Mikel Arteta has praised Arsenal for showing resilience during a difficult period and described his players as a "joy to work with" ahead of a crucial week in the Premier League title race.
All three title contenders – Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City – are in action twice this week, with the Gunners taking on Chelsea and Tottenham in two huge London derbies.
They returned to the top of the table with Saturday's 2-0 win over injury-hit Wolves, but with City possessing a game in hand, the destination of the trophy remains out of their hands.
Following a difficult few days in which Arsenal surrendered control of the title race and exited the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Arteta was delighted with their response at Molineux.
"If you look at the amount of games we have played in the last few weeks, the type of games we have played, their effort is unquestionable and the results are something else," Arteta said.
"It's a joy to work with them, and it makes us realise we want to be involved in the big competitions, fighting for the Champions League, fighting for the Premier League with the level that it requires."
Chelsea's ambitions, meanwhile, are limited to securing qualification for either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League, with their hopes of silverware being dashed on Saturday.
They were guilty of spurning several golden opportunities in their 1-0 defeat to City at Wembley Stadium, with their wait for a first trophy under the Todd Boehly regime being extended.
Mauricio Pochettino, though, is choosing to take the positives from that game as the Blues bid to draw level with Newcastle United and Manchester United in the table on Tuesday.
"Now we need to take the positive things from the game," Pochettino said. "This group of players needs these types of moments and games.
"Now is the time to finish the season in the best way and then see how we can do better next season."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arsenal – Leandro Trossard
Trossard scored in October's reverse fixture as Arsenal fought back from 2-0 down to clinch a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, and he has provided an invaluable source of goals from the left wing in recent games, with Gabriel Jesus struggling.
The former Brighton and Hove Albion man is enjoying his most prolific Premier League campaign, with nine goals, and only Bukayo Saka (14) has netted more for the Gunners this term.
Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson
Jackson missed several clear-cut chances as Chelsea failed to make the breakthrough against City at Wembley on Saturday, and he is perhaps running out of chances to show he can be the Blues' long-term solution in that number nine role.
Jackson's 10 Premier League goals this season have come from a total of 13.98 expected goals (xG), giving him an underperformance of -3.98. Only Dominic Calvert Lewin (-5.98) and Darwin Nunez (-4.1) have underperformed their underlying numbers by a greater margin.
MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal have only lost one of their last eight Premier League games against Chelsea (five wins, two draws), going unbeaten through their last four against them. That is their longest such streak versus the Blues since they went 19 matches against them without defeat between 1995 and 2005.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games (four wins, four draws) and have scored multiple goals in each of their last six. However, that run could come to a halt at the Emirates, with Arsenal possessing a strong record in the biggest games this term.
City and Liverpool have already left north London defeated this season, and Arsenal have not lost back-to-back home Premier League games since April 2022. Chelsea should be competitive, but the Gunners cannot afford to miss this chance to pull clear of their rivals.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Arsenal 51%
Chelsea 22.5%
Draw 26.5%
Tedesco 'still hurt' by France defeat at Euro 2024
Domenico Tedesco says Belgium are still hurting after their Euro 2024 exit to France as they prepare to meet them in the Nations League on Monday.
Belgium suffered a 1-0 defeat to France in the round of 16 at the Euros, conceding an 85th-minute Jan Vertonghen own goal to send them crashing out after a poor tournament.
It was a tight affair when the sides met in July, with both only managing two shots on target, though France's came from 19 overall attempts compared to Belgium's five.
And Tedesco would rather forget about that meeting as he targets a more positive result this time around.
"At the European Championship, it was a close one against France. We could have won too,” Tedesco told reporters.
"France were a bit better, they deserved to win, but we also had our chances. It would be a lie if I said that match is forgotten. It still hurts. I often think about the European Championship, but you also must look ahead.
"Looking back is not always the best solution. We have to be ambitious; it's been a long time since we beat France in a competitive match with commitment. Let us perform well, and then the rest will follow."
Tedesco also admitted that Belgium over-prepared for that meeting with France, with their adjustments to the game plan proving detrimental.
"The last match at the European Championship was different from the one now, it was a knockout match," he added.
"We learned that we adjusted our own plans a bit too much then. You always have to analyse your opponent, but we adjusted excessively."
Clarke believes Scotland 'deserved something' following defeat to Portugal
Scotland boss Steve Clarke has declared that his side "deserved something" from their Nations League clash with Portugal after losing 2-1 thanks to a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal.
Scott McTominay gave Scotland an early lead after seven minutes, but Portugal fought back through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo to take all three points in Group A1.
Ronaldo's goal came in the 88th minute and was his 901st career goal.
It leaves Scotland on their longest-ever winless run as they remain without a win in their last eight competitive games in all competitions, but Clarke feels they should not have left Lisbon empty-handed.
"I'm disappointed to lose a game where it looked, for a large period, we would get something from it," he told the BBC.
"I'm really disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something from the game.
"If you ignore the results, [there are a lot of positives], but we're professional, so it's disappointing.
"We played well in these two games, but we don't have anything to show for it. I've told the players not to be too hard on themselves. They have to understand the work that we're doing."
Scotland did well to prevent Portugal from getting any further sight at goal, defending a total of 26 shots during the match with seven ending up on target.
The 16 shots the Scots had to defend in the opening 45 minutes were the most they have faced in a first-half since October 2012 when Belgium also let loose 16 efforts.
"With the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one of them can go in the back of the net and that's what happened to us," added Clarke.
"When you bring quality players from the bench like Roberto [Martinez] can do, you always know there's a risk, but I felt we handled it well.
"We'll go away and analyse these games, and hopefully, we can give the lads a few pointers for the games next month, which don't get any easier."
Gamechanger Ronaldo was brought on at half-time by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, a move that was well thought through and had the desired effect.
"Ronaldo did 17 sprints against Croatia. He is the player who made the most sprints. So we need to protect the players. One more game in 72 hours is impossible to have a physical performance [equal]," Martinez explained.
"The question was whether Ronaldo played the first half and left or came in and finished the game. That was the decision.
"He is an asset to the national team. When he comes in, if the [team] needs goals, Cris gives energy and a feeling to the fans. The stadium is different.
"If Cris leaves, it's the opposite and facilitates what the opponent would like to do when playing away from home in Portugal."
De la Fuente insists Spain are doing 'something important' for the country
Luis de la Fuente believes Spain are doing "something important" for the country after they beat Switzerland 4-1 in the Nations League.
La Roja made an underwhelming start to Group A4 in a 0-0 draw with Serbia but looked back to their best on Sunday.
Fabian Ruiz's brace was sandwiched between goals from Joselu and Ferran Torres, with Spain able to clinch their first win of this season's tournament, despite Robin Le Normand's 20th-minute sending-off.
De la Fuente was particularly impressed with how his players dug in after going down to 10 men, hailing them for a resilient performance.
"I feel like we are doing something important for a country, that people identify with this group of players," De la Fuente said after the game.
"We grow from humility and sacrifice as a team. I am proud of this group of players, which never ceases to surprise me.
"If there's one thing I like to boast about, it's the pride I've always felt for this team. When these circumstances happen, one feels more proud, but to highlight a group of players that is a team, not a national team.
"This team has plenty of self-esteem and humility because what they are doing is historic.
"With 10 men, we have been able to interpret the game in a masterful way. I am very proud of this team and every day we see that we continue to grow and that we can improve."
Spain finished the game with just 33.7% possession, understandably low after having just 10 players on the pitch for 70 minutes.
They had nine shots overall, compared to Switzerland's 20, but got eight of theirs on target while the hosts only mustered three.
De la Fuente was particularly impressed by Joselu's performance, with the former Real Madrid man setting the tone from the front.
"I'm very happy for everyone, especially for Joselu because he deserves it," De la Fuente added.
"He had the best game since he's been with us, he did everything we asked of him, both when we had 11 and when we were down to 10.
"We were playing a very complete game. Pedri was playing a great game, but we understood that in order to have the chances we had, we had to make that change.
"We felt very powerful. With 10 players, we played the perfect game, we defended very well, we had a great goalkeeper..."
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