Desailly: Arsenal may throw it all away

The Gunners have already bowed out of the Champions League, and with things tight at the top of the table - Blues star Desailly believes that their FA Cup tie takes on new meaning.

"Arsenal thought they were going to win everything and look what happened," said Desailly.

"Now they are maybe going to lose everything.

"They are only two points ahead, the Champions League is finished and we will see about the FA Cup."

Meanwhile, Desailly's Chelsea team-mate Mario Melchiot believes that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is every bit as good as Arsenal's Thierry Henry.

"It's very difficult to split Jimmy and Thierry because they are both excellent strikers," said Melchiot.

"Technically Thierry is better, but in terms of strength, holding the ball and things like that, Jimmy is better.

"In fact, I wouldn't swap Jimmy for Thierry - or anyone else in The Premiership - even though I voted for Thierry as one of the best strikers around at the moment.

"When Jimmy first arrived at the club we were talking about trophies we had won and he was very quiet.

"I asked him why he was so quiet and he said he had never won anything. I couldn't believe it.

"He had banged in that many goals and had never won something major.

"It's difficult to compare Hasselbaink with Henry because Jimmy is going through a run where he does not score as many as Henry, so it's easy for people to say Henry is the better striker.

"But it's easier to compare them when they are both on fire. In that situation you wouldn't want to put your money on who would score the most goals."