the return of Alexis Sanchez, who will feel like a new signing in the January transfer window, and Mesut Ozil, who, in my opinion, had a break last week at Stoke.
Hiddink's mentality in his second spell at Chelsea has been to go out and not get beat, the inclusion of John Obi Mikel alongside Matic proves this. He will no doubt go to the Emirates defence-minded. I understand that.
Managers preparing to face Arsenal will be concerned with stopping Ozil, who has been the key for them this season. Ozil is one of a few players which teams have to give special attention to.
You cannot let players of his quality have the freedom of the park because he will destroy you, that's what he's been doing to teams. If Matic and Mikel start, they have to attach themselves to Ozil because if they don't he will be the one everyone's talking about at full-time.
I have been so impressed with what Ozil has done this season. He is one of the few players which teams have to give special attention to.
I have been so impressed with what Ozil has done this season so Chelsea's ability to win the midfield battle will have a huge bearing on which way the game goes.
Chelsea are doing better under Hiddink but I expected that to be fair, there were a lot of people against the previous manager and playing for Chelsea wasn't the joyous experience it should have been.
Eden Hazard could return for the trip to the Emirates and he needs to really go and replicate what he showed last season, where people were comparing him to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He has to prove he's still got it between now and the end of the season.
People will describe this game as must-win for Arsenal but I feel these are the sort of games you cannot lose - that is the best way to look at these games.
Of course, you want to get three points, but the damage of a defeat would outweigh the positives of a victory. If you get a draw and you play well the fans will always take that.
However, Arsenal's draw last week at Stoke will only be a good result so long as they win on Sunday. If they don't win then maybe it's not such a good result.
Teams' ability to bounce back from disappointing results has been a key theme of this season, something Arsenal have done so well. They're top of the league for a reason, it remains to be seen whether they will be come Sunday evening.
Watch Arsenal v Chelsea live on Super Sunday, 4pm, Sky Sports 1 HD.
