Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has stated that Chelsea will still be a contender for the Premier League title, regardless of whether or not they lose against Arsenal on Sunday:

“Last season Chelsea were nine points behind United at the halfway point and even if you’re 15 points clear with five games to go, you’re not champions,”

“You’re only champions at the end of the last game. This is the first time I’ll have played against Wenger – he’s been my friend for 10 or 12 years now.

“I met him for the first time in Japan and we are big friends. I like him as a coach. If I chose five coaches in the world as the best, he’d be one of the five.

“His team plays football, so it’s difficult to win. They play beautiful football.

“I watched their game against Manchester United and it was one of the best games in the Premier League. This game against Chelsea will be like that as well.

“This is one of the big games but we are not motivated just for a game against Arsenal or Tottenham.

“We need to play every game with the same motivation. We need to try to win.”

Chelsea will go into the Sunday clash without Didier Drogba, who is still sitting out the three game ban. Despite rumours that Drogba met with Inter Milan’s sporting director Marco Brana last Monday night, he has not had a chance to speak to the player:

“I think Didier is happy,”

“My relationship with him is very good. Very good.

“All I know is that he can’t play against Arsenal. I have to be thinking about the Arsenal game, not what might happen in 2010 or 2011.

“I’m not thinking about Juliano Belletti, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and Franco Di Santo because none of them can play.

“Drogba has had four months of injury, but he’s training now. Now it’s step by step at Chelsea. I’ll try to play him when he’s back from suspension.

“For me, he has my support every day. Injured or not injured. I’m sure he’s 100% committed to the club.”

Source:football365