please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium in the 3rd round of 2013-14 Premier League matches on Sunday 1st September 2013 (KO 16:00). Arsenal come into the North London Derby in 8th place on 3 points, while Spurs are in 3rd place on 6 points. This will be the 252nd time the two teams have met. Spurs v Arsenal is now one of the great rivalries in World Football but the fixture had very different beginnings back in November 1887 when the clubs first met in a friendly played on Tottenham Marshes. Arsenal, then called Royal Arsenal, had been formed just a year earlier as Dial Square and were essentially the works team for the munitions factory situated in Woolwich, Kent, while Spurs who had been formed some five years earlier in 1882 still had many of the youngsters who founded the club playing for them. Spurs won that first encounter 2-1, although the game was cut short by 15 minutes, due to poor light conditions because of the Arsenal team getting lost and turning-up late for the start. Seven more friendlies were played between the two clubs from 1888 to 1896 with Spurs winning four and Arsenal winning three before their first competitive match in March 1899. By this time, Arsenal were re-named Woolwich Arsenal and the clubs met in the United League with the Gunners winning 2-1 at the Manor Ground in Plumstead while Spurs won the return match 3-2 at Northumberland Park. Two matches were played within the same week in April 1900 in the Southern District Combination League with Spurs winning 4-2 at White Hart Lane which was followed by a 2-1 win to Arsenal at Plumstead in a game abandoned after 75 minutes due to "bad language". History doesn't provide the answer as to who was the guilty party! From 1901 to 1920, the clubs met in various minor competitions, friendlies and matches played during the First World War. Tottenham Hotspur joined the Football League in season 1908-09 and won promotion to the First Division on their first attempt. The following season they played Arsenal in December 1909 and lost 0-1 at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, while the reverse fixture at White Hart Lane ended in a 1-1 draw with John Curtis scoring Spurs' first League goal against the Gunners. The teams met for three more seasons before Arsenal's relegation at the end of the 1912-13 season with Spurs winning three matches, Arsenal winning two and one game drawn. September 1913 proved to be a hugely important date in the history of both clubs as Arsenal controversially moved from south of the River Thames into the territory reserved for Tottenham Hotspur and Clapton (later Leyton) Orient, in clear violation of the rules and regulations governing such relocations as stipulated by the Football League. Despite bitter protests, Arsenal's move to Highbury (more correctly called Arsenal Stadium) was allowed. White Hart Lane was requisitioned by the Army during WWI, so Spurs played many of their wartime matches at Highbury.
When League football resumed after the war in 1919, it was decided to once again expand the First Division from 20 teams to 22. The normal way of doing this had always been to add the top two clubs from the Second Division to those who were already in the First Division. However, there were complications arising from allegations of match-fixing from Liverpool and Manchester United during the final matches of the last season played before the League was suspended and it was felt that they would forfit their Top Flight status as a result. From nowhere, Arsenal, who had finished sixth (later corrected to fifth) in the Second Division before the war were 'elected' to take Tottenham Hotspur's place in the First Division. Allegations of bribery persist to this day and Henry Norris (Arsenal's Chairman) was later given a lifetime ban from football from the Football League for underhand financial activities. Spurs and Arsenal played their first Football League match after World War One in the First Division in January 1921 with Spurs winning 2-1 at White Hart Lane while Arsenal won the return match at Highbury 3-2. All 150 League games played to date have taken place in the Top Flight of English football. Highbury was taken over by the Army during the Second World War and Spurs returned the favour by allowing Arsenal to play their wartime matches at White Hart Lane. Arsenal won the first FA Cup meeting between the two teams 3-0 in the 3rd Round in January 1949. The clubs have played five FA Cup matches to date with Spurs winning two and Arsenal winning three. The first Football League Cup match took place in November 1968 with Arsenal winning the first leg of the Semi-Final 1-0 at Highbury and Spurs drawing 1-1 at White Hart Lane the following month. Of the 12 League Cup matches played so far, Spurs have won 3, Arsenal have won 6 and three games have been drawn. Both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were founder members of the Premier League in season 1992-93 and both clubs are among the seven (Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa are the other five) who have been ever-present during the 21 seasons of the competition. Arsenal went two goals ahead by halftime in the 2010-11 fixture at the Emirates in November through Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh but Spurs came back strongly with goals from Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart (penalty) and Younes Kaboul to secure a 3-2 win. The match at White Hart Lane in April 2011 was a six goal thriller with honours even. Theo Walcott and Rafael van der Vaart scored goals within the first 10 minutes before Samir Nasri put the Gunners 2-1 up after 12 minutes. Arsenal went further ahead with a Robin van Persie goal on 40 minutes but Tom Huddlestone made it 2-3 by halftime. Van der Vaart scored the only goal in the second half from the penalty spot. The fixture at White Hart Lane in October 2011 was won by Spurs 2-1 with goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Kyle Walker with Aaron Ramsey scoring for Arsenal. The Gunners won their home match in February 2012 5-2. Louis Saha had put Spurs ahead after 4 minutes and an Emmanuel Adebayor penalty put Tottenham further ahead after 34 minutes. But Arsenal pulled two goals back before half-time through Bacary Sagna and Robin van Persie. Tomas Rosicky put Arsenal in front just after the break and the rout was completed with a brace from Theo Walcott. During the 2012 summer transfer window, Spurs signed former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City after having spent a season on loan. The match on 17th November at the Emirates resulted in a 5-2 win for Arsenal. Emmanuel Adebayor put Spurs ahead after 10 minutes but was sent-off eight minutes later for a rash tackle on Santi Cazorla. Arsenal then scored three times to make it 3-1 at halftime - Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud grabbing the goals. Santi Cazorla put Arsenal further ahead on the hour mark but Gareth Bale pulled one back for Spurs before Theo Walcott scored the fifth for Arsenal just before the final whistle. Spurs won the match at the Lane in March 2013 2-1 with Gareth Bale scoring after 37 minutes and Aaron Lennon adding a second two minutes later. Per Mertesacker pulled a goal back for Arsenal six minutes into the second half. As far as Football League / Premier League matches go, three player have both scored nine goals for Spurs against Arsenal - Billy Minter and Bobby Smith. Three Arsenal players have each scored eight goals against Spurs - Robert Pires, Emmanuel Adebayor and Alan Smith. There have been three hat-tricks scored during North London Derbies - Terry Dyson for Spurs and Ted Drake & Alan Sunderland for Arsenal. Jimmy Robertson & Emmanuel Adebayor are the only two players to score for both Spurs & Arsenal in a North London Derby. Arsenal's David O'Leary has played in the most North London Derbies (35) while both Gary Mabbutt & Steve Perryman played 31 games with Spurs. Overall, Spurs have won 91 of the 251 matches played against Arsenal with the Gunners winning 101 and 59 matches drawn. please log in to view this image Full History of Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal Matches 1887-2014 please log in to view this image They Played for Spurs & Arsenal.... Emmanuel Adebayor Clive Allen Charlie Ambler Bob Arber (Arsenal player, Spurs reserves manager) David Bentley David Black Anton Blackwood Jimmy Brain Laurie Brown Walter Bugg Lycurgus Burrows Sol Campbell Herbert Chapman (Spurs player, Arsenal manager) Damien Comolli (Director of Football at both clubs) Freddie Cox James Delvin Wilf Dixon (Spurs assistant manager, Arsenal trainer) Jack Eggett Tom Fitchie Theo Foley (Arsenal assistant manager, Spurs reserves manager) William Gallas George Graham (Arsenal player, manager of both clubs) Vic Groves Tom Hatfield Stewart Houston (Assistant manager at both clubs) Joe Hulme (Arsenal player, Spurs manager) George Hunt David Jenkins Pat Jennings Bill Julian Peter Kyle Neil Lacy Bill Lane (Spurs player, Arsenal scout) Peter McWilliam (Spurs manager, Arsenal scout) Tom Meade Billy Minter Terry Naylor Terry Neill (Arsenal player, manager of both clubs) Jamie O'Hara Tom O'Shea George Payne Ron Piper Tom Pratt Rohan Ricketts Jimmy Robertson Andrew Swan Walter Thomas Erik Thorstvedt Steve Walford Ernie Walley (Spurs player, Arsenal coach) Charlie Williams Willie Young please log in to view this image Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Player's Squad Numbers 1993-94 to 2013-14 Arsenal Premier League Player's Squad Numbers 1993-94 to 2013-14 Premier League London Derbies Season 2013-14 please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Thanks for another great match thread, THFC. It's just as well Arsenal are playing well. Having a situation where we're expected to win would have made me more nervous. The joker here is that it will come shortly after the transfer window closes, with many possible hangovers for both teams. Spurs have won once in 20 years at Arsenal, so conventional wisdom (and the way Spurs have been playing) indicate they may play for a draw at some level. Given how thoroughly we've controlled midfield, Wenger's penchant for moaning, and officials' desire to please crowds, I'm anything but optimistic about the likelihood of finishing the game with 11 men. We'd do well to sub yellow cards promptly, and hope we don't get another instant red (not to mention making it a team rule that no one 6'3" or taller can try a sliding tackle). The one thing we know is that the season won't be made or broken in this game, but that it will seem that way.
Top work, 6061 The window never closes on a weekend, it'll close on Monday at 10/11pm, I believe. Should be a great game. As you say the pressure's not on us. The confidence around Arsenal is pretty fragile at the moment and a win for Arsenal would do less than a win for us, in my opinion. We all know we've got a lot of new players and we all know it takes awhile to settle them all and start getting the best out of the team so an away game is prefferable as it takes the onus away from us to go out and try to win the game, we can play more comfortably on the counter which we're suited well too with all the pace we have on the wings and strength in midfield and defence.
Thanks for relieving me of a little ignorance. It actually puts the game in a bit of a different light. Fans will be checking the transfer wire. I agree it's better we start with the away leg of the NLD. It looks like Podolski's hurt. They stretchered him off against Fenerbahce so he looks doubtful. I've always classed him as an average striker, not bad but not great.
Cheers THFC6061, awesome match thread. The Big Daddy part 1 comes early on in the season, should be a great game for the neutrals and heart wrenching for the fans of both sides as always. It's fair to say our last 2 visits have ended up in major disappointment, the second time due to a major cock up by Ade. I really don't want to lose this one and while I'm usually always up for a full on attack minded team, I wouldn't begrudge AVB if he chose to go with 2 DM's Sunday providing he feels Sandro is fit enough. My XI: Lloris, Walker, Dawson (Kaboul if fit), Vertonghen, Rose Sandro, Paulinho, Capoue Townsend, Soldado, Chadli Subs: Friedel, Dawson/ Kaboul, Naughton, Dembele, Sig, Lennon, Defoe COYS!!!
Jumping the gun , -------- Paulo,---- Capoue, Towns ---------------- Erik (if bought,if not Dembele ) ----------------- Roberto
A 4-3-3 suits who deserves to start for us at the moment (given Sandro's not fully recovered). Dembele really doesn't look like a CAM, but he remains a very good player lying deeper. It would also prevent Soldado being stranded as he's been.
Interesting that Piskie takes the post above as evidence that we are getting our excuses in early (although struggling to spell Vicious) So the fact that Arsenal are at home and have a team that have played together for all of last season wont have an effect? We will get better and better, they won't without a few signings. Only one side getting their excuses in early for me. Disclaimer: Spuds changed to Spurs in above quotes.
I've been impressed with Arsenal. They're zipping the ball around quickly and playing with a degree of confidence. They still seem leaky at the back which is an area Spurs should be able to exploit. As a neutral I see the game going one of two ways: - Arsenal zipping the ball around quickly and targeting Spurs weakness in the full back area. Gibbs/Monreal and Walcott/Sagna overlapping and getting service into Giroud. - Spurs' powerhouse midfield breaking up the play and Paulinho/Dembele making surging runs through the middle targeting Arsenal's soft underbelly. It will probably be somewhere between the two. But these are traditionally two good attacking teams that can't seem to defend so it'll make for another great game I think. Looking far more forward to this than I am to Northern ****fest that is Liverpool v United. Sky's flagship fixture to rub in everyone's faces.
