Mauricio Pochettino has now given his verdict on facing Arsenal on Tuesday after Chelsea’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
The Blues fell yet again at Wembley Stadium as the west London side lost late on against Pep Guardiola and City to crash out of the FA Cup, with Chelsea likely to miss out on Europe yet again with a midtable Premier League finish on the cards.
Things won’t be getting easier for Chelsea who travel to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to face Arsenal, who are off the back of a big 2-0 win against Wolves inspired by Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard to take the Gunners to the top of the table.
And Pochettino has now given his verdict on Chelsea facing Arsenal next week.
Chelsea manager admits ‘tough’ test against Arsenal is on the horizon
Speaking to BBC Sport after Chelsea’s latest defeat to City, Pochettino admitted that facing Arsenal at this stage of the season will be ‘tough’ for the Blues, with Mikel Arteta and company looking for another win.
Just five games remain for Arsenal this season with the Premier League title still a possibility, and a win on Tuesday will be massive for the north London side in their quest to beat the likes of Liverpool and City to the English championship.
Pochettino said when asked about his thoughts on facing Arsenal: “The focus is on the game next Tuesday, there is not too many games to recover and it is going to be another tough game.
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“Of course we need to win in a positive way to try to win more league games and get close to the position of being in Europe.”
Arsenal can’t lose focus at all in remaining Premier League games
We are now firmly in the business end of the Premier League season, and the stakes could not be higher for Arsenal, who face three of the traditional big-six in their last five matches this season.
With Chelsea arguably the easiest of these three encounters, the north London side have to ensure they don’t lose focus at this stage of the campaign, with Arsenal’s win against Wolves ending a run of three games without a win in all competitions.
The Gunners have to guarantee they get the job done on Tuesday, with Sunday’s clash with Tottenham easily the game that Arteta and fans will already be keeping an eye on heading into the new week.