Renee Slegers is looking forward to a huge occasion at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, November 8 as we welcome London rivals Chelsea to N5.
Our head coach feels that our squad are ready for the occasion and is looking forward to the opportunity to close the gap to the league leaders.
“We love playing the big games,” Renee said at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday, “I think we’ve shown that last season and I can feel this in the group at the moment.
“So I think from a preparation perspective and where the group’s at, we’re good. We’ve asked a lot from the player group and we’re in a good place.
“Then the moment comes tomorrow at 12pm and we’ll have to be ready from the get go so it has to be delivered at that moment. But if you ask me now, beforehand, I think the group is in a good place.”
We haven’t beaten the Blues in any of our last three meetings, and Renee feels “it’s the small margins,” that will determine whether or not we can flip our recent form in this fixture.
“We know that Chelsea like to command things in a certain way and we know that momentum will shift. I think we have a really good idea of Chelsea, how they play their games and where their strengths are.
“They want to put the game in their hands, so I think we have a very clear idea and then tomorrow it’s going to be about execution.”
One advantage we’ll certainly have on our side is our Emirates crowd, which our head coach feels will be crucial if we are to secure a derby victory.
“I think we have a really good idea of where our strengths are and what we can bring to the game, not least the energy that we can bring at the Emirates with all of these people involved.
“Tomorrow is not only going to be those 11 players on the pitch, it’s going to be everyone. You feel it when you step out in the stadium. It’s that synergy that is so special, I think, that we’re all wanting the same thing.
“At the start of the game, there’s the unknown, and everyone is positive and then we’re going to take each other through every single moment on the pitch and that’s really special, I think, what we have together with the fans."
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Every word from Renée's pre-Chelsea presser](https://www.arsenal.com/news/every-word-renees-pre-chelsea-presser?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
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