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Spurs Odyssey Preview - Arsenal v Spurs, 06.11.16

· Last season's game - Arsenal 1 Spurs 1, 08.11.15
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premier League in Match 11 2015-16

· See the current injury list for all Premier League Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats


Full Record of Spurs -v- Arsenal
 
Prem          Pl  W   D   L  For-Ag  Pts
Home          24  8  11   5  34 -33  35
Away          24  2   9  13  24 -46  15
========================================
Total(Prem)   48 10  20  18  58 -79  50
=======================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 1)   55 24  12  19  93 -83  63
Away(Div 1)   55 16  12  27  65 -85  46
========================================
Total(Div 1) 110 40  24  46 158 -168 109
========================================
Total(Prem)   48 10  20  18  58 -79  50
Total(Div 1) 110 40  24  46 158 -168 109
========================================
Grand Total  158 50  44  64 216 -247 159
========================================

Last Six Premier League results:-

Arsenal    -    WWWWDW

Hull       1-4  Arsenal
Arsenal    3-0  Chelsea
Burnley    0-1  Arsenal
Arsenal    3-2  Swansea
Arsenal    0-0  M'brough
S'derland  1-4  Arsenal

Spurs      -    WWWDDD

Spurs      1-0   S'derland
M'brough   1-2   Spurs
Spurs      2-0   Man City
West Brom  1-1   Spurs
B'mouth    0-0   Spurs
Spurs      1-1   Leicester

Pos           P  W  D  L   F-A   GD  Pts
 2. Arsenal  10  7  2  1  23-10  13   23
 5. Spurs    10  5  5  0  14-5    9   20

The best of times or the worst of times?

It's not The Tale of Two Cities, but the tale of two North London teams. One of the two was born and bred here, the other moved from South of the river. One of the two earnt the right to play in the top flight of English football. The other was "elected" at the expense of the other in 1919. Take a look at Norman Giller's account of this unfortunate episode in our history for more detail. It is one of the reasons why "we hate Arsenal".

Arsenal have plenty to crow about, of course. Once again they pipped us in the Premier League last season, on the very last day. After an opening day home defeat to Liverpool in an exciting 4-3 game, Arsene Wenger's side has been unbeaten in 15 games in all competitions. They are level top of the division. They have qualified for the knock-out phase of The Champions League for the seventeenth successive season. They have won five of their last six Premier League games. They are scoring goals galore.

The contrast is starkly visible. Spurs might be unbeaten in the League, but they have been beaten twice in four games in their Champions League quest. Qualification to the round of 16 for us is unikely, and another Europa League campaign beckons. For us goals have been hard to come by. We haven't scored a goal in open play for five games. We haven't won in 6. We've scored 9 less goals than Arsenal in the Premier League. We are outside the top four. They've been entertaining their fans. We haven't for over a month.

On the face of it, after another morale sapping Wembley defeat, this could be the worst of times for Spurs to travel to The Emirates, where they have managed just one win in 13 attempts.

The Arsenal players and their fans will be feeling confident. Aaron Ramsey, back in action after an early season injury, has already been crowing about the players' confidence, and in fairness, they have every right to be confident about their chances. Arsenal fans like to crow about the fact that we "won the league in black and white", and it's true. I was only eight, going on nine years old, when we won the Double. Until I first made it to The Lane in the mid-sixties, I didn't realise just how horrible that Arsenal red was. I've hated them from the day I first saw them. I've hated them from the day a Phil Beal own goal in August 1968 put them on their way to an early season win at White Hart Lane. I've hated them since later that season a John Radford equaliser at Tottenham gave them an aggregate League Cup semi-final win, and I've hated them since Ray Kennedy's goal in May 1971 put them on their way to winning "our" Double.

Arsenal fans will love the fact that we hate them, and of course love their team for the same reasons. Let's be honest, despite moments of glory such as Gazza's goal, plenty of home wins, but rare away wins, they have held the lead in bragging rights for too long.

.... and yet, this could be the best of times for Spurs to go to enemy soil. After such a poor performance against Bayer Leverkusen, both the manager and the players recognised the team's efforts were simply not good enough, and they simply have to bounce back from such a low level. What better game than this to motivate the players? The fans will definitely be "up for it"!

Look on the bright side. Harry Kane IS back in the squad. Sissoko is still suspended! Whilst doubtful, Lamela and Mousa Dembele might just make the game. Ben Davies and Toby Alderweireld are confirmed absentees, but Danny Rose will return at left back, and he WILL be fired up!

There is even a precedent of sorts. After we beat Inter 3-1 six years ago with an exhilarating performance, we travelled to Bolton the following week-end and lost 4-2. Let's reverse that trend!

As usual though, we realistic fans will be thinking that a draw would be a good result for an away game against Arsenal. I certainly think so, but having told you to look on the bright side, I can't share my prediction.

Referee Mark Clattenburg is in charge of us for the first time this season. Taking into consideration fans' overall bias against referees, Mr. Clattenburg is one of the more appreciated "men in black" in recent years. He was last in charge of us for our 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in May. His last Spurs - Arsenal game was our 2-0 FA Cup defeat here in January 2014. This week Mr. Clattenburg was in Turkey for the Besiktas v Napoli game when he gave a questionable penalty. It has been a big year for this referee, who refereed three prestigious finals - The FA Cup Final, Champions League and Euro 2016.

· Spurs' record in recent London Derby matches

· Reviewing Spurs' last Champions League Season - 2010-11. On this date 6 years ago we lost 4-2 at The Reebock (Now The Macron) Stadium against Bolton

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