Chelsea’s Victor Moses has warned the Gunners that ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup Final that they have not forgotten the 3-0 defeat from September.
That defeat played a pivotal part in establishing Chelsea’s title credentials during the weeks and months that followed as Antonio Conte made the decision to change his formation and tactics, making the Blues harder to beat.
It was the first time in almost two decades that Chelsea were beaten 3-0 by their London rivals, who made them look ordinary for large periods within the game.
Although they eventually got their revenge during the clash in early February at Stamford Bridge, Moses has reflected on a tough but equally important time during the club’s Premier League campaign.
“We still think about it, we lost two games in a row then – against Liverpool and Arsenal. We felt very sad after that game,” Moses admitted.
“They beat us at the Emirates but we switched to 3-4-3, which is the manager’s favourite formation, and it’s worked for us this season. Teams are finding it very hard to break us down. We’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves and make sure we win on Saturday because Arsenal are going to do their best to try and beat us.
“We’ve got the league title and they’re going to want to win because they missed out on the top four. We’re going to try and stop them because we want the Double.
“I’m more focused now than ever. I’m enjoying my football again. The more games you play, the more experience you get and I’m enjoying that so far this season, I’m really enjoying my football.
Moses has embraced his role at right wing-back under Conte, despite having had no prior experience in this position before the Italian’s tactical tweaks.
The 26-year-old Nigerian has since gone on to make 39 club appearances across all competitions this season, whilst his consistent displays earned him a new lucrative contract extension in West London too.
“I’m buzzing at the moment, but that’s gone past now. I just want to focus on the game on Saturday. We came back to training on Tuesday and we want to get ourselves ready. It’s going to be a very hard game for us on Saturday. Arsenal are a good team with good players that can win them games,” Moses continued.
“But we’re just concentrating on ourselves at the moment, working hard in training and hopefully we’ll go and do the job.“
The champions will become only the third team to win the Premier League and FA Cup in the same year on two separate occasions, provided they prevail over an unpredictable Arsenal side this weekend.
The desire for more silverware has fuelled their preparation to succeed against a familiar opponent that will be hoping to end their season on a high after another disappointing league campaign in 2016/17.