Arsenal's North London Derby clash with Tottenham splits the predictions from our Arsenal podcasters
Arsenal take on Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby and must do so without one of their best players of the season so far, Gabriel Magalhaes. The Brazilian defender joins a roster of players who are missing for both teams in, as it always is, a vitally important match.
For Mikel Arteta, he has options, but this week is building up to being a monumental one in the Gunners’ season, and our Seeing Red podcast hosts appear to agree. On the first episode of our brand new weekly unofficial Arsenal podcast, John Cross and Tom Canton discussed the upcoming clash.
From the subsequent clash with Bayern Munich and Chelsea to come, to the hangover from the draw with Sunderland, both raised the importance of winning this derby. Although that said, it was not a full house of predicted victories for Arsenal from the pair.
“I honestly think this is a defining week for Arsenal,” Cross said. “I really do.
“I think the way that the Sunderland game finished, it was almost as if Arsenal had suffered a massive blow to their title hopes. I was thinking, and look, I do think Arsenal would have been hugely disappointed not to have won that game because when you go 2-1 up, bearing in mind they've not conceded in so long, you thought, well, they won't concede again.
“They're still four points clear at the top. They've got a big margin to their next big rival, and so I think you need to kind of keep it in context.
“But having said that, if they then basically come off the back of that and then the international break, and as I say, Tottenham, Bayern Munich and then Chelsea. So I think if you kind of come away from those three games with two wins and a draw, then I think all of a sudden everyone will be going, my word, Arsenal.”
“Basically, Arsenal, they are strong mentally. They have got depth of squad to cope with injuries, you know, and sort of any setbacks on the international break, and then basically they are right in the mix for the time, because they've got this mentality which screams, you know, we're making a statement, we're coming back.
“But if they do have any disappointments in those games, any setback, then all of a sudden it's sort of, you know, it's licensed to kind of, you know, for people being ultra critical, say, well, have they got the mentality after all? One little setback, and all of a sudden, the wheels are coming off slightly.
“So I don't think you can understate, not just Spurs, but also I think for the rest of that week, just the importance of these seven, eight days or so over the course of the season. I think it really will tell us a lot, and it could be a defining week for Arsenal's season, I think, I really do.”
There is only so much a team can achieve when they have lost so many of their biggest stars to injury, but Arteta has seen a massive amount of investment go into his group in the summer. He has players like Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie to call upon.
Arsenal have a real chance to make a statement with the games that follow the break, especially with the challenges of the players that will be missing for Arteta. However, Canton is ready to accept dropped points and still claim a perfect week for the club.
“Yeah, there's absolutely no doubt. If you'd offered me two wins and a draw, but the draw was in the Bayern [Munich] game. If Arsenal get a win over Chelsea and Spurs, I think that's absolutely huge," he said.
“If one of those league games ended in a draw, I still think there'll be some discourse around whether or not that'll be two games in three that Arsenal would have dropped points in the Premier League. So that still, I think would raise a couple of, even though the difficulty of the opponents is definitely important in the context of it.
“It's just for me, I'd look at those three games and obviously we'll talk more about the Bayern game in next week's podcast after the derby's finished and we'll have the knowledge of what's happened in that game.
“But I almost get the sense that after winning four from four in the Champions League, they can almost afford to look at that Bayern game as one they can rotate players in, rest players for the Chelsea fixture away from home in a few days’ time, because they don't have to win that buying game for the league phase.
“If it were a group stage match, it might be a slightly different context, but because of the way the league phase works now, if you win five games in those eight, you're pretty comfortably going to be sitting most likely in those top eight positions, and Arsenal have already won four from four.
“The Bayern game for me is not necessarily a vitally important game, but it definitely is a game that, if they were to get a positive result, can stand out as a statement and provide that extra morale boost, momentum boost, certainly going into the Chelsea game. And also, I've got the depth these days to be able to rotate and still be incredibly competitive in those games, too.”
North London Derby Predictions:
John Cross – Draw