SPURS TO PUT FINAL NAIL INTO ARSENAL'S SEASON

It's North London Derby time again as 3rd placed Tottenham make the short trip to 4th placed Arsenal with alot more than pride at stake for both clubs

Arsenal have had somewhat of a nightmare season as manager Arsene Wenger simply refuses to spend big money to plug the obvious weaknesses in his team. The prolonged and inevitable departure of Fabregas & Nasri at the start of the season left a real lack of quality in the Arsenal midfield. The long term absence of Jack Wilshere has also been a crucial factor in the Gunners decline as he would've provided them with some bite and forward thrust in the midfield area, which is sadly lacking

As for their defensive weaknesses well lets just say Wenger would've been better resigning Tony Adams & David Seaman than going for former hero Henry as their defensive frailties are killing their ambitions to end their trophy drought and are threatening to derail even their top 4 ambitions, with only similar weaknesses at Chelsea & Liverpool keeping them in contention for Champions League football next season

Form wise it's been a disastrous week for Arsenal as they got hammered in the San Siro by AC Milan and they also suffered a defeat to Sunderland in the FA Cup. These two defeats extinguished any lingering hopes of silverware for another season and their only consolation in advance of the visit of local rivals Spurs, is that their home form has been solid this season with just 2 defeats from 12, scoring an impressive 24 and conceeding just 9 - which is the form of a top 4 side but it's their away from home that's derailing their ambitions

When you add in the fear of loosing star man Robin Van Persie at the end of the season, things really couldn't be much worse for Arsenal and the last thing they need is for Tottenham to come to their home ground and rub their noses in it - but there's every chance that it could happen

Tottenham have had a great season so far, sitting comfortably in 3rd position with a 10 point cushion on their arch rivals and next opponents Arsenal, they're still in the FA Cup with a home replay against Stevenage sure to take them to the quarter finals and they still maintain an outside possibility of a league title challenge although most pundits, myself included, feel this is a long shot as the 2 Manchester's look destined to compete for that prize

Form wise Tottenham have just 3 away defeats all season and have managed to record 20 goals from their 12 away trips which is impressive. This return has seen Tottenham propel themselves into the comfortable position of 3rd and they look like finishing above Arsenal for the first time in 17 seasons which is something the long suffering Tottenham fans will enjoy almost as much as a top 4 finish

Tottenham would love nothing more than to go to the Emirates and add insult to injury on the Gooners and recent results between the 2 sides should provide their supporters with confidence as they've won 3 and drawn 1 of their last 4 Premier League meetings and there's a genuine belief that the power in North London is transferring from the Emirates to White Hart Lane and certainly from what I've witnessed to date this season I see no reason to argue against this

My only concern and reason for not going for a straight up away win here is that Arsenal will be really 'up' for this game. They have to be.. their pride has been hurt.. their results in recent days have been shameful.. their commitment & professionalism has been questioned and their home supporters will demand a passionate and committed performance against their fierce rivals, who may approach this fixture with a degree of complacency that could cost them dearly

Also whilst Tottenham have had a good away record this season they've failed to win at their 4 hardest venues - Man Utd, Man City, Stoke & Newcastle. 3 of those 4 games saw Spurs play the better football and dominate large parts of the games (Man Utd game apart) but leave with just 1 point (2-2 at Newcastle) so this has shown that they still possess a slight mental weakness and combined with the desire and passion Arsenal must surely show then it provides a slight element of doubt in my mind that Tottenham will win here so I've opted for backing Tottenham +0 which will give us our stakes back if Arsenal force a draw and a winning selection if Tottenham manage to defeat a deflated Arsenal

Overall I strongly fancy an away win but things don't always work out as planned - especially when they look so obvious, so I'm taking the security of stakes back if it finishes in a draw. I'd rate this game 65% Spurs, 25% Draw & 10% Arsenal

Tottenham +0 is my pick here... Good Luck

5

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Posted on: 19.02.2012, 18.00 CET (Viewed: 996 times)
Match starts on: February 26, 2012

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