It’s a north London derby unlike any of that we have seen in quite awhile; but not in a good way. At least we had the mini-feud between Jose Mourinho and one of the Arsenal’s official club social media accounts earlier this week to add intrigue and appeal to this one. Both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC have seen their UEFA Champions League dreams for next season all but dashed at this point.
Actually, both sides have quite a bit of work to do to even make it into the Europa League qualification zone. At least with Arsenal, the arrow is starting to point up, as they have played much better recently, but they certainly came out of the restart gates cold.
As for Spurs a dull, goalless draw against relegation fodder AFC Bournemouth put the punctuation mark on what has been a dreadful run of form out of the restart.
It’s unacceptable for the team to drop points in a match like that, especially when they’re fighting for European football. Don’t put all the blame on Jose Mourinho, or his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino. The main fall guy for this mess should be Chairman Daniel Levy.
A year and a half of no transfer activity has finally caught up to this club. Heading into the north London derby, Mourinho has some notable absences to deal with. Defenders Juan Foyth and Japhlet Tanganga are ruled out while attacking midfielder Dele Alli is a doubt.
Additionally, midfielder converted to central defender Eric Dier still has three more matches to go in his four match suspension.
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction (4-3-2-1) North London Derby
Kane
Son Bergwijn
Lo Celso Winks Sissoko
Davies Sanchez Alderweireld Aurier
Lloris
North London Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Sat July 11, 8pm BST, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Arsenal Team News: go to this link
Arsenal Starting XI prediction: go to this link
Records, Position: Arsenal FC 12-14-8, 50 pts, 8th Tottenham 13-10-11, 49 pts, 9th
Odds: Tottenham +160 Draw +240 Arsenal +170
Prediction: Tottenham 1, Arsenal 1
Said Jose Mourinho heading into this match:
“At this moment we are both in a very similar situation. It’s not that incredible emotion that we’re fighting for something really big, more than to finish above you, or not finish above you. It’s missing that. It’s not a match that is going to decide big things. But it probably decides the only thing we can fight for, both of us”
“I don’t think realistically we’re fighting for a Champions League position – one-point difference, four matches to go, one between us, then the remaining three – which are of course still important – it’s a big match for the table. The fans have a special feeling for this match, so the players on the pitch have to fight for them.”