Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal – Sunday 2nd October– White Hart Lane (18:00)
This weekend is Derby weekend as we have two intriguing encounters between two fierce rivals. The London derby as well as the Merseyside derby is the centre piece of this weekend’s action and fans can expect a heated affair as pride will be at stake.
Tottenham have had a rocky start to the season as they have had some dismal performances thus far. The saga of Luka Modric proposed transfer had affected the team drastically and this hampered their start to the season. They have seemed to turn the corner now as they have put together 3 consecutive victories giving Liverpool a real beating as they outdid The Reds by 4-0. Harry Redknapp took a real gamble on out of favour striker Emmanuel Adebayor as he snapped up the lanky Togolese on a loan deal from Manchester City. A lot of the fans were not pleased with the manager’s decision to bring the striker to White Hart Lane as he was once on the books of their rivals Arsenal. However Adebayor took little time in proving his critics wrong as he notched up a brace on his debut and was a key figure in Tottenham’s dismantling of Liverpool. The Togolese did not leave Arsenal on the best of terms and he will be looking to add further damage to the Gunners season. Harry Redknapp stated in his post match interview that he feels his squad are now in the right frame of mind and have put the poor start to the season behind them. “They can only go from strength to strength”.
Arsenal has made their worst start to a season in 50 years. They currently sit in 12th spot with 7 points after 6 games. A lot of fans were calling for the long serving Frenchmen’s head, as they felt his time has now come to step down. However Arsene Wenger maintained that he will not quit and that he will get the Gunners back on track. The Professor has now started to prove his class and state his intent that he is still the right man for the club as Arsenal is starting to rack up the results. The fans seemed to be in good spirit once again as they chanted the manager’s name after an emphatic 3-0 win over Bolton at the Emirates this past weekend. There were many positives at the end of this encounter as Arsenal kept a clean sheet, something they struggled to do at the beginning of the season as they have conceded an astonishing 14 goals in 6 matches, making them the highest in the league thus far. Robin Van Persie also achieved a personal milestone as he scored his 99th and 100th goal on the weekend writing his name in the clubs history book. The Dutchmen is in great form and he will be a vital ingredient for the Gunners this season.
Both teams have seemed to turn their fortunes around and are back on track. A win is crucial to propel the campaign in the right direction. Arsenal should just have enough to get the win.
