Time To Pluck The 'White Lillies'!?
The North London Derby
The part of the season where nerves begin to kick-in, is here.Ā An important last 5 games lie in store for us, starting with a tricky local derby against Tottenham Hotspur.
With our last game coming in a 4-1 defeat against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, the teamās stamina couldāve been low, the team couldāve lost all belief, however.. we had a free weekend. Allowing Wenger to get to grips with the team a little more, show them what needs to be done to continue the push for the Barclays Premier League against local rivals, āSpurs. āSpursāve been flying through their fixtures, thick & fast. Games against Portsmouth, Sunderland & Portsmouth again, have left Redknapp re-shuffling the back four and midfield, in order for them to be ready for the derby.
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"Ross, a passionate Arsenal fan from England, takes time out & previews the game for 11G. You can follow him on Twitter as well!
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Gooners should approach the local derby, confident, yet aware of the attacking presence āSpurs present. The confidence comes from the recent form of Theo Walcott & fine goal-scoring form of Nicklas Bendtner, who seem to be finding the net at-will. However, Arsenal must be aware of the form of Hotspursā front-two. Pavyluchenko continues to give centre-backsā a hard time with Defoe making crafty runsā behind the CBās. Old-timer, Sol Campbell, if he were to start, must work on his pace in order to stop the attacking creativity of an inconsistent Tottenham side.
In the last 10 Premier League games against āSpurs, Arsenal have won 5 and drew 5. Two memorable victories that spring to mind are a historic, 5-4 victory at White Hart Lane, in late 2004. And a recent, 3-0 victory at The Emirates where Cesc Fabregas stole the show. This time, weāre without Cesc. Relying on the creativity of Nasri & Diaby in the midfield, Rosicky on the left & Campbell at the back doesnāt give many of us Gooners hope, but I see another side of the coin. A thumping, 5-0 victory against FC Porto without our big names proves that when called upon in big games, our second-stringers can produce the goods.
Now to āSpurs. Itās more than likely that this Hotspur team will decide the outcome of the Premier League, facing us, Chelsea & Manchester United in the weeks to come. Many people will consider Tottenham to be drained of energy after going to extra-time in their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Portsmouth, I see it differently. Redknapp will be drilling the fact into his players, that 4th place is all they have left to fight for, pumping more motivation into a derby that doesnāt need pumped up even more.
A win is a necessity for us, in our pursuit for Premiership gold. With United slipping up at home to Blackburn, this is the perfect opportunity to get ourselves back in the mix, and push us into second place. Number 52, Nicklas Bendtner believes that this game is the perfect opportunity to get our season back on track after falling out of the Champions League to favourites Barcelona. He went on record as saying:
"āIt would mean a lot to us because Tottenham are our main rivals. Beating them at their ground and maybe going second in the League, depending on other results, would be a massive thing for us.ā
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A massive thing, indeed. The walk/train/bus to White Hart Lane will be a nerve-wrecking trip for us Gooners, but it doesnāt need to be. Confidence from us, will radiate onto the players on the turf. Manuel Almunia will have a huge responsibility on Friday night, as club captain. Ensuring that the players stick to their role, ensuring that the team is motivated through-out the match, and ensuring that we go onto win the game. Whether that be comfortably, or through a lucky last-minute goal, again.
Reports filtering in suggest that Robin might just make it to the squad for tomorrowās game. What a boost will that be!? Read more on the same here:
Here is the team I think Arsene will start at White Hart Lane:
Formation
Go Gunners..
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