Arsenal pls: North London Derby time

About...1:20 or so


Will Gareth Bale us out again?

It's looking like one of the most scrumptious, delectable, delicious North London Derby's in the last couple years- if you're a Spurs fan, of course. Spurs have been undefeated since a late loss to Everton- a game Spurs should have won. Spurs have won their last 3 fixtures, scoring 6 goals- and the man on fire at the moment, Bale, scored 5 of those. We're likely to see Bale drift into the center this game, giving the two Arsenal CB's a problem to deal with, or at the very least, forcing Wilshere or Arteta to look after him closely. He'll be a real danger this game and looks to be the main man as he has been for a while now. Arsenal meanwhile are in good form as well, winning THEIR last 3 games in a row, but in many cases, just scraping by- like against Aston Villa last weekend.

But this is the North London Derby. Form is thrown out of the window. Whoever is more motivated, whoever has more to play for, whoever is better on the day will win. It happened before, it will always happen. Even when Spurs were down, a NLD at White Hart Lane was always a fixture Arsenal would struggle to grab 3 points against. Take the 08-09 season(I believe), down 4-2 with minutes to go, Spurs are doing as badly as Newcastle had earlier this season- what happens? Spurs draw 4-4.

This game is massive for Spurs. A win and Spurs go 7 points clear of Arsenal, and go back above Chelsea into third place. This will be especially important going into our next fixture vs Liverpool at Anfield, who have been in impressive form very recently, winning 4-0 vs Wigan. It will be a big game for Adebayor as well, who loves playing against former clubs. He even netted in the earlier fixture, before proceeding to get a red card just 17 minutes in. Both teams have everything to play for, and this game will have a massive effect on the EPL run in.

So who will win?


urr *grumble* ummm *speak in a monotone voice no one understands*

Why, Tottenham of course.

I believe...in Harvey Dent.



Predicted Line-up:

-------------Lloris--------------
Walker-Dawson-Vertonghen-BAE
------Parke-r---Dembele--------
Lennon-----Bale------Holtby----
----------Adebayor-------------

(lineup reflects not how we'll start but how it will look during the game)

Predicted score:

Tottenham 3-1 Arsenal

COYS

I think a key battle is going to be (if he plays, and I'm assuming he will), Holtby vs Arteta.

AVB is sure to know how important Arteta is to Arsenal's possession game and passing rhythm, and Holtby is a very energetic and passionate player who, for an attacking player, is not a slouch on tackling or defense. I think (or rather, hope) Holtby consistently marks up on Arteta like no tomorrow. Disrupt Arteta and I think our ability to win goes up remarkably.

Hoping Brave Scotty Parker meanwhile, despite my dislike for him, marks up on Wilshere. With Arteta getting shut down and the offensive engine of the team marked tightly by someone who is known for ridiculous amounts of grit and steel, I can see us dominating possession and the football, as long as we can hold the ball.

I think we can win the midfield battle honestly, I really do.

I think this game will be won in the midfield. Here's to hoping we can win the midfield battle and have Bale work his magic from there. If Holtby doesn't do well I want Sigurdsson in right away.

Great Intro!

Going to be a good game, i expect it to be high scoring. Llrois sweeping play will be important as i expect there to be lots of balls over the top for walcott to run onto.

Bale to get another hat trick he deserves

Should be a cracking game. Really looking forward to it. I think it will end up 2-2.

All I have to say is

Arsenal pls

Boys did well today.

Love Wenger reactions to losing.

Classic.

AVB

Vertonghen

Lennon

Bale

Dembele

Brave Scotty Parker

Whats with the scotty hate?

he played a perfect through ball! He made a forward pass! A FORWARD PASS!

He did have a good assist but he was godawful other than that. Worked hard in the midfield like always but that's about it. Gave possession away sloppily way too many times and his passing was average. Didn't even provide as much grit and steel in the midfield as he typically does. I thought he was very average despite his assist.

But I'm always going to hate on Scotty. Was a good pass though. Hope he's not at Tottenham next season however.

Beautiful goal.

Hes been poor all season tbh, his age is showing but hes not bad for a back up, we cant have another great DM on the bench for when sandro gets injured. We have a capable older player in Scotty and a younger apprentice who can provide him some breaks in Livermore.

Hes also not playing as deep as he was last year so were not getting to see that grit and steel hes known for, hes play more as a cm then dm, compared to last year, bringing the ball forward and trying to make attacking passes.

I think I might actually prefer Livermore to Brave Scotty Parker.

True, he's not bad for a backup, it's just that I'm lamenting the fact that he's getting a starting place in this team because of Sandro's injury, when he's not good enough.

Livermore gives away heaps of pointless fouls, his first contribution to the derby was give away that FK that walcott took. Hes not bad for a back up but scotty P is still way ahead of him.

Whats with the hate for tottenhams player of the season last season?

He was not the player of the season lol that's what's funny.

I just don't like his kind and he's quite frankly not good enough and I don't want Spurs to finish out of the top 4 this year (I don't think we will) and look back on it knowing if Sandro had stayed injury free, CL football could be Spurs for the taking. Brave Scotty Parker is brave but not good enough.

Besides it's just...he's never been too good and is overrated. I do admit he works hard in the midfield, he really does, he's a good role model and an inspiration in some ways and I appreciate that. But I've never liked that guy who's in the team because he runs around a bunch and works hard- it's admirable, but there are better players who could be there.

If Carroll offered a bit more defensively and was a bit bigger I'd be throwing him a starting place immediately.

In the end, like I said, it's just because Brave Scotty Parker isn't good enough. I know he's a backup for that reason but I hate seeing him ruin offensive moves week after week and I think Dembele does as much if not more defensive work as him as well. He annoys me the same way Alba annoys me with Barca, or Cesc.