SHOWCASE-Soccer-Matic seeks to avenge humiliating loss to Arsenal

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Midfielder Nemanja Matic said there is a lot at stake for Chelsea when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday as they are eager make amends for their embarrassing 3-0 loss to their London rivals in September.

The loss to Arsenal, however, forced manager Antonio Conte to switch to a 3-4-3 formation, which sparked Chelsea into life, as the Premier League leaders won 15 of their next 17 league games to create a comfortable nine-point gap at the top of the table.

"Are we looking forward to this game even more to put things right? Of course. We want to see where we are and where they are (as a team)," Matic told British media.

"We will try to win because we are at home. They also have qualities and will try to find opportunities. But I'm sure that we are ready, mentally and physically, and I'm sure the supporters will enjoy this game.

"You can lose a game but the most important thing is how you react and in that game against Arsenal, we didn't react on the pitch well. I'm sure it will be a different story on Saturday."

Conte's men have a great opportunity to extend the gap over third-placed Arsenal, who failed to capitalise on Chelsea's draw at Liverpool as they lost at home to Watford on Tuesday. Arsenal trail the leaders by nine points. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)