Arsene Wenger says Arsenal can cope with three recovery days
Arsenal face Chelsea on Sunday (1:30pm), three days after tomorrow night’s Europa League Group H opener with Cologne (20:05).
Chelsea will have four days to prepare for the Gunners’ visit after they had their 6-0 Champions League win over Qarabag last night.
But Wenger believes his side are still more than capable of putting in a good performance at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners manager said: “It is a good opportunity to show we can cope.
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Antonio Conte and Arsene Wenger go head to head three days after Arsenal's Europa League game
Three days is plenty of time to recover
Arsene Wenger
“[Last season] we played on Wednesday night in Barcelona and against Everton on Saturday morning.
“It is a preconceived idea, football is down to how you perform on the day. Three days is plenty of time to recover.”
When asked if Arsenal are good enough to win the Europa League, Wenger said: “We have got at least two teams.
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“There is a lot of competition and we have enough players to keep the focus high and improve. We have a good team on paper tomorrow.”
But Wenger does not believe winning the Europa League is Arsenal’s best chance of qualifying for the Champions League, like Manchester United did last season.
He added: “Not the best chance. It is one of the opportunities. I think the best way to do it is through the Premier League.
“We want to win every competition we play in. We did that for 20 years through the Premier League.”