Antonio Conte: Chelsea can beat Arsenal if no one is sent off

Pedro shown red car against Arsenal

Antonio Conte said he hopes Chelsea get through Sunday's Premier League match against Arsenal with 11 men, and hinted that red cards shown to Victor Moses and Pedro Rodriguez in the two previous meetings between the teams were unjustified.

Arsenal head to Stamford Bridge having won their last two games against Chelsea -- triumphing 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley in May and beating their London rivals on penalties at the same stadium in the Community Shield.
Moses received a second booking for diving in the first match while Pedro was shown a straight red card for a late tackle on Mohamed Elneny in the second, and Conte is keen to avoid giving the Gunners a potentially decisive man advantage for the third time in a row.


"I hope to finish the game with 11 players, because in the last two games, FA Cup final and the Community Shield, we finished two games with 10 men," he said. "I hope this. Then during the game I think the best [team] wins."

Chelsea have been working towards this match since Wednesday while Arsenal had to navigate a chaotic Europa League match against Cologne on Thursday evening, but Conte played down the significance of the extra preparation time for his squad.
"I watched the [Arsenal] game and Wenger rotated a lot of players, a lot of players rested for the game against us," he said. "I think it's not an advantage.
"I think Arsenal is one of the six top teams in England. And I think they have a really good squad to fight for something important -- the title in England for sure. For this reason I think it's a massive game for us. It's the same when you play against City, against Liverpool, [Manchester] United, Tottenham.



Posted on ESPN