When any two clubs are level on points after 5 games and are going to play each other, it’s already a rivalry. However, if the two clubs happens to be the Arsenal and Spuds, it’s not rivalry but a WAR. North London Derby is here, on a British Sunday Afternoon, at Emirates. If you have got any plans, I would rather suggest to forget about it and restock your refrigerator. Waitrose opens at 10 am on Sunday and 4 hours are sufficient to sort out any scarcity.
Arsenal v Tottenham is one of the biggest game of this season. The result will affect both the teams, for one is trying to compete for the title and the other one is trying to show the world they, still, are a part of the top 6. A win today will move us ahead of our arch rivals and closer to Manchester City. A win today will keep our confidence high. And for the fans, a win today will mean the world.
Right, that’s a lot of emotion from me on a Sunday morning. Lets get back to the facts.
In the team news, I doubt Martinelli will be available for today. Even if he makes it, I don’t think Arteta will risk him with games coming thick and fast, and when we have a back up in Trossard who is doing exceptionally well for whatever chances he is getting. Raya is probably gonna get the start ahead of Ramsdale again today and the back 4 will remain same. It would be interesting to see whom Mikel prefers in the midfield alongside Declan Rice. Will it be his favorite Havertz, or the in-form Vieira? I would personally go with Vieira, never replace a confident player unless he needs resting.
We need Gabriel Jesus up top and we need him to do the famous Henry slide in the corner after his hattrick today. Saka has been phenomenal until now and I don’t have to guess that he will only improve his performance. He is already excited for the game, and has to say this when asked about the game.
I’m really excited. It’s a massive advantage. Personally, the feeling I have every time I play at the Emirates is that we’re going to win and the people are behind us. The support that the fans give us, not allowing us to lose, gives us that extra confidence boost.
source : arsenal.com
Well, here’s the bitter pill. It’s not going to be easy. Spuds are having a new manager bounce and though they don’t have the usual scorer against Arsenal in Harry Kane, they are playing better than their own standards. Derbys are more emotion than the talent, and we must make sure we keep our emotions in check, score 3 by the half time and not let them have any chances. We need to be solid defensively, whoever plays at CF need to make most of the chances he gets and we must keep them pressed for the whole game. We must also be careful about the goals we concede in the first few minutes of the games; no lapse in concentration will be accepted.
Right, there’s not much for today except the excitement. We have beaten them in both of our games last season, and I hope we do the third on them today. Convincingly.
I will see you during the match.
Killroy From last post.
From the reports the game was all and more it was expected to be. First blood to Ireland on their way to the last 4 at least. Wales Australia will also be a great game for all including the neutrals.
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LIR
I’m salivating at our real first home test to see just how far we’ve come from last season. Let’s not kid ourselves, games don’t get more fierce and oft niggly-ugly than a NLD. I’m going to challenge ‘poster’s curse’ and say this is not a game for Havertz. If I were Ange P, and Havertz was in the line up, he’d be my first priority to unravel and get the crowd on his back. Next would be Zinchenko and his absenteeism from the LB position, where big Gabs covers most of the time using excellent positional space defending, but can’t win when facing 2 v 1 unless human error intervenes.
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Watching the PSV game one can’t help think that White is fallible at RB. Positionally, it’s not all his fault because of his need to link up with Saka to afford our wing wizard more room to maneuver in.
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I’d throw Ange a curved ball and rest Saka. Let Nelson loose on a mission to impress.
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I’d also start ESR at 8 with Trossard LW with both pivoting to interchange with Jesus, Ode and Nelson. Both are gutsy in the tackle and know how to defend in Mikel’s multi rotational, player positioning tactics. As an example; Zinchenko went from a LB interception to central MF and then vertical to false 9 where he hovered, and then was caught badly out of position with Gabs just getting over to cover in time.
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It all sound brilliantly masterful until opposing managers, such as De Zerbi among others start to counter with their own off the ball movement to vacated spaces by the likes of Zinchenko and White where our high defensive line is a third into our opponents half, all ready to put the afterburners on to cut down er I mean tackle opposing speedsters on their counters. Raya offers a better sweeping role than Ramsdale proving that we should never have got rid of Emi M and saved what will be about £60m loss in the end. The irony Emi is probably worth £60m+ now.
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We are not going to see the same naiveté from PSV where equally we are on a high from our CL opening statement with much more to come if we can keep key players fit and healthy.
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I think we are in for a treat of a game. Pulsating, nerve wracking and emotionally charged in our room, and a cauldron inside the Emirates and pubs globally. Marc, I envy you today, but in a good way, and I hope you witness something special from our £billion squad with only 3 injuries; albeit 3 to key players in Timber, Partey and Martinelli.
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Midfield will be interesting with Bissouma & Sarr interchanging at 6/8 as partey and Rice would have done. The Bissouma v Rice should be a no contest for Rice, but with Sarr chipping in, Rice could find himself outnumbered.
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Who is going to walk off the pitch claiming #10 supremacy: Ode or Maddison?
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Personally, I’ve thought Maddison is over rated and open to unpalatable petulance displayed during games when things aren’t going his way. Ode is just a machine looking to refine angles for slide rule passes at 600hp speed all the time. Negativity doesn’t exist in Ode’s mind on the pitch. That probably comes later when Ode is in introspection mode.
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For me Ode is by far the more visionary player looking to continually improve. One of Edu’s better signings if we can keep him. RM must realise their huge error by now.
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Arteta’s multi tactical positional game of say 30+ different morphed positioning is a thing of beauty with the delicacy of prima ballerinas when it all cliques.
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Unfortunately, this season our tuning has been off as have our hippo lumbered performances with not a ballerina in sight. In very short parts we’ve looked devastating and unplayable, but these parts have been too few and too far between.
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We need consistency to follow the PSV game, which wasn’t as great as some have made out, but an improvement no less. PSV were off the pace and they won’t be in Eindhoven. I’m not looking for another step up to the PSV game, just that level *without* the self made errors. Keeping possession against the Spuds is going to be near impossible unless we move the ball at speed with one and two touch football particularly in and around their box.
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Kulusevski and Johnson are playing well in MF and is why I’d want ESR and Rice keeping possession and being creative with ball transitions behind Ode, Jesus, Trossard and Nelson when they find the space to run into. We do that, and the Spuds midfield will be chasing shadows.
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Now! The biggest niggle that is needing assuaging for me is are we going to have our usual Champion’s League hangover today? You remember the old Wenger days when we’d always be under par after a midweek CL game? Tired legs would show quickly in the game and 2nd halves were often torturous to witness.
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So, the question remains can we beat the Spuds? I say we can with a close game of 3:1 or 3:2 to us.
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Can Arteta beat Ange P? Not sure I can answer that from my brain – only my heart says yes as above.
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What do you 92,000 LIR readers say? Anyone……………………….?
KP
From last post only concern with Saka is he’s form is patchy at the moment. A goal and an assist is decent returns in his last game but he has lost some lustre in his play and could do with a rest. As you rightly, say he will break eventually.
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From what I’ve seen of Spuds, which admittedly is not much, they appear to be a team that grinds you down into mistakes.
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We’ll see when the fat lady sings and hopefully singing out tune.
I hate to disagree on Saka, he has been immense and often keeps 2/3 players busy on that right flank, which allows Odegaard to move centrally. We overload the opposition box and with Zinny inverting back, we have enough coverage in the midfield.
As for Havertz, yes – lets keep the in-form Vieira. Nelson will come I am sure in last 30 odd minutes to create chaos.
Would you go with Jesus or Nketiah? It’s a bummer for me. Heart says Nketiah but then the mind says otherwise.
Ambarish
I’m thinking of rotation and Saka’s form in prior PSV games. Also, he’s get kicked to pieces today. I’d play Saka from the bench if required, but I think we have more than enough with out Saka.
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Jesus for me every time. He’s a chaos creator whereas as Nketiah is a level lower for me.
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Vieira also a bench player. Start ESR, Ambarish, ESR is by f=ar the better player than Viera, who’s decent, but ESR is Saka+ levels when given the chance. Problem is most people have forgotten what ESR can do when he saved Arteta’s bacon.
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Arteta will do Arteta so this convo is moot to all intents and purposes, but good to have differing opinions.
he’s going to get*
I’d go for…
Raya
White Saliba Gabriel Zinch
Saka Ode Rice Tross
Havertz Jesus
I’m a bit more sanguine about Havertz for this game Tony. He’s played for Chelsea so will understand the hatred for Spurs and the importance of beating them. I’d also task him with winding up Romero. There’s a risk with Vieira that if his confidence is fragile, then an NLD might be something for later in his career. If we score first and establish a lead, as I expect we will, Jorginho and Tomi will be important. I think this team is the one for a disciplined, controlled win.
Ambarish
Very posh mate, shopping at Waitrose! I favour the no-nonsense gegenpress supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl!
🇩🇪German (cost) efficiency every time!
Good piece by the way. I can feel your antipathy towards the cockerel jockeys from the miserable wastelands of Middlesex!
Ambarish you got your wish with Vieira at, 8 but Eddie as LW is a head scratcher.
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Our bench is still poor with Soares, Kiwior and Elneny almost 50% not right for us. Why not add more Hale Enders?
Just offside…
Bissouma is a c*nt.
Ambarish so is Maddison possibly even a bigger one.😎
Eddie’s such a poor finisher that he targets the short-side even when it’s non-existent…Vieira doesn’t have the mettle for this affair, so hopefully he can put his stamp on things with a shot from distance
nice deflected goal off the bull in the china shop dickhead…he’s going to go full ham now for sure
Saka… What a man. And the Maddison piss take with the darts! Double top!
Haha that was top banter. Jesus should have scored the 2nd.
Some save by Raya
What s one hand save.
That will answer the Ramsdallians
Raya saved one there.
Raya is certainly more calm between the stick.
But Son is the biggest cunt
White still has plenty of work to do when it comes to defending in the box…how’s it even possible that Maddison could have such a loose touch yet still no defending in sight…if we don’t start taking our chances, we’re going to get piss and vinegar’d off the pitch come the second half, which is when they usually rise to the occasion
The look on Arteta face.
” Told them to go and express themselves ”
” Now ,what can I say now ?
Am totally clueless “
Lots of half arsed play in the run up to their goal. We become ragged too often after scoring which is a psychological issue. Wasteful finishing too.
Need to get back in control next half and resume pressing. Spurs have a red card incoming I’m sure.
That easy-peasy fixture mid-week should have seen us starting the same group today, not a first time ever starting 11…as I’ve said on a multitude of occasions, I dare anyone to find a worse finishing competitive side in all of fucking Europe
Viera’s 1st half stat were very poor. See if Havertz is any better.
WTF with the subs and at halftime no less…squeaky bum times if we’ve lost both Rice and Partey for any period of time
it shouldn’t require a second look from the ref
A poo en surely – for the love of christ!
Romero’s fortunate that he’s not off the pitch with a second yellow…how does that twat become a constant fixture on any team of consequence
Jorginho ain’t Rice
KP-could you be more right about our psychological letdown seemingly after each and every goal
Er pen…
Wengerball is back!
there’s no excuse whatsoever for what Jorginho did there
Eddie off for Smith Rowe please
Havertz had better watch his sloppy footwork or we could be down to 10 soon
thus far we have an own goal, a penalty and Jorginho gave them the equalizer on a silver platter…as such, MA’s counter-attacking tactical approach has been less than fucking stellar…Eddie should have been sent off for fun
ESR coming in will be good. But we have to realise that the boy’s spirit has been broken by Arteta keeping him in the doldrums almost 1 1/2 years. Plus he has not been playing with the starters for ages , likely only with practice agaio team. It will take him a few games. That is mandatory if we expect ESR to shine away
the Spurs should be paying Jorginho’s wages this week…what a useless twat
Brighton with their obligatory 3 goals a game
my bad earlier on, as I was convinced that Romero already had a yellow prior to the handball
Eddie’s stats are championship level.