Nicolas Anelka: ‘Chelsea title glory would eclipse my success at Arsenal’

Chelsea take on the Gunners on Sunday buoyed by a 1-0 win over Porto in Portugal last night which ensured they will finish top of their Champions League group.

Anelka, who scored the 69th-minute winner, is desperate to beat his former club and extend Chelsea's lead at the top of the table.
And the striker is determined to earn a second Premier League medal having suffered years of frustration since helping Arsenal do the Double in 1998.

"Winning it with Chelsea will be even bigger than when I did it with Arsenal," said Anelka (above, celebrating his goal with Didier Drogba). "That will mean I'm in one of the biggest teams in the world.

"When I won it with Arsenal I did appreciate it at the time. Sometimes you only have one chance in your life. I had this chance before and now I have a second chance to win it again.

"I have had a lot of time to wait to win something again in England. I won the FA Cup last season and I hope this season I will win the title. I don't know if this team are better than the Arsenal one I played in. Arsenal were strong but this Chelsea side are strong, too.

"I did it with Arsenal and I can definitely do it as well with Chelsea."

Victory at Emirates will see Chelsea open an 11-point gap over Arsene Wenger's men, but Anelka feels it wouldn't be a big enough lead to rule the Gunners out of contention.

He added: "Anything is possible in football. Even if we're on top and a lot of points in front of everybody, it's possible we could make a mistake after.

"We will try to win, of course, and if do, we will focus on all the games after Arsenal because every game is

important. Beating Porto means we will go to Arsenal with confidence.

"We wanted to finish first in our Champions League group. It's done and I think everyone is happy."

Chelsea, who hold a five-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League, look set to have Frank Lampard back to face Arsenal just two weeks after he pulled out of England's friendly against Brazil with a thigh injury.

The midfielder has made a rapid recovery after going to Belgrade for treatment from Maria Kovacevic. Chelsea insist he has only had a massage rather than the much publicised horse placenta therapy the Serbian doctor specialises in.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti said: "Frank is working very well and could start the game."