Tottenham – Arsenal Preview

Who’s up for a derby?

Key Stats
League Position: 7th, 3-0-2, 9 GF, 9 GA, 0 GD, 9 pts.
Home Form: 1 W, 1 L, 5 GF, 5 GA
Last Meeting: Tottenham 3-3 Arsenal (April) (Premier League)
Last Arsenal Win: Tottenham 1-4 Arsenal (September) (Carling Cup)

Tomorrow sees us go to White Hart Lane to take on our eternal rivals, the Spuds Spurs. This is the first time we enter a North London Derby where Spurs can be called the overwhelming favorites- and why shouldn’t they? They have rebounded from a tough start to have some scintillating displays this season, including a whopping 4-0 win over Liverpool (by the way, Luis Suarez is a diver and a cun- err, not a nice guy, by all means.). They also managed to retain their key player in Luka Modric- GASP! a club managed to exercise its power and keep its best player! Who knew! They also strengthened their side with last day buys of Scott Parker and Sell-Out Douche- err, I mean Emmanuel Adepaymore. Yeah, I went there.

I don’t have to tell you how important this match is. A convincing win tomorrow would go a long way of finally making us turn the corner after what has frankly been an awful 8 months, since we lost the Carling Cup Final to Brum (Fuck you, Birmingham. How’s the Championship, by any chance?). A win tomorrow would go a long way of finally making those damn media hacks shut their damn cornholes, spouting every 5 seconds that we’re in crisis, that our best players are imminent to leave at any second, and that we were close to signing Joey Barton. Just shut the hell up, okay? Finally, a win tomorrow, against Spurs, is a win tomorrow against Spurs. That says it all, frankly. And if the players aren’t motivated for this one, then I don’t know what they will be motivated for ever again.

On the flip side, a loss, and a bad one at it, could send this team down the tailspin again. It would do nothing but bolster the media hacks’ claims that we’re in crisis, that we suck, that we should be playing in the Blue Square Premier, that we’re worse than Stoke’s U-Embryos when it comes to defending a lead, that we need a new GK, etc. All of the annoying blather going on about us would intensify, the players would suffer from morale and expectations, and frankly, a loss would represent a pretty big snag on those who, right or wrong, still claim that Arsenal are still the best team of this rivalry (myself included.) So, again, this is a match we really really really need to win.

All of the pics of Arsenal players celebrating goals against Spurs were either Cesc or Nasri. Too soon.

Any guesses as to how Spurs will lineup tomorrow won’t really be needed. We know their standard formation already. The erratic Gomes has been replaced by the evergreen Brad Friedel. Without Michael Dawson or Willy Gallas, expect a back four of Walker, King, Kaboul, and Assou-Ekotto. Their midfield is dangerous, and at the moment, I would rate above ours: Lennon-Parker-Modric-Bale. Yikes. Sagna and Arsenal’s Left Back will have quite a match on their hands tomorrow, that’s for sure. Up front, it’s Rafa van der Vaart and Sell Out Douche. Oh yeah, and maybe Jermain Defoe, but who gives a shit?

Arsenal’s team news don’t look very good. Of the 3 key absences during the midweek CL game, Koscielny, Gervinho, and Walcott, only Theo has a realistic chance of starting tomorrow. Gervinho has a slight chance, and Koscielny is definitely out. Not good. Yossi Benayoun and Sebastian Squillaci are back in the squad after their respective injuries, but the Frenchman has been declared short on match fitness so in all likelihood, he will not feature tomorrow. That, of course, is good news. And obviously, our long-termers- Vermaelen, Wilshere, Djourou, and Diaby, will sit out this one.

Based on all of that, my prediction for tomorrow’s lineup is the following:

Szczesny

Sagna     Mertesacker    Song     Santos

Ramsey Arteta Benayoun

Walcott     van Persie     AOC

Subs: Fabianski, Gibbs, Squillaci, Frimpong, Arshavin, Gervinho, Chamakh

SZCZ between the sticks, where he will have a massive game, that’s for sure. The back four have 3 certainties: Sagna, ‘Sack, and Song. Squillaci is back, but he’s not match fitness and it would be absolute madness from Wenger to play an absolutely awful CB in Squid in such a match like this. The LB chosen will be interesting. Santos was impressive on midweek, but Gibbs has been decent all season long. I’m going for the Brazilian, purely for his attacking talent.

In midfield, we’re pretty blunt, I’ll be honest. Ramsey and Arteta will start, that’s for sure, but with Song back at CB, the 3rd member can be anybody. It could be Frimpong, but I don’t think Wenger should start the kid in a match of such magnitude. Rosicky can’t really hold his own on high-tempo matches such as this, and Coquelin suffers from inexperience. So I’m going with Benayoun for this one- he’s back, his workrate is fantastic, he’s energetic, and he’s the closest we have to a Scott Parker right now. He’s fresh and healthy from a week long break, so he really will need to step up and come good tomorrow.

Up front, van Persie will occupy the forward spots. And Walcott should be back, so he’s taking a wing spot. That leaves the other wing spot up for grabs. It could be Arshavin, but he’s been poor this season and his workrate, tracking back, and general effort levels are bad, so I don’t trust him for a match like this. So I’m going for the Ox. He’s been impressive in the debuts handed to him, so if there ever was an opportunity to make your climb to the big stage, Ox, make it tomorrow.

On the bench, expect Arshavin, Chamakh, and Gervinho (if he’s healthy), to be the guys to come on if we need a goal. I can’t really find room for Park- if he can’t feature against Olympiakos, he’s not going to feature against Spurs. The LB who doesn’t start will be on the bench. There were murmurs that Martin Angha, an Arsenal reserve who is held in high regard, was in line for a spot on the bench following Miquel’s injury, but Squillaci’s return from injury seems to have put a stop to that. Stupid Squillaci.

Well, this is it. To be perfectly honest, I’m not expecting a win. I would be delighted if we won, but Spurs current form and our general malaise, that we haven’t really recovered from, has given our eternal rivals an advantage for this one. Still, I expect all of our players to give his 110%, and I’ll be happy if I see that. Anything less and it will be a travesty. A win at Spurs is a win at Spurs. Let’s go there and shut each white shirt up.

Come on Arsenal!!!

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