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Blues don't seem to have a chance

Arsenal hasn't lost to Chelsea in 16 consecutive matches. And the triple trophy-chasing Gunners don't plan to end the streak today at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

It's make or break time for Arsenal.

With a nine-point lead over Chelsea in the Premier League, the Gunners next play Manchester United in the league and the FA Cup semifinals, then welcome the Blues to Highbury for the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

"When you're in our kind of situation, every week is like that. You can win it all or lose it all," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

"But we have the belief and the confidence levels so that I am convinced that we will be there in the next couple of weeks. I know my players and I'm confident they will give the maximum in every game."

Arsenal's 2-1 win over Bolton on Saturday extended its unbeaten league run to 29 games since the start of the season, equaling the feats of Leeds in 1973-1974 and Liverpool in 1987-1988. A record could be set if it doesn't lose to United this Saturday.

Arsenal has never reached the semifinals of the European Cup or Champions League. It lost its only other quarterfinal appearance in 2001 to Valencia.

"The next league game against Manchester United will be vital and that could be decisive between us and them, but let's first focus on Chelsea," Wenger said. "We want to go as far as we can in the Champions League and we'll give it everything in that game.

"We have waited a few years to be there and now we have a great chance to go through. They do too, so I believe it's difficult to predict the outcome, although we know we can do well over there."

Arsenal has beaten Chelsea 2-1 three times this season -- twice in the league and once in the FA Cup. The club will have influential Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp, who rarely plays away legs in Europe because of his fear of flying.

"It's a bonus to have him as he's playing very well, but we have many quality strikers and have shown before that we can travel in the European Cup," Wenger said.

Meanwhile, Chelsea seems to be spending most of its time dampening rumors over the future of manager Claudio Ranieri. British media has speculated that even if Ranieri leads Chelsea to the Champions League title, his job still won't be safe.

"Everyone is behind Claudio and we support him 100 percent," Chelsea defender John Terry said. "With all the rubbish being said about him, it does get on your nerves. But we're staying together as a team. We'll work as hard as we can for Claudio and get the results."

Terry said Chelsea was still fine-tuning its team. Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich has bought 12 players, worth around ?115 million (US$207 million), since he took over last July.
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