Tottenham had Gareth Bale to thank after he scored a stunning winner in the last minute against West Ham at Upton Park...the game finished 3-2 and Bale has now 15 goals this season in the Premier League , manager Andre Vilas-Boas hailed his star man after the game ."he is a tremendous player , he inspires the team "



Arsenal bounced back after recent Fa Cup and Champions League defeats to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at the Emirates , it was not all easy though ..despite an early 6th minute lead thanks to Santo Cazorla Arsenal were made tp pay for their missed chances as Villa made it 1-1 after some poor defending ...however Santo Cazorla came to the rescue again as he turned in a fine pass from Nacho Monreal to gibe the Gunners the 3pts manager Arsene Wenger wa so desperate for ...he said after the game .. "but most important was to get the 3pts today"

Gareth Bale to score a hat trick and beat Arsenal all on his own to show that Spurs really have become a one man team.

Did you know that Spurs have thrown away leads in their last two Premier League games against Arsenal and have lost both matches 5-2.

Any comments or predictions?

WHO do Arsenal have fit ,who will they line up for this one ,That will determine if Bale will be handled. Any other time i wouldn't have given him a chance against us even off of recent form ,but that is with Gibbs and Song fit. Now we have lost both. I am thinking Jenkinson to start and i hope they use Coquelin in the defensive mid role instead of Arteta because he has better reactions. However i am thinking They will start Arteta and have Wilshire track any Bale movement. Tough game to judge really ,but Spurs have the better squad so i am hoping a draw at best ,but Spurs should win 3-0 .

This is a difficult one to predict, in fact a draw wouldn't be a bad result for the Spuds, but I'm (as ever) going for a Lily White heaven - Spurs 2 Arsenal 1. COYS!

I'll go with Arsenal 4-2

Cazorla to outshine player of the month, Bale.

according to Arsene Wenger he has no special plan to handle Bale .."We don't plan for anybody. It is always the same - focus on our strengths and forget about your opponent." said Wenger."There is nobody special that you least like to face," he added."All players have different qualities."

I think this is the match that will decide 4th place ....or give a big boost to the team who wins , a draw would be ok but i hope we can step up another gear like we have done in the past ...

Here we are again, same as last season we are beating Arsenal in the league and we play agianst them late in the season for 3 points and the momentum to finish off the league in the place we want. Last season Arsenal did us and carried on from there to 3rd as we lost our way. If we lose this one I think the same will happen.

Hopefully Defoe comes back to replace Adebayor.

At home you have to be confident of a win against anyone so im going for a 2-1 Spurs win.

Yeah, I'm pleased about Wenger saying he has no specific plans to stop Bale, he is not the sort of man to play poker about such things, so I'm thinking he means it. The hype around Bale may be OTT but he is a threat to any defence, and if I was Arsene I'd be looking to double up on him. Depending on how the first half goes he may change his mind about stopping him after 45', I'm hoping it will be too late by then!

Mate with that comment you seem to have fall head over heels for that very hype!
Arsenal have never double up on anyone in the past , and Bale has yet to make a fool of a top defender in way that requires anyone to double up. That being said ,he is a player with confidence and we will need our defenders to take care of their job.
Judging by Podolski's facebook page it seems Bale is one player that is definitely on their minds ,some hilarious stuff on there.

The Bale v Walcott comparison's were interesting ,when you read and hear all the talk about Bale recently!

[quote="specnur"][quote="Pickleman1967"][quote="Conner99"][quote="specnur"]WHO do Arsenal have fit ,who will they line up for this one ,That will determine if Bale will be handled. Any other time i wouldn't have given him a chance against us even off of recent form ,but that is with Gibbs and Song fit. Now we have lost both. I am thinking Jenkinson to start and i hope they use Coquelin in the defensive mid role instead of Arteta because he has better reactions. However i am thinking They will start Arteta and have Wilshire track any Bale movement. Tough game to judge really ,but Spurs have the better squad so i am hoping a draw at best ,but Spurs should win 3-0 .[/quote]

according to Arsene Wenger he has no special plan to handle Bale .."We don't plan for anybody. It is always the same - focus on our strengths and forget about your opponent." said Wenger."There is nobody special that you least like to face," he added."All players have different qualities."

I think this is the match that will decide 4th place ....or give a big boost to the team who wins , a draw would be ok but i hope we can step up another gear like we have done in the past ...[/quote]

Yeah, I'm pleased about Wenger saying he has no specific plans to stop Bale, he is not the sort of man to play poker about such things, so I'm thinking he means it. [b]The hype around Bale may be OTT[/b] but he is a threat to any defence, and if I was Arsene I'd be looking to double up on him. Depending on how the first half goes he may change his mind about stopping him after 45', I'm hoping it will be too late by then! [/quote]

Mate with that comment you seem to have fall head over heels for that very hype!
Arsenal have never double up on anyone in the past , and Bale has yet to make a fool of a top defender in way that requires anyone to double up. That being said ,he is a player with confidence and we will need our defenders to take care of their job.
Judging by Podolski's facebook page it seems Bale is one player that is definitely on their minds ,some hilarious stuff on there.

The Bale v Walcott comparison's were interesting ,when you read and hear all the talk about Bale recently![/quote]

Yeah, of course I think the sun shines out of Bale's arse, but I would say a big part of the reason he is hurting defences more now than earlier in the season is the 'free roaming' role AVB has given him, which makes it harder to nail him down. Whatever, we're gonna know by 18:00 on Sunday!

Defoe can eff off as far as I'm concerned. Adebayor has to and surely will start.

I get why a lot of Spurs fans are narked off with him. But we're paying him £70K a week - no point him sitting on the bench sulking. We need to get his spirit up and there's no better game to do that than against Arsenal. He just needs to channel his aggression, unlike last time, when he was far too charged up.

I think we've seen the best of Bale because of Defoe's absence. With Defoe, he expects everything to be fed through to him, so he can get the glory, the greedy git. With Adebayor, he makes a lot of runs for the likes of Bale to exploit, and can hold the ball up from an aeriel standpoint. Also, if Bale shoots, you rarely seen Adebayor whinging if he didn't receive a pass, unlike Defoe. I think Bale plays with more expression with Adebayor in the team, than he does with Defoe.

There's also been a negative spotlight on Mousa Dembele, but I would cut him some slack because he's playing with Scott Parker, and not Sandro. Parker is a decent player, but Sandro is on another level defensively and thus Dembele could express himself more playing with The Beast. Alongside Parker, Dembele needs to put in a bit more defensive work, hence why he nearly got sent off against West Ham. It's not really his forte.

I reckon Disco Benny will start at LB. This might mean Vertonghen shifts to CB alongside Dawson. The rest of the team picks itself, but I am concerned about Walker being exposed again against Cazorla or Podolski.

My team:

----------------------------Lloris----------------------------

Walker---------Dawson----------Vertonghen-----Benny

-----------------Dembele---------Parker------------------

Lennon--------------------Bale---------------------Holtby

-------------------------Adebayor-------------------------


I reckon it'll be a Desmond...2-2!

Dembele getting stick?
Fickle b*sat*rds!
Dembele had to change his game to accommodate Bale coming into his area of expertise ,until AVB tells him what he wants him to do in that situation then he will be confused. Not only that ,i think he looks a bit tired or maybe carrying an in jury. HIm being best creative mid in that set up would make me understand why AVB keeps playing him if this is true.But he jsut seems to have the spring he had at Fulham or earlier in with Spurs.
And as far as defending not being his forte ,someone needs to go check last season's top tacklers . Dembele was 2nd i think Scott Parker was like 6th or 5th. A little clarification form the manager will sort it, i think Spurs have some good players in mid field especially in the tackling department ,but it's the creative area where they fall short.
Once the belgian gets a little help creatively ,like mata got with Oscar ,that will give him more space. Bale moves into the middle and right now he 's not looking to set anyone up. If he mixes it up with a decent pass to Adebayor a bit more frequently ,he will be more dangerous ,because right now his goals to shot ratio is lacking!

Pretty good analysis Jo, the best case for Ade I've heard, but I can't say I'm a fan. If you are a striker, you are judged by the number of goals you get, and I make it 2 for the big man since August of last year. I'd love to see him 'come alive' today, and make amends for getting sent off against the Gooners last time.

Arsenal has more good player than Tottenham. Tottenham just has one Gareth Bale, he can't make different. Theo Walcott will score and asenal win 5-2

Interestingly Cazorla has matched the number of goals Bale has contributed to this season (goals and assists), Walcott has beaten it while Podolski is only one behind. Bale is a great player in form, which he is, but he still has yet to go a whole season at this level.

This is a tough one to call but I'm going for 3-2 or 4-2 Arsenal, with Spurs obviously scoring first.

Hoping to see an open free flowing attacking game with Arsenal beating the wannabes

Line ups

Tottenham
Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Dembele, Parker, Lennon, Sigurdsson, Bale, Adebayor.

Subs: Friedel, Naughton, Gallas, Carroll, Livermore, Holtby, Defoe.

Arsenal:
Szczesny, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Monreal, Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud.

Subs: Mannone, Koscielny, Rosicky, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Gervinho.

I just don't like Arsenal's set up .
Wilshire will be key in this game without a question of a doubt ,Arteta getting caught on the ball already!

First half to the Arse in terms of posession and play, Spurs take it on clinical finishing. Up the Spurs!