Morning all.

Apparently, during the Liverpool/Nottingham Forest match yesterday, Dominik Szoboszlai, who had already been booked, was later penalised for a foul on Callum Hudson-Odoi. Clearly frustrated by the decision, he booted the ball away but was he then shown a second yellow card? No, of course not! Consistency at its finest, not! Liverpool lost the game 1-0 at Anfield..

Itā€™s North London Derby Day!

Mikel Arteta held his pre match press conference on Friday during which he refused to rule Martin Odegaard out of todayā€™s match.

We need some more tests so letā€™s see what happens in the next day or so. Letā€™s see what happens, what the extent of the injury is and how quickly we can get him back. Heā€™s super positive about everything. We know Martin – he wants to be there every single day but we have to wait and see.

 

He’s willing, there’s no question about that. He wants to be present every game and obviously in a big game like this one, but we need to make sure that we know first of all how good he can be or not. Players with 48 hours to go are always available, but let’s see what happens.

Iā€™m not sure anyone believes our captain will be fit, not even Arteta. Not unless the whole injury story has been exaggerated by Norwayā€™s medical people.

Declan Rice misses out today through suspension which Iā€™d imagine means Jorginho will come into midfield leaves but deciding who replaces Odegaard should he not recover is a little more difficult. Still, thatā€™s why clubs have squads. Injuries and suspensions are part of the game as we Arsenal fans know only too well.

One of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka or Oleksandr Zinchenko could switch roles to cover for Odegaard unless Arteta is set to throw Ethan Nwaneri in at the deep end.. No, I doubt heā€™ll opt for him either,, not away from home against our most bitter of rivals. My money is on Saka with Raheem Sterling making his Arsenal debut. Arteta spoke about him too during his press conference:

He looks great. First of all, because heā€™s got a big smile on his face, a lot of energy, heā€™s at it and wants to prove a point. When someoneā€™s got that in his belly, you sense it straight away. Obviously I donā€™t need to discover anything about his quality and what he can bring to the team.

 

What I see is hunger and a player that wants to play every minute of every game. When itā€™s not the case, heā€™s not happy. He loves football, itā€™s what he likes doing every single day and I see that. His commitment, the level of energy that heā€™s bringing to the team and the quality is a big push. You can feel it with the players as well. When heā€™s walking through the door, we are better with him and heā€™s going to make us better.

Imagine if he makes his debut today and scores the winning goal? My goodness, heā€™d be an Arsenal hero over night. Ok, slightly tongue in cheek.

This will surprise you but I donā€™t watch Totts play unless itā€™s against us so Iā€™ve had to read about them and how they dominate opponents as far as the possession stats go and they create a high number of goal scoring opportunities – in fact only Nottingham Forest have had more shots than todayā€™s opponents. Thatā€™s not something I thought Iā€™d ever write.

Arsenalā€™s Adrian Clarke:

From a tactical perspective we must be wary of Spurs trying to overload Ben White with 2v1s. From his number 10 position James Maddison has been pulling left, and from that flank he has supplied excellent ammunition. On the other side, no one has produced more successful crosses in open play than Spurs’ buccaneering right back Pedro Porro.

If we are looking to exploit potential weaknesses there are two potential areas. The first is around set pieces, where goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is not an especially dominant presence. From inswingers into a crowded six-yard box the Italian is uncomfortable.Ā 

Postecoglouā€™s infamous high line is the other strategy that we may target. Kai Havertzā€™s movement has been tremendous early on this season, while the likes of Saka, Sterling, Martinelli and Trossard all like to run beyond the last defender too. If he features, look out for Jorginho trying to open Tottenham up with a through ball. Heā€™s a master at clipping accurate passes into space against square rearguards.

This fixture last season was a good one for us. Totts had started fast and put us under some early pressure but then, A 23-minute spell saw Mikel Artetaā€™s team go 3-0 up. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg started the goal fest by heading past his own goalkeeper, before Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz added our second and third. Two crazy moments in the second half gave the home team hope when a rare David Raya howler gifted them a goal and then with just three minutes of game left, Declan Rice gave away a penalty.

I think we can expect a similar start from Totts today in that theyā€™ll go all out attack from the off. Itā€™s what they do under Ange Postecoglou. We just have to soak up that early pressure and then hit them hard and fast on the break.

Enjoy the game guys, it should be a good one..

 

 

 

 

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