Match Preview: Arsenal v Spurs at the Emirates stadium (Come on you Spurs!).

 

Match Preview: Arsenal v Spurs at the Emirates stadium (Come on you Spurs!).

Sunday 14^th  at 4-30 pm

We've had six wins in a row, beating Wolves, the Bubble blowers, Wolfsberger AC, Burnley, the Cottagers and now Zagreb. So we will be buoyed up for our match against Ur-anus (no, no, not yours, the Gunners).

We are currently 7^th in the league, five-point behind the Russians (Chelski). On the other hand, Ur-Anus beat Olympiakos (3-1) on the same night that we beat the Croatians. They are currently 10^th in the league, looking up at us, but are 12 points behind the Russians. In their previous league game, they were held to a 1-1 draw with Burnley. But when it comes to derby's between the two teams, form is out of the window. What matters is what will happen on the day.

Sunday's team news

Ur-Anus

Mikel Arteta reported no injury problems after the win against Olympiakos and has a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Spurs

Jose Mourinho expects Harry Kane will be fit to play. He was substituted against Dinamo Zagreb after hurting his knee, but Mourinho does not believe the problem is severe.

Key players rested on Thursday, such as Gareth Bale, Sergio Reguilon and Toby Alderweireld, are set to be recalled.

My prediction and thoughts

We are firing on all cylinders now; we have scored four goals in three of our past four games.

The planet Ur-anus has produced some reasonable performances recently, but they are not always consistent. It will be a challenging game, as all matches between the two teams are, however, I am going for a 2-0 or 3-1 win to us. I expect goals from either Bale, Kane and Son or all three on Sunday.

Prediction: 1-3

Harry Kane has a league-high 13 assists this season. He is two short of the Premier League record for a Spurs player, set by Christian Eriksen in 2016-17

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

The Arse-wipes have only been beaten in two of their last 35 home league games against us (W19, D14), losing 3-2 at the Emirates in November 2010 and 3-1 at Highbury in May 1993.

We are striving to complete a top-flight double over the Gunners for the first time since the 1992-93 season. We can claim three consecutive league wins in this fixture for the first time since 1974.

Ur-anus are winless in their previous five league and cup games against us (D2, L3) - they have never gone six matches without a victory against their north London rivals.

Arsenal (Ur-anus by nature)

The Star-Gazers have won just two of their past seven league fixtures and have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their previous six.

The team from planet Ur-anus have lost five Premier League home games this season, their highest total since suffering six defeats in 1994-95.

Mikel Arteta could become the first manager from the planet Ur-Anus to lose his first three north London derbies (fingers crossed!).

Arteta is winless in all eight of his Premier League matches as a player or manager against Jose Mourinho.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored six goals in four Premier League starts - he netted just three times in his first 16 league starts this season.

Tottenham Hotspur

We won our first four Premier League away games this season but have just two victories in our subsequent nine matches on the road (D3, L4).

We have only scored 10 goals in our past 11 top-flight away fixtures.

We have 46 league goals this season, with 37 of them either scored or assisted by Harry Kane or Song Heung-min.

Kane is the leading goalscorer in north London derbies, with 11 goals in 14 league and cup appearances.

Kane's tally of 11 Premier League goals against Ur-anus is bettered only by Wayne Rooney, who scored 12. Two more will destroy Ronney's record (again, fingers crossed).

Jose Mourinho has lost just two of his 22 matches as a manager against the Arse-wipes in all competitions (W12, D8).

Today (Friday), I got my jab, and I am still alive to tell my story. Hopefully, by the time we get to the League Cup Final at Wembley, they just – just – might let a few of us in to witness our triumph! It will be bloody annoying if they don't. I haven't missed a cup final since the 60s on UK turf.

That's it, folks. Every season we Spurs fans look forward to this fixture where we can put one over on the arse-wipes (look closely at them, and you can see Ur-anus, it's all in the stars).

Take care and be safe, Glenn