Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal, Premier League, 12:30pm, BT Sport 1

Mr.Nice Guy

Big North London derby tomorrow as Tottenham meet Arsenal at Wembley. An Arsenal win will take them within a point of their rivals in 3rd and leave Spurs looking anxiously over their shoulder in the battle for a top four spot. On the other hand, depending on how results go this weekend, a loss could ultimately lead to Arsenal slipping to 6th when all games are complete.

The reverse fixture saw Arsenal come out on top 4-2, however the two sides met at the Emirates in the League Cup before Christmas where Spurs won 2-0.

Vertonghen and Winks face fitness tests while Alli and Dier remain out; Emery meanwhile expects Koscielny to recover.

How do you see this one going? Pochettino has never lost a home derby to Arsenal and while their recent performances have been disappointing, I expect a reaction from his team here. I'll say 2-1 to Tottenham.

charolais0153

Id say a draw. Arsenal have been fairly resurgent of late and kanes arrival again has stifled son. Arsenal are soo much better when mustafi isnt playing and if koscielny and solratis are back i can see them stopping spurs. Be interesting to see if ozil plays. He should get a chance anyway. Was unreal during the week. Guendouzi could have a big influence too.
Having said that though, if spurs put in a performance like they did against dortmund,its hard to see past them. Would be interesting to see if poch has the balls to drop kane and to give son the reins again.
Having said all tat, spurs will probably win because they are well and truly out of the title race at this stage. Be a great match

Kiith

Worried again about today. We've been absolute ****e in the last few games, and Arsenal seem to be playing well. A loss here and we will be right back in a dog fight for 4th, and with the way we are playing, i'd be seriously worried that we'll fall out of the top 4.

Win, and everything in the world will be fine though :P

Iused2likebusts

Spurs to win easily enough and talk about them missing out on top 4 to stop for another 4 or 5 weeks.

Bret Hart

3-0.

Necro

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Spurs to win easily enough and talk about them missing out on top 4 to stop for another 4 or 5 weeks.

Bret Hart wrote: »

3-0.

Bizarre predictions, not one NLD has been won easily since arguably the 5-2 to Arsenal in 2012 (also the last time a game between the two sides was won by more than a two goal margin). Easily one of the toughest fixtures of the season for both sides, could go either way.

Honestly I'd take a draw here but I fancy a scrappy 2-1 win for Arsenal tbh.

Iused2likebusts

Necro wrote: »

Bizarre predictions, not one NLD has been won easily since arguably the 5-2 to Arsenal in 2012 (also the last time a game between the two sides was won by more than a two goal margin). Easily one of the toughest fixtures of the season for both sides, could go either way.

Honestly I'd take a draw here but I fancy a scrappy 2-1 win for Arsenal tbh.

I think spurs are a much better side than arsenal and will win comfortably.

theoneeyedman

charolais0153 wrote: »

Id say a draw. Arsenal have been fairly resurgent of late and kanes arrival again has stifled son.

That's an interesting point.
I heard someone quote a star recently comparing spurs win % with Kane and without him, and it was slightly higher without him. Kinda backs up a point I was making recently that Spurs back up options (in this case Son up front instead of Kane) is less their weakness than their first xi.

Important for Spurs to get something today. 3 defeats in a row will start bullsh1t in media about them bottling it and being spursy which as well as being very annoying for everyone, tends to be self perpetuating. They will though, there are goals to be got against the Arsenal defence.

ERG89

Team News:

Tottenham: Lloris, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Trippier, Wanyama, Sissoko, Rose, Eriksen, Kane, Son.

Subs: Lamela, Llorente, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Lucas Moura, Davies, Skipp.

Arsenal: Leno, Mustafi, Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Iwobi, Lacazette.

Subs: Cech, Ozil, Torreira, Aubameyang, Maitland-Niles, Suarez, Kolasinac.

Deise Vu

That is possibly Spurs strongest lineup plus a strong bench. Arsenal also have a strong bench but mainly, IMO, because their starting 11 is more than a bit strange. Amazing there is no place for Torreira and Aubamayang. Feeling a lot more confident now for a clear Spurs win. The only caveat is Spurs have three at the back which looks overkill with Arsenal lining up with only one up front.

Kiith

Definite foul against Kane there.

ricero

Great composure from Ramsey. Shocking defending from spurs though

Mr.Nice Guy

Brilliant goal by Ramsey.

Kiith

Once again, stupid mistakes cost us. Kane should have just shot, and then Sanchez ****s up for them to score.

LuckyGent88

Won’t be the last of the goals I’d say. Surely Son should be pulling onto those defenders and burning them with his pace.

Gbear

Really impressive. I was wondering how he was going to **** it up because it's always a hiding to nothing when you've that much time, but rounding the keeper like that, with a defender on his shoulder was hugely composed.

farna_boy

Kiith wrote: »

Once again, stupid mistakes cost us. Kane should have just shot, and then Sanchez ****s up for them to score.

Yeah looked like Kane was more interested in waiting for a tackle and looking for a penalty than taking a shot

charolais0153

Deise Vu wrote: »

That is possibly Spurs strongest lineup plus a strong bench. Arsenal also have a strong bench but mainly, IMO, because their starting 11 is more than a bit strange. Amazing there is no place for Torreira and Aubamayang. Feeling a lot more confident now for a clear Spurs win. The only caveat is Spurs have three at the back which looks overkill with Arsenal lining up with only one up front.

Never thought I'd see sissoko in spurs strongest team:pac:

Esse85

Has the sound on BT been dodgy for anyone else?

SlickRic

Spurs haven't exploited Mustafi once.

Esse85

Spurs haven't woken up yet, they've been incredibly sloppy.

Tom Mann Centuria

Esse85 wrote: »

Has the sound on BT been dodgy for anyone else?

Sadly no, I can still hear Steve McManaman fine.

Rayne Wooney

Spurs incredibly sterile

They need to take some risks and forget about the possession stat, they lost doing the same against Chelsea now losing to Arsenal

SteelyDanJalapeno

Esse85 wrote: »

Has the sound on BT been dodgy for anyone else?

Perfect for me

Kevin Finnerty

At work here but 52% possession no shots for Spurs. Trippier in the line up is a disaster from the off.

Kiith

Fantastic saves there.

Mr.Nice Guy

Superb saves from Leno.

PropJoe10

Trippier is one of the worst fullbacks in the league.

Kiith

1 minutes of extra time after Arsenal have been taking the piss with time wasting since the 30th minute?

blueser

I don't rate Leno at all. The guy seems a nervous wreck when dealing with crosses (punches when he could easily catch). But fcuk me, that was some reaction save there.

Mr.Nice Guy

Arsenal look more impressive defensively than Spurs which isn't something I expected to see.

blueser

"I'm all right, thanks Jay"

Jenas with a face like a smacked 4rse there!

The Talking Bread

PropJoe10 wrote: »

Trippier is one of the worst fullbacks in the league.

hardly.

theoneeyedman

For all of Tottenham's possession, Arsenal are probablyore likely to score on the break than they are. They can't even get into a position where Sir Harry can dive and win a soft penalty at the minute.

Mr.Nice Guy

Lacazette with a great chance for 2-0. Should have hit the target.

blueser

Arsenal should be 2 up there. Poor miss by Lacazette. Spurs haven't turned up today.

theoneeyedman

Arsenal bringing on Ozil to shore things up a bit

Loafing Oaf

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Arsenal bringing on Ozil to shore things up a bit

Serve Emery right if one of his defenders gets injured...

Esse85

theoneeyedman wrote: »

For all of Tottenham's possession, Arsenal are probablyore likely to score on the break than they are. They can't even get into a position where Sir Harry can dive and win a soft penalty at the minute.

You called it.

theoneeyedman

theoneeyedman wrote: »

For all of Tottenham's possession, Arsenal are probablyore likely to score on the break than they are. They can't even get into a position where Sir Harry can dive and win a soft penalty at the minute.

There it is.....

Loafing Oaf

Idiocy by Mustafi there:rolleyes:

Although Kane was offside...

Kiith

Looked offside there.

Rossi IRL

BS

Kane was offside

AdamD

Kane a mile offside

Mr.Nice Guy

theoneeyedman wrote: »

There it is.....

Except there was no dive.

1-1. Kane scores from the spot.

blueser

Daft by Mustafi.He does have that mistake in him though. But it shouldn't have mattered; Kane was offside.

Soups123

Disgraceful refereeing, soft peno but offside

Kane gets it every fcukin time.

ctrl-alt-delete

Lamela was barged like that not long after coming on and the ref allowed it, now it isn't OK.- would be nice to have a bit of consistency.

Kane clearly offside too.

Kiith

It was definitely a foul, but he was offside, so it shouldn't have counted.

Tom Mann Centuria

Wasn't a dive, definite penalty. Nicely put away.

Loafing Oaf

GRANITE Xhaka