please log in to view this image Sunday 8th November 4pm Emirates Stadium Premier League Something of a stroll against Villa, followed by a nicked win against Anderlecht and we're on to the main event. Our third game of the week sees a visit down the road to our old pals from Woolwich. Quite a ****ty schedule really, but there's not much that we can do about it. Their midweek trip to Germany didn't exactly go to plan, so they'll be desperate to appease the fans. Both sides are in very good league form though, so it's hard to call this one either way. It may come down to the managers and whether one of them can do something a little different. This fixture ended up a 1-1 draw in the last campaign. Chadli's opener was cancelled out by an Oxlade-Chamberlain leveler, but both look unlikely to feature. Both sides are carrying a bit of an injury list, so the starting XIs might involved a bit of guess work. Lineups for the last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Alli; Lamela, Dembele, Eriksen; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Fazio, Davies, Mason, Onomah, Townsend. League form: WWDDWW Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Sanchez, Ozil, Campbell; Giroud. Subs: Macey, Debuchy, Gabriel, Chambers, Gibbs, Flamini, Iwobi. League form: LWWWWW Referee: Martin Atkinson. I doubt anyone's going to be calling for massive changes to our starting side against Villa for this. Davies for Rose might be an enforced one and Son's availability might tempt a few. I'd stick with the same players and hope that we've got a few decent options from the bench. Do we need to do anything different for this one or are our tactics fine? Do Ozil or Sanchez need special attention or do we trust the players to manage it between them? Did Son or Mason do enough against Anderlect to earn a start?
Played for both clubs: Jimmy Brain Laurie Brown David Jenkins - the worst player I've ever seen play for Spurs Rohan Ricketts George Hunt Freddie Cox Vic Groves Jimmy Robertson Steve Walford Willie Young Pat Jennings Kevin Stead Sol Campbell David Bentley William Gallas Emanuel Adebayor
Son and Mason looked too rusty for me, especially Son. Same team as Villa please. How likely is Rose to make it? He's pretty important nowadays IMO.
This is the match I want to win more than any other. Chelsea away is almost on a par but I think given the rivalry on this board a win against Arsenal is still more satisfying. I would never fight over football but I really do f*cking hate them with a passion! We'll probably be playing well then shoot ourselves in the foot with a red card, own goal or defensive mistake though it's quite predictable.
What annoys me is that, thanks to Bayern stuffing them on Wednesday night, they're going to be far more motivated when we play them than if the scoreline was 2-0 or 3-1. What is it with that club handing the initiative to teams we'd rather they didn't?
An interview has come out where Gabriel Paulista says that, what he signed, he believed that Chelsea were Arsenal's main rivalry. This certainly puts into context his first interview when he joined (which is on the Goons' website - you may want to use InPrivate browsing for this one) where he said how happy he was to be playing in the Premier League twice in the same run-on sentence...yet not once did he even mention Arsenal by name.
Llori Rose Vertongen Alderweireld Walker Dier Lamela Eriksen Alli Dembele Kane My only doubt was Rose or Davies and I chose Rose cos of the problems he could cause them going forward which I think could prove to be a useful outlet. They always score against us...I think the last clean sheet we kept against them was in march 2009...so attack could well be our best form of defence.
The arrogance on their board is incredible. I feel like Kevin Keegan back in the day as i would f*cking love it if we won or got anything tomorrow. I always think it's best to keep your mouth shut till after the game then give it the large. And if they turn us over tomorrow then fair enough I would expect stick to come our way. They are without doubt massive favourites given our record there over the years, but they did only take 1 point off us last season so I wouldn't be too cocky if I was them.
Why is it arrogant for Arsenal fans to expect to win the game? We're joint top of the table, we're ahead of you and your record away to us isn't exactly great. No-one has said that you can't or won't get something from the game, but we'd naturally expect to get one over on you. What's wrong with that?
Of course you should be confident but it's the way some of the people are posting that it's basically a guaranteed 3 poinst against us and it's our cup final and all that sh*t. I don't disagree with what you have said to be fair, it's other people on the board. If you smash us tomorrow then fair enough we have to take the abuse that's what rivalry is all about.
No doubt you are expected to win. And no, our record at your place isn't good. Personally, if we can come away with a point, I'll be happy. All three, ecstatic!..
I love it when their fans say it's our cup final, for sure it is our biggest Prem game of the season but they're kidding themselves if they say it isn't also theirs. I mean for **** sake they took selfies on the pitch when they done us at the Lane the season before last! They're just as excited and apprehensive about the game as we are. Team I'd play: Lloris, Walker, Toby, Jan, Rose Dier, Dembele Lamela, Eriksen, Alli Kane Mason and Son as Spurm said looked rusty and I don't think should be starting, although very handy to now have on the bench having had some minutes behind them. Need everyone one to put in a good shift, even with Arsenal's injuries they're still a very strong side and being at home are obviously the favourites but with the results for both sides in midweek I'm hoping we go into it a bit more confident and put them under pressure from the off, an early goal for us could be absolutely key.
Considering this is our cup final this is a really quiet match thread given we are only a few hours away from Kick off! I'm with RCL I don't look forward to this game at all. Find it very difficult to watch as well, I normally end up walking around the house doing stuff and putting my head round the door checking for updates. I just hope we give a good account of ourselves and we keep 11 players on the pitch. Im used to us getting f*cked over in these big matches so I'm kind of expecting it.
I hate this fixture. Absolutely loathe it if I'm honest. Year after year it's almost certainly a nailed on defeat to the enemy. What is to like? The home fixture isn't much better as that brings added pressure of actually expecting to get something out of it. They, the fans, media and Wenger, always have a long list of excuses before the game that then turn into "we beat you despite...." when all our similar excuses are glossed over and ignored.
MOTD2 is going to have trouble getting relevant pundits, given Martin Keown and Danny Murphy are both on the front page of today's Financial Times - and quite a few pages worth inside, too.
Two out of Dembélé, Alli, Son and Mason won’t start, most likely. Saying it’s too soon for Son and Mason takes away the question of who deserves their place. I’m tempted to say Son is too good not to start, and that our best team includes him and Dembélé or Mason at this point. At the library was the one game I thought we really sat back last year. It worked. We were unlucky not to get three points. Interestingly, they tried to sit back at WHL, and it didn’t work at all.
