Arsenal welcome Chelsea to the Emirates on Sunday, in what is one of the most eagerly anticipated derbies of the season.
Arsene Wenger will be looking to record a victory over Jose Mourinho at the 13th time of asking, and give his team a small chance of causing an upset in the title race in the process.
Whilst eyes will be on the dugout to see if there is a repeat of the pushing and shoving antics we saw between the two managers when the sides met at Stamford Bridge back in October, there is no question who everyone will be looking out for on the pitch.
Cesc Fabregas returns to the Emirates for the first time since he signed for Chelsea last summer, via a spell in Barcelona.
Nobody can quite predict the reception the Spaniard is set to recieve, but here we have come up with five reasons why Arsenal fans should spare him the boos on Sunday.
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Click on Cesc Fabregas to reveal five reasons Arsenal fans shouldn’t boo him on Sunday
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He was fantastic during his Arsenal career
Although he left with just an FA Cup winners and a Champions League runners up medal under his belt, Fabregas was fantastic during his spell in north London.
Having arrived as a teenager from Barcelona more than a decade ago, the Spaniard slotted into the Arsenal midfield straight away at the start of the 2003-04 season, and went on to make a total of 266 appearances for the club, scoring 57 goals.
There were times later on his career – after he had been handed the captains armband – when he would often carry the Gunners almost single-handedly, meaning every supporter was heartbroken to see him leave in the summer of 2011.
He wanted to return!
When it became clear Barcelona had no intention of keeping Fabregas, the player and his agent issued a come and get me plea to Arsene Wenger.
However, Wenger decided against the transfer – insisting he had too many players similar to the Spaniard already in his squad.
It was at that moment that Mourinho came calling, and Fabrgeas needed to make the decision of returning to England in a city he knows well to play regular first team football, or sit on the bench at Barcelona.
At the end of the day, Arsenal was always his first choice – but it was Wenger’s call that saw him end up at Chelsea.
He made the club a tidy profit
Having joined the club as an academy player, Fabregas went on to make over 200 appearances, score more than 50 goals and earn the club a profit of £35million when he returned to Barcelona in 2011.
Had it been a case of Fabregas returning with Barcelona, no doubt he would have got a fine reception. Turning up at the Emirates in Chelsea blue will surely make it a different story, but after all he did for the club you would like to think he will get a decent reception from the Arsenal faithful.
Wenger has pleaded with the fans to ‘show respect’
Arsenal fans may not listen when Wenger speaks as much as they used to, but the Gunners boss still demands respect.
He has pleaded with the Arsenal fans to show Fabregas the ‘respect he deserves’ when he returns to the Emirates on Sunday, and avoid the sort of ‘shirt-burning’ incidents and anger we saw when he completed his move last summer.
Wenger said: ‘I want every player to be respected, and Cesc Fabregas when he comes to the Emirates on Sunday, (I want him) to be respected like he deserves.’
Wenger added: ‘The regret I have is that he wanted to leave here. This club and myself had a very positive influence on Cesc’s life, so I would be a bit uncomfortable to have to justify today why he is not here.’
He threw pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson
For any Arsenal fan who might still be unsure on what reception to give Fabregas on Sunday, need only to remember it was he who threw pizza at former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson during ‘the battle of the buffet’ after a defeat at Old Trafford in 2004.
At the time, Fabregas was a teenager and an unused subtitute in the match – yet he still had the balls so cover a football legend and long time Arsenal enemy in pizza.
That should warrant a standing ovation in many people’s books.
