London derby likely to prove difficult task for Gunners
ARSENAL resume their bid for their first league title in two decades with what should be a feisty London derby at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
With four matches to go, the Gunners lead the standings by one point over Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Liverpool, who lost in midweek, appear out of the race in Jurgen Klopp’s last season with the Reds, despite Man City’s Pep Guardiola saying that the Anfield side are still in it.
Arsenal will be wary of how they threw away a gilt-edged chance towards the end of last season to win the title, and against Spurs, they will probably work most on weeding out any complacency.
Mikel Arteta will also know that the champions have a mathematical advantage with that game in hand and will almost surely have to win against their bitter London rivals if they are to keep in touch with Man City.
And just to be clear, the Citizens are down to play Nottingham Forest on the late kick-off tomorrow – a fixture from which most pundits have tipped the Manchester club to collect three points.
Chasing a domestic double – league title and FA Cup – on the back of their unique treble last season, which included the Champions League, Man City seem to have peaked just at the right time again.
More intriguingly, Man City remained on course to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title when they beat Brighton 5-0 on Thursday and did so without star striker Erling Haaland.
Arsenal will be cognisant of just where they stand in the race and how consistent Man City can be.
And that reason, more than any other, Arteta will be drilling into his side the need for them to come away from Tottenham with nothing short of a victory.
They did well enough to see off a resurgent Chelsea outfit with a thumping 5-0 performance on Monday. And how dearly they would like to add Spurs to their list of triumphs.
When the two sides clashed back in September, it turned out to be a draw.
It is quite unlikely that a similar outcome will be dealt tomorrow, more so as Spurs will be dead keen on the three points themselves.
Ange Postecoglou’s Lilywhites are six points off fourth place, the last guaranteed Champions League slot. But they do have two games in hand over Aston Villa, and wins in both could take them above the Midlands club, where they’ve perched on-and-off for some time this season.
Arsenal’s £100mil acquisition of Declan Rice from West Ham United in the off-season for a club-record fee has proven to be money well spent.
The England midfielder has not only brought tonnes of steel to Arsenal’s midfield but also valuable leadership qualities.
Just as important to Arsenal’s challenge this season has been the addition of German international Kai Havertz.
The former Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea attacking midfielder, who cost £65mil last July, has come into his element in the second half of this campaign and justified Arteta’s faith in him.
Indeed, Havertz’s telling contributions were highlighted by his double against Chelsea earlier this week.
Postecoglou’s biggest problem, it appears, is consistency.
Tottenham have beaten −among others this season −Liverpool, Aston Villa, Brighton and Manchester United, and drawn with Man City.
But they have lost their way at times, and this was clearly characterised by their 4-0 defeat to Newcastle a fortnight ago. That came after the London club hammered the Magpies 4-1 in the reverse fixture.
A top-class performance will be expected from them tomorrow if they are to overrun an Arsenal side determined to go one step further than last season.
Playing at Old Trafford, Man United, who qualified for the FA Cup final against Guardiola’s defending champions and beat bottom-placed Sheffield United in the past week, should get the better of Burnley, second-from-last in the standings.
But because they so desperately need points to avoid the chop, the Clarets could well toss the form book out of the window.
Aston Villa and Chelsea could also feature in a draw. Both have incentives of great value.
Fourth-placed Villa have Champions League football well within their sights, while the Blues, after a topsy-turvy campaign, have an outside chance of sneaking into Europe.
