‘We know we can beat Chelsea’

Arsenal look to continue their recovery from a demoralising 4-0 hammering at Anfield before the international break when they face the Premier League champions on Sunday, but haven’t beaten their west London rivals at Stamford Bridge since October 2011.

However, Cech insists that following their recent FA Cup final and Community shield victories over Chelsea, the Gunners have nothing to fear.

Speaking to ‘Sky Sports’ the goalkeeper said: “We have to draw a line under what happened and move forward.”

“We played Chelsea in the Community Shield and in the FA Cup final last season, so we know we can beat them.

“They know they lost two games against us that they were not happy to lose, so this is something we have to use to our advantage.”

Successive defeats at Stoke and Liverpool left Arsenal four points off the pace in the Premier League after their first four games.

The Gunners did respond with a convincing victory over Bournemouth, and Cech underlined the importance of back-to-back victories to stay in contention at the top of the table.

“The games we played at Stoke and Liverpool didn’t go the way we wanted,” he added.

“The performance at Stoke was much better than the result, because we had enough chances and opportunities, but we couldn’t find the final pass or finish moves off.

“It was not the result we wanted or expected, and probably deserved.

“Liverpool was a big slap in the face, it wasn’t acceptable for a club the size of Arsenal and the team that we are.

“We had to really make sure we put things right against Bournemouth and the reaction from everyone was brilliant.

“The determination and intensity was there against Bournemouth, the way we played was more like it.

“Chelsea have the same objective as us, they want to challenge for the title so it’s a big game this weekend.

“If we want to be close to the top of the table after two defeats then we have to win the big games and this is the first opportunity for us to do so.”