In the long history of London based Premier League clubs, there is only one player who has played for all three bigest capital clubs: Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham – William Gallas. The French defender appeared 445 times in England across a 12-year period. He started his career with Chelsea during the Jose Mourinho era where he won two Premier League titles before moving to Arsenal, where he stayed for four seasons, wearing the number 10 shirt. He finished his London-based career in Tottenham, and is looking forward every time there is a London based derby between his former clubs. Ex-Spurs and Chelsea player William Gallas didn’t hold back with his predictions for Spurs vs Chelsea 👀 pic.twitter.com/jXHUs5SaOb— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) December 8, 2024 Speaking with Sky Sports ahead of today‘s encounter between Chelsea and Tottenham, the Frenchman was asked to say which derby he favores the most. “If I have to pick the best London derby, then definitely, the game has to be played at Tottenham. I had some games at Emirates with Arsenal playing against Tottenham, but it was always a crazy atmosphere at White Hart Lane. You have Tottenham, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, it’s crazy. I didn’t play at Highbury for Arsenal against Tottenham, I don’t know how that would have compared to the Lane. I think my best memory was maybe when I played at the Emirates, but I was wearing the Tottenham shirt, and if you remember, I was the captain of Tottenham that day“ he said. Mr Set Piece – Arsenal’s unsung heroUnlike last season, the Blues are playing excellent this time and are currently occupying second place in the league. Gallas agrees with coach Enzo Maresca that Chelsea are not title contenders this season, but next…“Enzo Maresca knows Chelsea are not in the title race. I think the same thing. Chelsea are not ready to compete for the Premier League title this season. I said to you, Chelsea will be ready next season. Next season they will be ready, because right now it looks like they are going to finish around fourth. But next season they will be ready for the race“ he predicted.Brace yourself… Chelsea are an actual title contenderHe also spoke about his other former London club, Arsenal, and their title race this season. “They need to stay behind them and not drop any more points, because they don’t have a choice. They have to win every game. They have to repeat the performance they did against West Ham in every single game. Can they do this? Because listen, if Liverpool win the league, everybody will say, Liverpool was too strong. Arne Slot is a big manager. But for me, it will be because Arsenal made mistakes.If Arsenal doesn’t win the league this season, that will be their fault“ said Gallas.Losing to Bournemouth is nothing compared to what Ange faced from his wifeApart from this critique view of his former club, the Frenchman also had a gloomy prediction for the Gunners in 2025. “If they don’t win this season, next season it will be difficult because Chelsea will be there. United will be there. City will be there again. Next season will be a big season with several teams competing for the title, and I don’t think Arsenal will be challenging for the title next year. I think the increased competition will give Arsenal a lot of problems next year” said Gallas.
