After defeat to Newcastle United final day out it is unlikely confidence can have been too excessive within the Tottenham camp.
Certainly, this has been a difficult opening to the brand new marketing campaign for Spurs who misplaced at St James’ Park nearly a fortnight in the past and have already drawn with newly-promoted Leicester.
They did, a minimum of, put Everton to the sword. Silver linings and all that, eh?
So, when you had supporters identify one group they did not need to face early doorways it was in all probability title contenders Arsenal. The Gunners are unbeaten however come into this weekend’s contest with out quite a few key gamers.
Maybe Ange Postecoglou‘s group may very well be within the working for a win, in any case?
Group information forward of Spurs vs Arsenal
Declan Rice has been dominated out of the sport via that controversial sending-off towards Brighton final day out. From an Arsenal perspective, the much less stated about that the higher.
Both approach, with Rice out and Mikel Merino additionally nursing a shoulder damage that he sustained in his first coaching session, it leaves a gap in Mikel Arteta‘s midfield.
That has been worsened by the information that Martin Odegaard may now miss the subsequent three to 4 weeks of motion after selecting up a nasty-looking ankle damage in Norway’s win over Austria on Monday night. The Arsenal skipper twisted his ankle and needed to be helped kind the sphere.
That stated, Postecoglou can also be ready with bated breath over the health of some of his key males.
Micky van de Ven ought to be again after lacking the defeat to Newcastle however the health of Dominic Solanke continues to be unsure after he sat out the final two matches.
The newest information is that Yves Bissouma is also absent for the derby after he was substituted in Mali’s 1-0 win over Eswatini in midweek. He was compelled to limp from the sphere following a heavy problem.
Why Odegaard’s damage is nice information for Spurs
If you happen to had been a Tottenham participant and you might decide three gamers to be out injured for a north London conflict you’ll in all probability decide Bukayo Saka, Rice and Odegaard.
Effectively, they will solely be developing towards one among them in what’s a colossal enhance to their possibilities of claiming victory on Sunday afternoon.
Why? Effectively, each gamers are among the many nominees for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award. That claims all of it, would not it?
To go extra in-depth, Odegaard is the beating coronary heart of this Arsenal group. His mixture play with Saka down the right-hand facet is without doubt one of the largest causes for his or her success during the last couple of years.
Final season, solely two gamers in the entire prime flight registered extra assists than Odegaard (10). That is Cole Palmer (11) and Ollie Watkins (13). In the meantime, solely 4 gamers within the Premier League – Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes and Heung-min Son – created extra probabilities over the course of 2023/24.
|
Spurs vs Arsenal (final 6 conferences) |
|
|---|---|
|
Date |
End result |
|
twenty eighth April 2024 |
3-2 Spurs defeat |
|
twenty fourth Sept 2023 |
2-2 draw |
|
fifteenth Jan 2023 |
2-0 Spurs defeat |
|
1st Oct 2022 |
3-1 Spurs defeat |
|
twelfth Could 2022 |
3-0 Spurs win |
|
twenty sixth Sept 2021 |
3-1 Spurs defeat |
So, what does this imply for Spurs? It is excellent news so far as the membership’s leaky defence are involved. Arsenal’s frontline are prone to be supplied with fewer alternatives to attain from.
That is music to the ears of the strong Cristian Romero, a person who’s normally throughout a derby day sport like this one.
Having made two errors towards the Toon, charging away from his place to press Newcastle’s extra inventive gamers, it lessens the chance of that eventuality occurring once more.
With out Odegaard, it is anybody’s guess at to what resolution Arteta will determine. He may go together with 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, a contest Romero would little question relish towards a light-weight participant.
It may additionally imply that Kai Havertz is compelled to function in a deeper place, thus occupying the Spurs defence – mainly Romero – on a far much less common foundation than he initially would have.
Reality be instructed, Tottenham have been gifted a perfect path to claiming all three factors right here. They need to reply effectively to Arsenal’s messy midfield scenario.