Kieran Tierney says Arsenal will be “100 per cent” ready for Chelsea on Sunday despite the short recovery time following their Europa League game against FC Zurich on Thursday night.
Arsenal play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this weekend, and with Manchester City at home to Fulham, they know that nothing short of victory will likely be needed to remain at the top of the Premier League as we head towards the final two game before the World Cup.
Speaking after he scored the only goal of the game against Zurich to help Arsenal seal top spot, Tierney said, “It’s [his goal] been coming – I’ve not scored in a while!”
“I’ve been getting closer in the last few games and I’d just like to tell the boys it’s about time I scored.
“Job done is how you’d describe it,” he added.
“We’d have liked it to be more comfortable but it was never going to be easy. They came here with a lot to play for as well. But we dug deep and we defended well at the end. They put a lot of pressure on us.”
He was then asked about if his attention has already turned to Chelsea this weekend, now that European football is on hold until the new year.
“Yeah, straight away,” he said.
“As soon as we finished this game, it’s Chelsea straight away. We know it’s going to be a tough game. We’ve not got a lot of recovery but the boys will be ready for it, 100 per cent.”
Arsenal go in to the game 10 points ahead of Chelsea after just 12 games, a stat nobody would have believed at the start of the season.
Although Chelsea sit in 6th place in the Premier League, they are currently 4th in the away table, by dint of having played two more games (P7 W3 D1 L3), but they are 11th at home, despite being unbeaten (P5 W3 D2 L0).
Arsenal sit second in the home table but, crucially, top of the away table with four wins and a draw from their six games.
Still, a trip to Stamford Bridge is never easy for Arsenal, although admittedly they are performing better there than they have in a long time.
Arsenal have won two, lost two and drawn one of their last five visits to Chelsea, with their last trip a 4-2 win thanks to goals from Eddie Nketiah (2), Emile Smith Rowe, and Bukayo Saka.