… As EPL leaders tackle Arsenal at Stamford Bridge
Call it the match of the season and you may be absolutely correct, as English Premier League pacesetters, Chelsea, play host to the throttle Gunners at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Although, Chelsea has been keeping Nigeria forward, Victor Moses, for such important match, while Arsenal has no option to spearhead its attack than Super Eagles’ Alex Iwobi.
It is a match for Nigerian EPL fans, who are already counting days for the all-important match to hold, as virtually all the viewing centres in the country will smile to the bank after the Chelsea/Arsenal match. But for Antonio Conte of Chelsea, this is a match for the up-coming players in the team, as he is not ready to play some established names in his line-up.
According to him, Chelsea has long harboured hopes of developing young talent to consistently perform in the first team and he has often been criticised for failing to do so.
And Conte was pleased with his players’ performances as Chelsea reached the fifth round of the English FA Cup. But the Italian stressed that the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Nathan Ake and Kenedy, who is now committed to Chelsea for the rest of the season, having already played on loan at Watford, must prove they deserve to play against Arsene Wenger boys.
“I think that our young players are growing and for the club, for me, it’s very important,” Conte added.
He added, “In this season, we haven’t Champions League or Europa League matches. We have only the league now and the FA Cup. “FA Cup is a good opportunity to see these young players, the improvement in these young players.
Young players for me, for the club are very important. If they deserve to play, I’m ready to put them in the team, in the squad. I’m not scared of the young players. The only thing I must ask is they must be ready to play.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal will go into the battle without Arsene Wenger, who is serving a four-match ban for abusing a referee.
