Arsenal chief Arsene
Wenger does not expect Chelsea to wave the white flag in the
Premiership title race, but feels they will find it hard to
overhaul Manchester United.
Chelsea have been chasing United for much of the season, but
suffered a potentially crippling blow last weekend when being held
at home by Bolton, while The Red Devils came from behind to beat
Everton.
The gap is now five points and could be extended to eight on
Saturday as Manchester United face a trip to Eastlands to take on
Manchester City.
Chelsea face Arsenal on Sunday and they must also pick themselves
up from their UEFA Champions League exit, as must United.
Wenger feels it will be virtually impossible for Chelsea to pip
United if The Red Devils see off City on Saturday, but expects The
Blues to show their fighting spirit.
"As long as there is hope you fight for it," Wenger said on the
website. "Chelsea is in a difficult situation.
"Their situation will depend on the result of Man Utd at Man City.
If Man Utd do not lose at Man City, there is little chance of
Chelsea winning the title.
"If Man Utd lose at Man City, there is all still to do for
them."
Wenger feels United and Chelsea are too different to compare, but
feels both deserve praise.
"I think they play two different types of football," added the
Frenchman. "Chelsea are efficient and strong, impact players who
suck you in slowly.
"Man Utd are players who are more based on movement and quickness,
so it is a different type of game.
"I feel both teams have done extremely well. Man Utd many times was
playing in front of Chelsea and Chelsea came up with the right
answer to show the right mentality."
Looking at the events of the last week, Wenger added: "What has
happened to Chelsea can happen to any team.
"They have had two big blows, they drew with Bolton and lost to
Liverpool and it can happen to strong teams."
Wenger feels slipping out of Europe will be tough to
overcome.
"It is terrible," he added. "We have experienced that and you
cannot recover from it.
"You recover because you want to win the next game, but it takes
the feeling of euphoria away from the group and it takes some time
to recover.
"It is a terrible blow to go out of the Champions League.
"Only two teams can reach the final, but you can look across Europe
and see how it has hit Lyon, Barcelona, Bayern Munich,
everybody.
"Everybody suffers terribly and it takes time to recover from
that."
Go Arsenal go