Fabregas - We have to bounce back at Chelsea

By Nick Teale
 
Cesc Fabregas says Arsenal must maintain their self-belief if they are to make up for Sunday's defeat to Manchester United by beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
 
The Gunners captain knows how tough next weekend's trip to the Premier League leaders will be but insists the side must get a result if they are to stay in the hunt for the title. And Fabregas says that belief could be the key to Arsenal's response.
 
"We have to bounce back straight away," he said. "We know we have two massive games against Chelsea away and Liverpool at home so it is going to be difficult definitely.
 
"No-one said it is going to be easy. We just have to be strong and see what happens next week.
 
"Chelsea is never a good game to have even if you are nine points clear or nine points behind. They are a strong side, they have been playing together for a long time. They know what they do and know how to play. We have to beat them to stay in the title race.
 
"If you don't believe, you don't win things. We want to believe we are still there - I am always realistic and I am not going to lie to myself or to anyone. We know it is very difficult."
 
Fabregas is Arsenal's top scorer this season, having hit the back of the net 14 times. He also leads the Premier Leagues assist charts, setting up team-mates for 13 League goals this term.
 
But the captain is keen to put right the mistakes of those defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea so far this season, and is taking inspiration from last season's victory at Stamford Bridge.
 
"Chelsea were better than us [when they won 3-0 at Emirates Stadium in November] and Manchester United have been better than us [on Sunday]," said Fabregas. "It is something we have to think about to make sure it doesn't happen again.
 
"We started losing at Chelsea last season but we scored twice. That means in football it is so difficult to predict what is going to happen. So let's be positive and see if we can get a result there."

[Monday, February 01, 2010]

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