Arsenal v Tottenham

Arsenal had yet another frustrating result as they drew 3-3 with Fulham at the Emirates ...a penalty missed by Mikel Arteta with the last kick of the game summed up the afternoon for Arsenal as they missed the chance to grab 6th place in the table ...Arsene Wenger saw his side throw away a 2-0 lead for the second time in a week ...with Tottenham visiting on saturday he will want to make sure his defense is much tighter than it was against Fulham .


Tottenham were heading for a well deserved point until a late winner from Edin Dzeko gave Man City all 3 pts and left the visiting fans in despair ...the game finished 2-1 and although Tottenham got nothing from the game they made a good game of it and manager Andre Vilas-Boas was pleased his team were able to compete with the Premier League champions .

This is the first time for ages that I remember a North London derby between 2 sides both in such poor form.

I predict a boring Arsenal 0-0 Tottenham.

i think i might have to remind Hams that that this fixture last season gave us 7 goals and we gave Tottenham a bit of a thumping to win 5-2 ...

I'm with Hams....with AVB's undecided misfiring team and Wenger's all possession no finish(minus their last outing where they actually looked pretty darn good)...it's hard to see this one ending with a goal....

Obviously hoping for a nice 7 goal thriller but unlikely.

latest news concerning Arsenal ...Arsene Wenger has said Olivier Giroud is a doubt for saturday after picking up back and hamstring problems playing for France ...Theo Walcott and Mikel Arteta have minor problems and are being checked out .

Arsene Wenger is not sure whether to throw Bacary Sagna back in the side to face Tottenham after he broke his leg last season at Totteham ...Alex Oxlade Chamberlain is recovering from a hip injury and will be assessed before the game.

Finally Wenger was not happy that midfielder Santi Cazorla flew to Panama with Spain only to be an unused substitute , the Arsenal boss said .."They had 30 degrees there, so it was (good for) sunbathing , could Cazorla have done without that trip? Of course. He could have got injured, so I personally don't complain, but he must not be very happy."

Did you know that In the last two meetings between Spurs and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, a team has taken a 2-0 lead and then gone on to lose the match (Spurs won 3-2 in 2010-11 and Arsenal 5-2 in 2011-12)

Any more comments or predictions?

I can't see a Spurs win, that's for sure.

We're decimated by injuries to key players (Kaboul, Parker, Assou-Ekotto, Dembele) and we're not in great form either.

Arse 3-2 Spurs unfortunately

It's a really tough one to call but I think we'll nick it, as Johaldo predicted, 3-2 Arsenal.

Glad to see Giroud and Szczesny are starting.

Line ups

Arsenal:
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Podolski, Giroud..

subs: Mannone, Jenkinson, Santos, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin

Tottenham:
Lloris, Walker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Naughton, Lennon, Huddlestone, Sandro, Bale, Adebayor, Defoe..

subs: Friedel, Dawson, Livermore, Townsend, Carroll, Dempsey, Sigurdsson

As Stan said Szczesny is back in goal for Arsenal following his ankle injury.

Hugo Lloris makes his Premier League debut for Tottenham replacing Brad Friedel who drops down to the bench.

PS- Welcome back Johaldo

Adebayor who had put Spurs 1-0 up after just 10 mins has now been sent off with a straight Red for a ridiculous flying tackle on Cazorla!

Can Arsenal get back into it now the Yids are down to 10 men?

What a clown adebayor is, What the hell is that man thinking making a challenge like that at that point in the game ,in that part of the pitch ,when your controlling the game.An absolutely shocking rush of blood to the head. Definite red card offense for me ,without a question of doubt. Still think that by the way Arsenal look so far that they still will have to be better to get a point out of this. As i say that Mertesacker scores.

HT

Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham

The Gunners have turned things around and now lead 3-1 at the break.

Mertesacker with his 1st goal for the club and close range efforts from Podolski and Giroud have left Spurs in real trouble.

Will Arsenal go on to score even more in the 2nd period?

wow ...great game of football ...3-1 to us at half time and from 1-0 down , of course the red card for Adebayoir has helped us ..but it was a dangerous challenge right on the ankle of Cazorla .

Walcott did great to get that cross in for Mertsacker ....fantastic header , a bit of fortune for Podolski to give us a 2-1 lead ..a very well worked goal for 3-1 though .

I wont say game over just yet though ...need to concentrate and keep defending well in the second half ...

FT

Saturday 17th November

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham
0-1 Adebayor 10'
1-1 Mertesacker 24'
2-1 Podolski 41'
3-1 Giroud 45'
4-1 Cazorla 58'
4-2 Bale 71'
5-2 Walcott 88'

A repeat of last seasons score!

I think Theo Walcott really had a great game today and totally deserved his goal at the end.

Emmanuel Adebayor was an idiot and cost Spurs the match when Tottenham were 1-0 up and in control.

Thats 3 league defeats in a row now for the Yids and AVB is now in danger of being the first PL manager to be sacked this season.

Any comments on todays match?

..5-2 to the Arsenal..5-2 to ther Arsenal .... what a game ...despite Tottenham having only 10 men , that is not our fault ....Adebayor is the one to blame . I do not think Howard Webb had any other choice ..it was a dangerous tackle and who knows it could have broken Cazorla`s ankle or injured him badly .

Arsenal almost let it slip when Bale scored ..but we had as many chances as Tottenham did at 4-2 ....wrapped it up with a lovely goal for Walcott .. i have a big smile on my face now ...

Pity about this game is that we won't get a good idea of Where Arsenal are at when it comes to big derby matches!
The scoreline in my opinion is a bit misleading ,not that i thought Spurs were incredible or didn't deserve to be down a man,but some of the things i saw from Arsenal with the man advantage was very concerning. I didn;t see Cazorla take full advantage and rip that midfield apart especially with the lead footed Huddlestone in there,i thought any decent midfield would exploit that Spurs midfield ,but it didn't happen. I hope Wenger see's this and addresses it.
THe defense again looked poor for me ,terrible terrible run of from from them.

I'd have taken the boring 0-0 predicted here before the match kicked off after another hefty thumping from The Arse. Adeybayor is a horse's arse for getting sent off with that tackle. The only consolation for me is that Spurs showed some fight in the second half, for a change, even though the game looked over at half time. Keep the faith Spurs fans, the season has a way to go yet....

true ..we have to remember that we were playing against 10 men , Tottenham could have scored a few due to our defensive lapses and we had some poor touches from our players ..it was typical of the current belief from the fans of our defensive abilities that after Tottenham pulled one back they were getting nervous ...although we were still 4-2 ahead .

Harry Redknapp still thinks Tottenham will finish above us come the end of the season ....it is a long way off though ..plenty of drama and controversy to come i reckon .

he doesnt bode well for spurs as long as he is at the team, i said it long ago if my memory serves me right.)

what could have been an easy game he turned into a pathetic defeat, and i woudnt be surprised if he ruined it deliberately.)