Tottenham-Arsenal Preview

So it's time for another North London Derby. I'm really looking forward to it honestly. Sp*rs spent so much money in the summer and it's at their ground so they'll be looking to win. Unfortunately for them, they never beat the mighty Gunners.

The injury situation is not so good for us, especially at centre-back. Senderos is suspended for his red card last match and Gallas is still injured. This means that Gilberto, who has been gone on international duty until today, will probably fill in at the back. I still maintain that we should not have sent out Djourou on loan. We only have three centre backs in the squad now and that just isn't enough. Gallas is prone to injuries shown by last season and the beginning of this one. Senderos can play there well but it seems like he gets suspended quite a lot. Not only does playing Gilberto there mean that we have a midfielder playing center back, but we also take away from our midfield by having to play him at the back. Bacary Sagna is fit again so he'll most likely play at right back.

I'd guess the lineup then will look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gilberto-Clichy
Hleb-Cesc-Flamini-Rosicky
Van Persie-Adebayor

I picked Flamini in the midfield over Diaby and Denilson simply because the boss seems to like playing him this season. He has been in quite a few games and so I think that's the option he'll go for, even though I'd like to see Diaby in the game and get a few of those crunching tackles on the cunty Sp*rs players. Almunia has looked good in the games he has played so hopefully he can continue that. Adebayor has a tendency to score in these games and it seems like Gilberto does too but it will be tough for him to from the back so Ade can hopefully pick his game up and score a couple.

The last Tottenham victory over Arsenal was on November 7th, 1999, when Spurs won 2-1 at White Hart Lane; the Gunners have remained unbeaten against their North London rivals in the eighteen matches (fourteen Premiership, one FA Cup, two League Cup) since. In other words, they never beat the Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger has said the team will be ready for the match, even after the international break.

"It's a big game, so players straight away know they have to be switched on," he said.

Speaking about the international break, he had this to say:

"It's a big disturbance, this interruption, and all of the players have been under big pressure with their national teams.

"But if you want to be a successful team, you have to deal with that and Tottenham have had the same problem with their players."

I think the squad will come out looking strong even after the break and given how well we've played this season I'd say that we can come out with a win. Our midfielders have been scoring so they should be able to keep that up and our forwards should start scoring goals soon too. Tottenham are weak at the back, especially without Ledley King, and we really should be able to score goals.

As for my prediction, I'll say: Tottenham 1-2 Arsenal.