Wenger: Alex is my hero

"It's a fact. We have to accept it. We have to deal with it. But at the end of the day they can only put 11 men on the field, just like everyone else. But I'm happy to acknowledge that Jose has done a great job."

Was he just a little envious of Mourinho's spending power? "Not at all," he smiled. "I mean that. I'm very happy where I am and with the resources that I have. I'm not envious at all. I think we are in a good shape to compete with Chelsea."

Wenger's optimism is based partly on a burgeoning youth scheme that is finally beginning to bear fruit. Seven of the team that finished Tuesday night's 5-1 Champions League win over Rosenborg were 21 or younger.

Two of those formed the central midfield partnership that is going to be so critical in combating Chelsea's likely pairing of Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele.

Cesc Fabregas, 17, and Matthieu Flamini, 20, can match anyone for energy and commitment but Mourinho will have identified Arsenal's central midfield as an area of vulnerability that could be exploited by the cunning and experience of a player like Lampard. "The big mental test for our two youngsters came against Rosenborg," said Wenger. "They played well. They showed what they could do. Chelsea will be tougher but I'm confident they will cope.

"They will get a lot of help. We've shown in the past that, on the big occasions, we can play as a real team should. It's our title and we want to defend it as well as we can.

"We've rediscovered our good form. We need to be the dominant force on Sunday. We need to dictate the tactics and the pattern of the game. I think that'll be vital."

But Wenger knows that the best laid plans can be undermined by a moment's lack of concentration. That's why the German international Jens Lehmann will be recalled in goal to replace Manuel Almunia.

Wenger has already decided which of his goalkeepers will face Chelsea but refuses to say publicly. "The debate has gone on too long," he said. "Everyone has an opinion but I do not have to add to it."

The indifferent form of first-choice Lehmann and the error-strewn introduction to first-team football of his understudy Almunia has raised questions about the quality of David Seaman's successors - a controversy that has been put in sharp focus by the excellence of Chelsea's Petr Cech, who has conceded just six goals in 16 Premiership games.

Wenger doesn't want a new keeper but it's a fact that in the last nine years the title has been shared by the teams with the best goalkeepers - -Arsenal with Seaman and Manchester United with Peter Schmeichel. Now perhaps it's the turn of Chelsea and Cech.

The Arsenal vice chairman David Dein remarked upon Abramovich's arrival in English football that he had parked his Chelsea tanks on the Highbury lawn and was firing £50 notes at them.

It has taken the appointment of Mourinho, but this Sunday marks the first time that Chelsea travel to Arsenal in the driving seat, having made effective use of their Russian owner's money.

If Arsenal are to deal a blow to Abramovich's aspirations then victory on Sunday would go a long way to restoring the game's balance of power.

But Wenger knows Sunday is just one skirmish in a season-long fight for the championship.

"Win, lose or draw, nothing is decided on Sunday," he said.

One wonders what Alexander the Great would have made of Wenger's cool-headed tactics.