North London Derby - Arsenal vs Tottenham - English Premier League

We go into the North London Derby on the back of 3 relatively straight forward victories, which is just as well considering our transfer dealings have left a rather nasty cloud hanging over the Emirates. I’m sure when everybody first saw the fixture list of Spurs at home on the 1st September, people would’ve imagined our squad to be boasting more than just 15 fit senior players, and just the 2 new acquisitions.

With just a day left until the deadline closes after the Spurs game, time is running out for Wenger to put together a squad capable of challenging for the title and there will also be little time left for panic buying if we get absolutely trounced tomorrow.

Spurs so far have won every game this season and have shown the sort of transfer activity that we thought Arsenal would’ve shown this summer, strengthening with no less than 7 players so far. As an Arsenal fan, it is only natural to be a little envious of our North London neighbours spending. However, when I look at it closely, the only signings I’m really envious of is that of Paulinho and Lamela.

The others would be great squad players for us but in terms of strengthening the team that will play on Saturday against Spurs, Capoue, Eriksen, Chiriches, Soldado and Chadli probably wouldn’t make it into our starting XI. However, of course, in modern day football, it’s not just about your starting XI, it’s about the squad you have for over 50 games this season and Spurs right now are much better positioned than us.

The imminent departure of Bale does take the gloss off of Spurs dealings a little bit, those signings plus Bale and I would say we were in a bit of trouble in the race for top 4. Sunday could be the perfect time to face Spurs, as so far they’ve failed to really hit the ground running in the League, not scoring from open play in their first 2 games, relying on 2 penalties from Soldado to win them their games against Palace and Swansea.

Hopefully, that lack of fire power will continue into Sunday, along with their nerves, as a lot of Spurs players would not have played in a North London Derby before, whereas all of our team have been involved in several outings and know exactly what it’s about.

Last season, Spurs pushed us all the way in the race for top 4. With Bale firing on all cylinders, Spurs were capable of beating absolutely anyone on a given day. However, a poor patch towards the end of the season, with Arsenal going on their unbeaten streak, left them just short once again. Villas-Boas sets up his teams to win, but without the threat of Bale, Spurs will be looking to the likes of Soldado, Chadli, Dembele, Lamela and Townsend to provide them with their cutting edge.

Last season produced some action packed games between the sides, which is nothing less than you’d expect from a North London Derby. The first game between the sides at the Emirates resulted in another famous 5-2 victory for Arsenal as an Adebayor red card helped Arsenal dominate a game where they were 1-0 down inside 10 minutes, after the ex-Arsenal man put Spurs ahead. However, goals from Mertesacker, Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and Walcott made the game comfortable, with Bale adding Spurs’ second.

The game at White Hart Lane was less action packed and sparked Arsenal’s unbeaten end of season push to make the top 4 ahead of Spurs. Goals from Bale and Lennon in a crazy 2 minute spell where Arsenal’s defence fell to pieces was enough to see Spurs win 2-1, despite a goal from Mertesacker in the second half for Arsenal.

Last 5 meetings

Spurs 2-1 Arsenal

Arsenal 5-2 Spurs

Arsenal 5-2 Spurs

Spurs 2-1 Arsenal

Spurs 3-3 Arsenal

Fact file

- The last time Spurs beat Arsenal at the Emirates was in 2010, where Arsenal seemed to be cruising to victory, 2-0 up inside the first half an hour, when complacency kicked in and disaster struck, as Spurs mounted a second half comeback to win 3-2.

- Of the last 4 games between the sides, the home team has come out victorious, with each winning 4 out of the last 10 meetings with 2 draws.

- The last time Arsenal failed to score more than 2 goals against Spurs at home was in 2006, where a late Thierry Henry equaliser saved us in a 1-1 draw.

- Since then, Arsenal have netted at least twice at home against Spurs in the last 7 games.

- Arsenal’s last clean sheet against Spurs was also the last time a team failed to score in a Premier League North London derby in a 3-0 victory at the Emirates in 2009.

- The last 8 Premier League games between the sides have produced a staggering 39 goals, needless to say a both team to score bet is a no brainer.

- The last time Spurs recorded back to back League victories against Arsenal was in the 92/93 season where they beat us 1-0 at WHL and 3-1 at Highbury.

- Before that it was in the 73/74 and 74/75 seasons, where a win in each season was enough to put Spurs on a 3 game winning streak against us in the League.

Wenger passed fit Ramsey and Wilshere after midweek knocks, or in Jack Wilshere’s case, the royal rumble he was involuntary part of, so the only new injury scare for Arsenal is that of Podolski, as he has been ruled out for up to 3 months. Flamini will be part of the squad, and will most likely find himself on the bench for Sunday.

Possible starting XI – Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky, Walcott, Giroud, Cazorla

Sagna will be back at his more familiar position at Right Back after doing pretty well there in the absence of Koscielny. The real key battle for me is that in the midfield. How will our double pivot of Ramsey and Wilshere cope against the quality of Paulinho and Capoue?

Playing at home makes us susceptible to the counter; any mistakes from Wilshere or Ramsey in the middle of the park and we could be in big trouble. Paulinho is extremely good at picking up scraps and breaking up the play, as is Capoue, so Wilshere and Ramsey are going to have to hold their position and guard against the counter attack. If we can contain Spurs’ midfield, I think we have a really good chance of winning. However, it is a big if, for an Arteta-less Arsenal. Put Arteta in this midfield and I’d say we’d win comfortably. Huge games for Jack and Aaron.

Prediction

Arsenal 2-2 Spurs