Arsenal v Tottenham preview: A turning point

Details: Written by Tom DiMaio; Published: Friday, 16 November 2012 12:18

thfc In recent years, Arsenal have found it seemingly impossible to go a whole season without a couple of ‘blips’ or ‘breakdowns’. Many observers feel that we are currently going through one of these damp patches, and for good reason.

A run of seven games, two wins (neither of which were particularly impressive) means that we go into the game against our old enemy suffering a dismal run of form.

However, the form-book can serve to cheer us up as well as depress us. Spurs are currently on a two game losing streak and have lost three out of their last four premier league games.

This news is even more satisfying when we consider that during this time they were also kicked out of the league cup by Norwich in frankly hilarious circumstances.

Not as easy as it used to be

Before the devastating 5-1 home defeat in the League cup in 2008 we were on a 21 game unbeaten run against Spurs. Since then we have managed two wins out of ten, hardly a domination of north London.

Obviously it must be said that in recent years Spurs are a much better team than perhaps they have been in the past but Spurs lost their two best players in the summer.

Who could forget the last time we played them? 5-2 from two goals down was a tremendous victory after an abysmal run of form, one would certainly hope for a similar situation at the final whistle on Saturday.

Key men

One of the key points about tomorrows fixture is that Arsenal are a team returning from injury and Spurs seem to be on an opposite path. Mousa Dembele is still out and Defoe, Walker and Lennon all face fitness tests after recent hamstring problems.

For Arsenal Ramsey, The Ox and Szczesny are all fit again after recent injuries. Similarly to the Sagna/Jenkinson issue a couple of weeks ago it seems harsh for Szczesny to slide straight back into the team after a more than credible few games for Mannone (excluding Grant Holt). Despite this it seems very likely that Szczesny will start.

For Spurs, Gareth Bale will be their key player as he is their best player by some way. Bale carries that team and stopping him will be a big part of success on Saturday. Adebayor will make another return to Arsenal and despite an unimpressive run of form, he is a player that always seems to do well against us.

For me, Arsenals key man will be Olivier Giroud. He was the best player on our team against Fulham and seems to finally have found confidence at the Premier League level.

From a more negative point of view it could be argued that Vermaelen is our key man. His poor performances have been subject of much criticism recently and he needs to find confidence and form if we are to get a result against Spurs.

The Bigger Picture

The game against Tottenham represents more than just a chance to beat our biggest rivals; it represents a chance to turn this season around. Last year we went into the home game against Spurs on a horrid run of form, after the game we won eight of our next nine league games.

The game on Saturday will do one of two things. If we lose, all of the anger and dismay surrounding the team, the manager and the board will come to a head and I feel that something will need to be done. The club is in a sad state with supporters protesting and simply losing faith, this can’t go on.

However, if we win the same will happen as it did last season. These problems will be swept under the carpet and the mood will be immediately rejuvenated. It happened after the 5-3 at Chelsea and especially the 5-2 against Spurs last season.

My point is that this game has ramifications both on and off the pitch and a loss would represent some real problems for Arsenal.