Why Spurs will beat Arsenal this weekend
After a real caning for suggesting that Manchester United would beat Liverpool last week, this week I'm facing Colin Illingworth's impressive argument that Arsenal will beat Spurs. Arsenal is a good team and has been for a while, but that is no reason why it will definitely win this game especially as Spurs is a team on the rise.
There is little in football like confidence and Spurs has shown that it is perfectly capable of playing and beating the comfy cabal at the top. Spurs saw off Liverpool with some comfort, before admittedly being second best against Manchester United. Against Chelsea the scoreline told the wrong story, Spurs were bright and inventive and Robbie Keane should have received a penalty at 1-0 to Chelsea - with Carvalho possibly sent off as well (it was denying a goalscoring chance) - a key incident that may well have changed the course of the game. Overall Spurs has shown that it is now capable of raising its game against the top teams - and those long years of substandard results against the big four are over. Last season there were two league draws between these two - this season Spurs can make a step up.
Spurs will miss Defoe, but Crouch and Keane are capable of troubling any defence in the country and although Arsenal has a fabulous attacking line-up the defence is not the best and the uncertainty over the goalkeeping position makes the likely defensive line-up a bit more brittle. Has Mannone done enough to unseat Almunia - and who do the defenders trust more? At times like this the centre-halves tend to try to be a bit more dominant and safety first and this could restrict the speed at which Arsenal launch counter-attacks. I think that the Arsenal defence is a little shy of water tight and Spurs will batter away at any cracks.
On the subject of counter-attacks Arsenal will miss Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky, perhaps slowing down its attacks. For Spurs David Bentley appears to be back in favour and who can forget that long range goal (certainly not Almunia) and he may well play as a specialist in this kind of game against his former club. If Aaron Lennon does miss out then that is a pity because his pace could force Gael Clichy into a defensive performance that would lesson Arsenal's attacking threat - at least Bentley has the work rate to cover that side of the pitch and nullify the full back.
Arsenal at home should see off most teams, but Tottenham scored four times in this fixture last season when the team was not as confident or strong. This season Spurs has the wherewithal to pull off a famous, shock win. Spurs are the rank outsiders here, but Harry Redknapp has proved to be an inspirational manager who has taken the club from the brink of relegation to having a real shot at the top four in just one season and a bit of fire and inspiration is what makes the difference in this kind of game.
Spurs main hopes are confidence, a brittle Arsenal defence, an inspirational manager and an Arsenal specialist. This is no foregone conclusion of a home win and I reckon both teams will score - Spurs can get a result in this one.
Why the Gunners will beat Spurs
Calling all Spurs fans. How confident are you of beating Arsenal on Saturday? Who do you think will play will be the main man for Tottenham? What do you think the score will be on Saturday? What other reasons are there for thinking Spurs will win? I’d love to hear from you.
Calling all Arsenal fans. How confident are you of beating Spurs and making me look like I did last weekend? What do you think the score will be? How do you think Arsenal will cope without Rosicky and Walcott? I’d love to hear from you.
