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Arsenal Vs. Chelsea Team News: Mikel Arteta Out With Ankle Injury

ST ALBANS, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 14:  Mikel Arteta of Arsenal looks on during a training session at London Colney on February 14, 2012 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/ Getty Images)
ST ALBANS, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 14: Mikel Arteta of Arsenal looks on during a training session at London Colney on February 14, 2012 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/ Getty Images)
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Arsenal's 2-1 home defeat to Wigan Athletic was pretty good news for Chelsea in its own right - it means that two of the top four spots are in play for four teams rather than one for three - but it came with some very, very bad news for Gunners fans.

By definition, that means extra-good news for Chelsea, although this is the sort of good news that we should take with a wince: Mikel Arteta managed to badly injure himself in the opening exchanges (just before Wigan scored twice), and Arsene Wenger has confirmed in his rather morose press conference that the midfielder will play no part in their match against the Blues this weekend.

That'll be a real problem for the Gunners midfield. Although Tomas Rosicky and Alex Song are much improved this season, it's been Arteta who's held them together. Aaron Ramsey? Not quite so good, and he certainly failed to impress against Wigan today. Arsenal's loss, obviously, is Chelsea's gain, and although I'd rather take three points against a full-strength Arsenal side than a banged-up one, I'm not going to pretend that one of their key players going down won't help us.

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