Mikel Arteta admits he’s wary of the attackers at Jose Mourinho’s disposal as Arsenal look to end a five-game winless run against Sp*rs in Sunday’s North London derby.
Our neighbours come into the game high on confidence following five consecutive wins and have Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min and Gareth Bale in good form.
Between them, the trio has 48 goals and 32 assists in all competitions this season, a record that compares very favourably to Arsenal’s three most potent attackers – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alex Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe – who’ve mustered 33 goals and 7 assists in total.
Given our recent defensive howlers, the boss knows full well that his side are going to have to be at the best in both boxes if they are to take the bragging rights at the Emirates.
“The last game, we started really well, we were dominant and the first time they went over the halfway line they scored,” he said.
“That’s the quality, they are a well-organised team, a big threat in every counter-attack situation, great individuals skills and great organisation.
“You can see the team fights and believes absolutely in what the manager’s ideas are, so it will be a really tough game.”
On the challenge we face keeping their strikeforce quiet, he added: “Very difficult because the level of quality, precision, understanding and chemistry they have between them makes them probably one of the most [dangerous] teams in Europe.
“They don’t need much. They are able to create their own chances, they are able to link as a team. So it’s really difficult to do that, but we’ll prepare the game well to try to stop them, obviously.”
Arsenal do have a very good home record against Sp*rs losing just two of our last 35 home league encounters at Highbury / Emirates Stadium. A derby victory would also close the gap in the table to four points and give us a glimmer of hope of a St Totteringham’s Day return.
And he’s right to be, I think, despite our good record against them. As we know, their “established” striking duo have, unfortunately, been reinforced by a late run of scoring form from Bale. We need to be very wary of that – particularly given our continuing “problems” with errors at the back. Separate to the match itself, although it pains me to admit it I wish we had a pair of strikers as consistently effective as Kane and Heung-Min. Even more so if you look at how much they cost (a pittance) and the number of goals they score (a… Read more »
In almost every encounter Mourinho has had with other big clubs he’s done exactly the same, from the moment his wheelie bin first washed up on our shoreline. We know exactly what he will do and I think this game is all about the first goal. If they get it, we will struggle. They’ll just crawl into their little crab shell and wait for us to over expose. Having said that, we knew all this last time and played perfectly into the worlds worst hidden trap. I’m not optimistic. I just think Jose has the tactical nouse to hit us… Read more »
Pains me to admit it but Spurs are probably better than us in 7 or 8 positions. Only Partey, Saka, Tierney would get into their team.
That’s a bit harsh. Their central defenders are no better than ours. Would you rather have Dier in our team??? Although Bellerin hasn’t had his best season, I wouldn’t say that Aurier and Doherty are superior to him and Cedric.
I hope their bus won’t start.
And they get fed lasagne.
I hope they drop their cock in their toilet.
I know he’s a short arse but will Mourinho actually fit in a toilet?
Maybe there an omen with BBC football webpage last night saying Kane scores for Arsenal (own goal?)
Don’t start Luiz don’t start Luiz don’t start Luiz…
My dream line-up for Sunday’s clash against Sp?ds:
Leno
Cedric, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney
Partey, Xhaka
Saka ESR Pepe
Lacazette
I’d grant 30 minutes for Martinelli as a first step in his rebuild and would prefer Auba, Odegaard and Ceballos in the pecking order.
I’d also count on Bellerin, Mari and Chambers and would only play Luiz, Willian, Elneny in the cup games – 2nd leg against Olympiakos for instance…
To omit Aubameyang would be madness
I suspect both Luiz and Willian will start.
I think you are right. Arteta has made his bed.
I hope MA will be third time lucky against sp*rs
im not worried about them we just make sure our be solid and don’t give kane and his corporate song bale the spaces keep them very quiet thats it and we a change to beat them make sure we don’t allowed them to dictating the game and be alert play with passion and desire determination is like a war this game is meant a lots for us is local derby noisy neighbours come on the arsenal plz i don’t want to lose to them for goodness sake hopefully the North Derby will be a red colour on Sunday
We have to win this one at all costs, no excuses.
Jury is out for me on Arteta and this game could swing my feelings on him one way or the other.
If we take our chances and limit the mistakes, we win this game.