One French former Arsenal striker blew a hole in the Gunners diminishing Premier League title hopes last weekend. On Sunday, another will try to end them. Nicolas Anelka – Le Sulk – is expected to line up against his former employers in Sunday s Stamford

One French former Arsenal striker blew a hole in the Gunners' diminishing Premier League title hopes last weekend.

On Sunday, another will try to end them.

Nicolas Anelka - Le Sulk - is expected to line up against his former employers in Sunday's Stamford Bridge six-pointer.

Arsenal fans are a forgiving bunch, but there remains a bitter taste due to the manner of his departure from Highbury in 1999.

Though not in that small list of former Gunners rarely offered a welcome sherry on their return - such as Frank Stapleton and, latterly, Anelka's club-mate Ashley Cole - he can still expect the odd catcall and disgruntled acknowledgement from the away section when his name is read out during the pre-match kick-about.

But for the first time Anelka has made a confession which will astonish those same fans - he regrets leaving Arsenal when he did.

"I was very young at Arsenal - maybe I didn't realise the chance I had," he admitted this week. "At that age you have nothing in your life to measure it against and you don't think so much about the future.

SEE THIS WEEK'S HAM7HIGH FOR JEM MAIDMENT'S BIG MATCH PREVIEW