Arsenal play host to Chelsea this weekend in a fixture that could either prolong the title race or gift the visitors their fifth Premier League title in their history. Arsene Wenger, having all but confirmed his presence in the Champions League dugout next campaign, now seems to have an eye on edging local rivals Chelsea to the title.

Speaking to the press ahead of the London derby, the French manager stated that the Gunners have managed to prove their doubters wrong by thrashing Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United in some fashion and now wants his players to concentrate on continuing their fine form by registering a victory over Chelsea, who currently have a ten-point advantage over them.

"We have passed many tests recently. We have another test on Sunday against Chelsea that we want to pass. We have an opportunity to show our improvement is consistent. Our first target is to continue to win and strengthen our position."

Frosty relationship between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger has always been obvious and it was reiterated when the Gunners manager pushed the former at Stamford Bridge earlier this season. When he was quizzed about his relationship with his Chelsea counterpart, he stated that the game of football must be the centre of attention and not the dugout happenings.

“I do not want to talk about that. What is interesting for people is when the game starts, we have a great game. It is not about the relationship between the managers.”

Arsene Wenger has locked horns with the former Real Madrid boss on twelve different occasions and has failed to emerge the victor on all the occasions, but he believes that history means nothing when the duo meet at Emirates Stadium this weekend.

"We have been close to beating them a few times. The result will just be down to the performance on the day. There was a turning point last week with Manchester United not beating Chelsea. We can now get closer to Chelsea."

He claimed that a disturbed start to the season has cost them their serious chance at the title and added that his side has turned things around this year having lost only to Monaco, Southampton and Tottenham.

"We had a disturbed start to the season but since January we have done very well. We could do with 10 more games."

The 64-year-old manager heaped praise on Alexis Sanchez as he stated that he could compete with Eden Hazard for personal honours in the Premier League this season. He believes that the Chelsea star has had an amazing season and has also found maturity.

“Everybody would agree that Eden Hazard has had a great season. He's found maturity that he didn't have before. Alexis Sanchez will compete very closely with him for Player of the Year.”

Arsene Wenger also announced that he would not have Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mikel Arteta at his disposal for the weekend fixture and he rated Per Mertesacker fifty-fifty meaning that Gabriel Paulista may start alongside Laurent Koscielny.