Arsenal v Tottenham

Sunday 26th Feb 13:30KO GMT

Well its apon us this weekend...

A HUGE game...win and a well timed boost could be on the cards...lose and...well,think we all know how that will go down

Update:

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has revealed he could be without several influential players for this weekend's north London derby at Arsenal.

Redknapp revealed after the FA Cup match with Stevenage that he had been forced to exclude Luka Modric, Adebayor and Benoit Assou-Ekotto due to a mixture of injury and illness.

"Benoit had a small operation at the start of the week so he wasn't available," Redknapp said.

"He should be fit but we will have to see with Adebayor. He did his knee on Friday morning. He twisted it. We thought he might have opened his ligament up but it's not too bad.

"Luka had an unbelievable temperature. He was really ill this week. That left us short. Ledley King was on the bench and he wasn't fit.

"Niko Kranjcar had been rough all week as well. He only came in and trained (on Saturday)."

VDV could also not feature through injury.

Can't say I'm optimistic about this game. We could end up losing 3-0

If we lose 3-0 to Spurs with Assou-Ekotto, Adebayor, Modric, Kranjcar, and van der Vaart all potentially out, then we deserve relegation.

all these injuries dont look serious enough.i think most of these players will play against us.do they have a fa cup replay during mid week?

vyom.chaudhary wrote:all these injuries dont look serious enough.i think most of these players will play against us.do they have a fa cup replay during mid week?

No replay as far as I am aware

but i think we were supposed to have a replay during midweek in case our match against sunderland would have ended in a draw

As for the injuries to spuds....

I think we could do with all the help we can get right now....
But that said...

For once let's make our luck and not hope she just turns up on the day...

If all their players mentioned won't feature, then I really fancy our chances. Rose at LB, Livermore in midfield, Defoe upfront.
Hopefully we have Koscielny and Gibbs back. If we can't beat this side at home then we don't deserve 4th spot let alone surpassing spurs.

The only difference between our season and Tottenham's season has been injuries, and our terrible start before making last minute signings.

If they really are missing Modric, Adebayor, VDV, BAE, then I really fancy our chances.

I reckon at least 2 of them will play. Absolutely cacking myself over this game,

All those mentioned in the article will be fit.

We're going to get absolutely merked. I reckon it'll be a harrowing 3-0 or 3-1 or 4-1. Our defence is terrible and their attack is good. Scott Parker will probably dominate our midfield. Our only hope is that Van Persie scores with every chance he gets.

Alan Dawson wrote:We're going to get absolutely merked. I reckon it'll be a harrowing 3-0 or 3-1 or 4-1. Our defence is terrible and their attack is good. Scott Parker will probably dominate our midfield. Our only hope is that Van Persie scores with every chance he gets.

That is assuming we will create any chances for him

I very sadly agree with Alan. I'm going for a 3-1 away win.

Still early in the week, though. Hopefully by Sunday I see things differently.

I don't think I have ever been as worried about a NLD since Wenger joined

There was a time we never lost to Tottenham. It's gone completely the other way round now.

What Chris said. This is going to be a miserable week of nerves and trying not to think about it. I have about as much confidence as the players seem to these days.

These boys have to become men - shit or get off the pot gentlemen.
You have had the best coaching - the want of nothing - the backing and support of your mentor and manager.

If you can't perform for 90+ mins this weekend, you are not fit to play for The Arsenal FC!

Alan Dawson wrote:We're going to get absolutely merked. I reckon it'll be a harrowing 3-0 or 3-1 or 4-1. Our defence is terrible and their attack is good. Scott Parker will probably dominate our midfield. Our only hope is that Van Persie scores with every chance he gets.

I wouldn't say that a defense of Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, and Gibbs is terrible. It's just that the entire team is in bad form right now. I'm not going to bother to predict what will happen, but I'll refrain from conceding defeat unless we actually lose. On paper it may very well be in Tottenham's favor right now, but that's why we play the game.

[quote="Alan Dawson"]We're going to get absolutely merked. I reckon it'll be a harrowing 3-0 or 3-1 or 4-1. Our defence is terrible and their attack is good. Scott Parker will probably dominate our midfield. Our only hope is that Van Persie scores with every chance

Hold on tight this could get messy!

TBH I'm not that bothered that's right am not.
One set of overpaid blokes playing a bunch of over paid cnuts!

That's right I hear Nic Bendtner is on get this £50,000.00 that's right
FIFTY GRAND a feking week !

Spuds too good this year. Not expecting too much. At least I'm not planning to watch it anyway.

ok, we were shocking last week, but a 3-0 or 4-1 loss at home, esp. when we may have our first choice defence playing (Kos should be back). Where's the precedent for that??

Sunderland was too soon to bounce back after Milan. In the 3 days, they had to travel, recover, then hardly any preparation.

I'm not sure of an exact precedence, but over the years, Wenger has been good at getting teams to bounce back when he has enough time to prepare. It is after european away fixtures and international breaks where we often struggle.

Jonathan Prendergast wrote:Sunderland was too soon to bounce back after Milan. In the 3 days, they had to travel, recover, then hardly any preparation.

I'm not sure of an exact precedence, but over the years, Wenger has been good at getting teams to bounce back when he has enough time to prepare. It is after european away fixtures and international breaks where we often struggle.

Yes, I totally agree. Although the Sunderland game was painful, I think it was also inevitable, in some ways. Now, with over a week to recover, I see no reason why the team can't go into it relatively confident - near to our first choice XI, playing on a good pitch for the first time in weeks. Coupled with possible injuries for Spurs, I don't see this as a foregone conclusion at all.