Michael Owen believes any player given the choice of joining either Chelsea or Arsenal would select Maurizio Sarri’s side “every day of the week”, with Joe Cole adding that there is more chance of winning silverware at Stamford Bridge because they demand success.
While Chelsea made a winning start to their Europa League last-32 tie against Malmo with a 2-1 victory, Arsenal suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat at BATE Borisov, which was made all the more embarrassing by the fact that the Belarusian side had not played a competitive fixture for the last two months.
The two London sides are locked together on 50 points in the Premier League and, like last season, find themselves out of the top four and the qualification berths for the Champions League next season.
But while the clubs find themselves in similar positions this season, former England striker Owen believes that one remains far more attractive than the other.
“Chelsea and Arsenal are virtually mirror image,” Owen said on BT Sport.
“They're on the same points in the Premier League, on the same goal difference in the Premier League, and in the same round of the Europa League. It's pretty much a level playing field, but which team would you prefer to play for?
“Which team do you look at and go, ‘wow what player, good team?’ Everyone says Chelsea are under a big cloud, but I’d prefer Chelsea every day of the week over Arsenal.”
Having won three Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Chelsea, Cole believes that Chelsea’s recent success over the last 15 years under Roman Abramovich makes them more demanding than their London rivals, resulting in a “crisis” developing much faster at Stamford Bridge that results in their rapid turnover of managers.
“Because the expectation is that they (Chelsea) have always got to be there (competing for titles), which Chelsea have been for the last 20 years, it becomes a crisis quicker than it does at Arsenal.
“With Arsenal, they’re probably not going to win anything, they’re in a ten year transitional period. Chelsea demand to win things.
“If you’re a player, you’d much rather move to Chelsea than Arsenal, there’s a better quality of player there and you’ve got more chance of winning things.”
Chelsea have to wait until Monday night before they’re in action in the form of the FA Cup fifth round clash with Manchester United, while Arsenal are not in action until next week’s Europa League return with BATE Borisov at the Emirates after being knocked out of the Cup by United in the fourth round last month.
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