Outlook India

Sports

Arsenal Vs Spurs: Gunners Beat Local Rivals To Claim Derby Honours

Arsenal closed the gap on Premier League leader Liverpool to four points after a 2-1 victory over Tottenham on Wednesday. Mikel Arteta’s team took advantage of Liverpool’s draw with Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, with Leandro Trossard firing the winner in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal was runner-up to Manchester City in the last two seasons and is in contention for the title again this year. But it was given a fright by Spurs when Son Heung-min opened the scoring for the visitors in the 25th minute. A Dominic Solanke own goal when trying to defend a corner leveled the game in the 40th and Trossard struck low from just inside the box four minutes later to put Arsenal ahead.

Tottenham endured the humiliation of being taken to extra time by Tamworth, an opponent nearly 100 places lower in English soccer's pyramid, before winning 3-0 and avoiding one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history on Sunday. A massive surprise was on when fifth-tier Tamworth forced extra time with the score 0-0, only for the hosts to concede an own-goal in the 101st minute and then strikes by Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson to disappoint the majority of the 3,700 fans inside the tiny stadium called The Lamb.

The South Korean signed for Spurs in August 2015 from Bayer Leverkusen, with his previous deal due to expire at the end of this season.

Reports had suggested that Barcelona were one of the clubs interested in Son's signature at the end of the season, but he will now stay at Spurs for an 11th year.

Son has scored 169 goals in 431 appearances for Spurs in all competitions and is fifth on the club's all-time top scorer list, five behind Martin Chivers.

The 32-year-old has netted 125 goals in the Premier League, making him the most prolific Asian player in the competition's history. He has also reached double figures in each of the last eight seasons and shared the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah in 2021-22.

However, Spurs have struggled this season, currently sitting 12th in the Premier League, with Son scoring just five goals despite having 35 shots (14.29% shot conversion).

He also has six assists in the top-flight, the most of anyone in the team, while he has created the second-most chances (33, behind Dejan Kulusevski).

Tottenham Hotspur will look to put their Premier League woes aside when they welcome red-hot Liverpool to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in the 1st leg of the EFL Cup (Carabao Cup) second semi-final on Thursday, January 9 at 1:30 am IST. (More Football News)

Ange Postecoglou, who had famously reiterated that he wins silverware in his second season, will be surely under pressure to deliver success to a club that has been ravaged by form and bad history. Spurs, who are on a miserable run, will look to the Carabao Cup, to renew their form and bring home some silverware.

As for the Reds, Arne Slot's side are one of the top-most clubs in Europe this season. Liverpool, who drew 2-2 to Manchester United in the league, could make some wholesale changes to their playing XI. Slot could start some fringe players including summer signing, Federico Chiesa.

Spurs could potentially have to face Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday without a fit centre-back after Ben Davies suffered a setback in training.

Davies was one of three defenders missing from their 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day, with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven also sidelined, but their issues were compounded when Radu Dragusin limped off with an ankle problem in the 87th minute.

Given the extent of their injury list, which also includes first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, Postecoglou conceded they may need to look to the transfer window to alleviate some of the issues.

"We're running a fine line," Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference. "There's always been issues at different times, but not to this extent.

"I think we've had close to pretty consistently 10 first-team players not available for a significant run of games. Definitely a first for me. We're in a tough spot, and we have been for a while.

"We've been kind of getting through it for quite a while and keeping our fingers crossed we don't get any more issues.

"[Transfer policy] can be disciplined, but we need a clear picture of where we're at. There is a need to reinforce if we can. It's not an easy time to do that in this window.

"The club is working hard behind the scenes to help the players we've got, who are giving everything in every game to try and get us through.

"We need to help some of these guys, because there's at least two or three who are feeling long-term injuries, so we're going to be short there. Others are coming back and need time to get up to speed. We're working hard to try to get reinforcements."

Against Forest, Spurs averaged over 65% possession for the seventh time in the Premier League this season (70.4%), though they have lost five of those games (won one, drawn one).

Their defeat at the City Ground was their ninth in the Premier League this season, leaving them 11th in the table and 10 points behind rivals Arsenal in fourth.

They now face Wolves at home, where they have conceded 31 goals in the league in 2024, the most they have shipped in a single calendar year since 2007, when they let in 34.

And with an EFL Cup semi-final against Liverpool to come in January, Postecoglou insisted he still feels support from the fans, despite the increasing pressure.

"They love their football club, they care about their football club, and they want their football club to succeed," he added. "They make those feelings and emotions seen.

"I haven't felt anything but support since I have been here. I still feel that support is there.

Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League: Spurs Shot Themselves In The Foot, Says Ange Postecoglou  Outlook India

English Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur Appeal Against Severity Of Rodrigo Bentancur's Ban  Outlook India

Galatasaray Vs Tottenham: Osimhen Scores A Brace In Narrow Win - In Pics  Outlook India

Premier League: Dominic Solanke Nets Brace As Tottenham Thump Aston Villa 4-1 - In Pics  Outlook India

Brennan Johnson's well-taken opener marked his sixth goal in as many games across all competitions before James Maddison's first-half finish had Spurs leading 2-0 at the break on the south coast.

It was just the second time that Tottenham lost a Premier League game they led by two goals in their last 166 such matches (W159 D5), and Postecoglou fumed at the full-time whistle.

The Tottenham manager said on Sky Sports: "Disappointing, frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. It's the worst defeat since I've been here.

"Unacceptable second half, and nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how we were going.

"We kind of accepted our fate [in the second half] and it is hard to understand as we've not done that while I've been here. We paid the price.

"The problem is we are travelling along too smoothly, football and life will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself."

Sunday also marked the 10th time that Tottenham have lost a Premier League game in which they led by two or more goals, becoming the first club to hit double figures for this unwanted record.

"There is no message," the Australian said when asked what he would tell his players. "It is a terrible loss for us, as bad as it gets. There is only one way to fix it and that's my responsibility.

"We lost all our duels and if you're not competitive it is not going to work; we were not competitive.

"They all go on international duty the majority of them, they will process it individually and I will process it when everyone gets back."