Jose Mourinho v Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger does not have a brilliant record against Jose Mourinho.
The wily French coach has yet to defeat a Mourinho managed team in ten attempts, with five draws and five losses in that time.
Wenger’s Portuguese counterpart has thrived on giving Arsenal the ball, and compacting his team before playing on the counterattack, often to brilliant effect, but there are signs this season that may not be the case this time around.
While in the teams’ two meetings in 2013-14 Arsenal have failed to score and only had three shots on target, the Gunners also boast one of the meanest defences in the Premier League, and the pragmaticism likely introduced by Steve Bould has made a major difference.
Should Arsene Wenger’s men take the lead, they would stand a great chance of holding out for victory, for no team has protected their advantage better than Arsenal in this season’s top flight.
In what will likely be a chess game of a football match, both managers will be waiting to see who makes the first mistake – and Wenger will be keen to make a big statement on the occasion of his 1000th game in charge of the Gunners.
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