Arsenal can seal themselves into the top-four with a win over Tottenham Hotspur this evening, but the three points won’t come easy.
Neither manager is likely to need much of a teamtalk this evening with so much on the line, with today’s North London Derby about much more than just bragging rights.
Spurs have to chase the win, as the draw leaves us in the comfortable position of holding onto our four-point lead with just two matches remaining for both teams after tonight, and that could well leave them vulnerable as the minutes roll by.
While we have the numerical advantage, Tottenham of course have their home crowd behind them to help spur them on, although I wouldn’t rule out our lesser numbers proving to be just as loud from the away end.
On paper, the form is hugely in our favour also. After four straight wins over Chelsea, Man United, West Ham and Leeds, our side should be brimming with confidence. The home side have just the one win from their last four however, although you could downplay their failure to beat Brentford and Brighton given we also failed to beat the pair just before our run of wins.
Spurs also impressed away at Anfield in their most recent outing, and some even feel they were unlucky not to have claimed a win there, and they may well take a lot of confidence out of that performance.
I would be very shocked if this one was to end up 0-0, with Tottenham having to give it everything to try and stay in the hunt for the CL places, and that has to leave them a little susceptible to a counter attack, and our team has plenty of speed to take full advantage of that.
Should Arsenal grab the opening goal, this could easily turn into a high-scoring game, while a home goal to start things off could well see a change in tactics by Tottenham, who would take a 1-0 at any costs. I feel the pressure is likely to bring some mistakes from both sides, and this could well be an amazing spectacle for the neutrals, and I’m banking on our side to come out on top.
While I think this could easily end anywhere from 2-1 to 3-4, I’m going for a 3-2 win for our side, with Nketiah showing once again why he can be an asset under pressure moving forwards.
What are your predictions for tonight’s derby clash?
Patrick
Sorry guys, woykd love an Arsenal win but our poor finishing vs their good finishers in kane and Son leaves me feeling not so confident.
2-0 i predict, including a penalty where Englands darling takes a dive and the ref is instructed to kiss his a. s. s
Yeah, you,the rest of you lot and your supersters should kiss our a.s.s cos we giving them beaten they’ll never forget in a hurry.
Match is too dicey to make any predictions on my part. Any score line is possible, and on top of CL berth you throw the Rivalry on top of that, wow.
Composure is a key to this game, and the players staying disciplined. Xhaka and Gabriel have to keep a cool head, and trying to force something will leave one open to the counter attack.
For us, players need to trust each other to do their job, trust Arteta has the tactics right, and seize the opportunities when they present themselves.
Composure is key, and the spuds have to beat us to truly hurt our chances. A loss and there is no more room for errors, but a draw and we still can slip once in two games.
Apex Legends new season vs watching out game vs studies.
This is so hard to decide they are all important.
Play Apex while watching game and tell wife not to bother me because im studying. 🤔
Let’s roll out our 11 finest tanks from our arsenal on them white chickens…..
Now that was an expensive joke….
But this to me is the main fixture we all have been waiting for, the main final the players had been taking a game at a time.
Let park the bus and catch them on the counter …….cos I don’t think, we can outwit them with our free flowing game, they have an extremely sharp attack.
My prediction…
FULL TIME
TOTHENHAM 0 ARSENAL 0
We need to find a balance between having possession and letting them try and make something out of nothing.
we do not want an open game like the Chelsea and Manu game.
No way this is 0-0!
Parking the bus would the biggest mistake we could make.
I have a feeling that Tottenham will run out 3-1 winners as they need tge win more and especially not knowing who the defence will be tonight If we can keep it all square at half time could be different story Although i hslf expect Tottenham to win i think they will drop points v Burnley and with Everton looking safer Arsenal to still get top four
OT
It’s official
Arsenal have submitted €50m for Gabriel Jesus
That’s too much money for a non-starter having one year in his contract
I would be surprised if he went for less than that to any other club in Europe. He’s only a non-starter because of Pep tactics and formation. If he was starting every game this season for another club his goal account would be much higher. I believe he’s proper striker and dangerous in the box. The kind we need.
He has the 9th most minutes of any City player hardly a bench rider. 16 goal contribution, 8 goals 8 assists in 1700 minutes as well as 4 goals 1 assists in 352 CL minutes. A goal or assist every 98 minutes in the league/cl. By comparison say Saka for us has 11 goals 6 assists in 2738 minutes in the league which is a goal/assist every 161 minutes and saka is the only player in our squad that matches his 16 goal involvements this year. People don’t half talk nonsense sometimes. City have never tried to sell Jesus, he refused to sign a new contract and simply wants to be a main man somewhere and with Haaland coming in to City it makes total sense
Angus how true and how sad that so many uninformed Gooners DO INDEED talk nonsense. Even the simple fact that a top such as Jesus has spent a number of years at a a club like City with such a genius manager as Guardiola AND City have not tried or wanted to sellhim, would tell any TRUE THINKER of his undoubted quality.
But some cannot think past stage one and have- I regret to have to honestly say- less than a normal intellect IMO SOME FOLK ARE SIMPLY BRIGHTER THAN SOME OTHERS.
Too expensive for me, especially with a year left on his contract. 35 million maybe up to 40 with clauses.
Jesus walks into Arsenal, main option as goal scorer, and CL football (hopefully) to boot. Already has a relationship with Arteta, and there is a comfort level there. Doubt he can find all that anywhere else, so 35 million tops, not even close to 50 million bid.
To me it seems as if we over value and over pay for other players, while undervaluing and under selling our own players. Mavro for 2 or 3 million? Guendouzi for 8 or 9 million? Torreira for only 13 or 15 after the season he had on loan?
Our negotiating team needs a swift kick with their buying and selling prices.
We overpay our players because that’s what we can offer. City can pay a top player 90k a week and still be attractive to that player coz He knows he will win a trophy. We don’t offer trophies so we can only pay them huge wages
Torreira you have to factor in the two loan fees we got for him as well. Same as Guendouzi. Mavro kicked on this but we’ve still made a profit it on him so not a disaster but his club could sell for a profit this summer so not ideal and his previous loan fees are not that relevant due to the amounts.
Spuds will have noticed our very nervous response after Leeds scored against us on Sunday. We looked great until we conceded and were put under more intense pressure. I don’t like to this side of our team but we just don’t have the character to deal with tough teams who play direct. MA will need to look at this side of our game. For this reason I would put the Spuds as favorite but I’m hoping we can raise our game for the occasion and at least try to get a positive result. We will need to be at our best defensively because you just know Son and Co. will have them run ragged! We also need a level head from Xhaka. We all know how hot his head can get!
Had a dream and it was 6-2 Arsenal.
My word 😳
I can’t call this one as my head says one thing and my heart another. I’m desperately hoping for a win for four reasons. We beat the Spuds, it secures a place in the Champions league, we do it in their own back yard and they finish below us to boot. I think the only crumb of comfort if we lose is 4th place is still in our hands. I’ve got some beers and a packet of Bombay Mix for the game, and a bottle of single malt for the pain if we lose. I can’t remember ever wanting to win a game as much as I do tonight. I’m going to be screaming and swearing at the TV and kicking every ball. I admit I’m not a fan of Arteta but if we win tonight, I’ll take back a lot of what I’ve said and kiss his feet.
👍 If needed, I have a punchbag to take my frustrations out on! I have butterflies in my stomach right now and seeing reports of Saka/White missing from the training photos hasn’t helped and neither has the fact that the last winning goal we scored at WHL was that thunderbolt from Rosicky back in 2014…
Been far too long!! COYG
I hope your punching bag isn’t your partner, Sue! 🤣 🤣 🤣
😂
Spurs will win,because of their players experience
Spurs 3 – 0 Arsenal
£50 mil is too much for Jesus which should not be our main striker coming in.
But my influence may have waned somewhat due to how badly my judgement was on Ramsdale.
Gunsmoke, Hilarious how your post actually makes you think you once had some “influence”!! As if..!
The truth is you have not understood what the word “influence” actually means!
Got a feeling it’s going to be a surprisingly exciting game. Pressures on Spurs and they need to win here, against Liverpool they sat back all game and once Liverpool equalised they settled for it, they simply can’t do that tonight. 4-2 or 5-3 Arsenal. These ties are often quite tight but with it being a derby and Spurs needing to chase the game/their fans urging them forward can see it opening up at some point. Honestly can it see being 2-2 or us 3-2 down at some point before the tables flip and as Spurs chase the game we finish them off.
We must keep Kane quiet for the 90 minutes, stop him from dropping deep and collecting ball making those through pass to song.
Song master the art of running behind defenders, am confident we can neutralize this treat.
Back to basic compact as ever, the gaffer will relish this
3 – 1 to Arsenal fc.
Nketiah in the first half.
Gabriel and Marinelli in the second half.
Champions League, here we come.
Do you have a crystal ball, Illiterate?😲
I feel good about Tomi neutralizing Son’s runs on his wing, but eventually Son will switch and target Cedric, and that’s when all hell will break lose.
If Son punishes us it will be on Cedric’s side; when he’s caught holding the ball too long like he’s hatching an egg, or caught too far forward and out of defensive position.
Also, our midfield has to be solid; can’t give away possession or fold under their press, and can’t let them glide through the midfield unchallenged.
Sorry my prediction is 1-3, but I really, really, really, hope I’m wrong!
Oops, I meant 3-1 to the scum, sorry.
Not feeling it for tonight. But if we sit back and are disciplined defensively we could nick a draw or score on the counter. If we go at them we will get hit on the counter and lose. I would settle for a draw but obviously would love nothing more than to secure CL football tonight.
More than trusting”the process”, I’m trusting in our lads and Arteta to pull this one off…”Victoria Concordia Crescit”…COYG
Pull one off ? I sincerely hope not!😂😂
@Declan
Nice catch…😂
Hope this isn’t a bad omen. This North London Derby is being played in a couple of hours here(5:45am) Australian time FRIDAY THE 13TH. Some people are superstitious with that day. I’m nervous and anxious about this match,, a bit like a black cat on a hot tin roof. Tottenham Hotspur 1 ; Arsenal 4. The lads will show up
It’s Friday the 13th in Tottenham as well Mr Jennings…
Freddie Kruger to cut the Spuds to pieces. Glenn Hoddle is having concerns over Tottenham. This could be a good sign