Consent Preferences Spurs Odyssey Premier League match preview - Spurs v Arsenal, 02.03.19
Spurs Odyssey Banner

Over 25 years of archives at Spurs Odyssey

Main Page
News and views from Paul Smith, and links to the interactive features of the Spurs Odyssey Site. [more..]
Features
Articles, reports, views, opinions, comments and other features all related to Spurs. [more..]
News

Harry Hotspur's Tribute Pages to the late great Bill Nicholson

A Commemorative plate that was issued to celebrate the Spurs Double Season

Match Reports
Thanks for visiting Spurs Odyssey!

Spurs Odyssey Preview - Spurs v Arsenal, 02.03.19

· Last season's game - Spurs 1 Arsenal 0 - 10.02.18
· This season's away game - Arsenal 4 Spurs 2 - 02.12.18
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premier League on Matchday 29 2017-18

· 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          26 10  11   5  37 -33  41
Away          27  2  10  15  27 -53  16
========================================
Total(Prem)   53 12  21  20  64 -86  57
=======================================
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)   53 12  21  20  64 -86  57
Total(Div 1) 110 40  24  46 158 -168 109
========================================
Grand Total  163 52  45  66 222 -254 166
========================================

Last Six Premier League results:-

Spurs      -    WWWWLL
           
Fulham     1-2    Spurs
Spurs      2-1    Watford
Spurs      1-0    Newcastle
Spurs      3-1    Leicester
Burnley    2-1    Spurs
Chelsea    2-0    Spurs

Arsenal    -    WWLWWW

Arsenal    2-0    Chelsea
Arsenal    2-1    Cardiff
Man City   3-1    Arsenal
Hds'field  1-2    Arsenal
Arsenal    2-0    S'hampton
Arsenal    5-1    B'mouth

Pos          P  W  D  L   F-A   GD  Pts
3. Spurs    28 20  0  8  55-29  26   60  
4. Arsenal  28 17  5  6  60-38  22   56

A feeling of trepidation

I wrote at the end of my match report on Wednesday night's Chelsea game that "I will be at Wembley for the Arsenal game filled with trepidation". That remains the case. How can a Spurs fan be confident as we approach this game on the back of two consecutive defeats, one of which was predictable although disappointing (at Chelsea), the other which was a shock defeat at Turf Moor last Saturday. While we were losing to Chelsea, Arsenal were rampant and beat Bournemouth 5-1. The "Gooners" are in very good form again, having won five of their last six league games. Their only defeat in that spell was away to Manchester City. They and their fans will be feeling confident against us tomorrow, and understandably will fancy their chances.

Like it or not, Arsenal, Chelsea and yes, even West Ham tend to produce their best performances against us. Can our crestfallen Spurs team pick themselves up after Wednesday night and re-instate the 7 point gap between us and our nearest London rivals, or will we have cause for genuine concern with defeat that would bring that gap down to just one point. With Man Utd at home to Southampton and Chelsea at Fulham on Sunday anything but a win for Spurs would make our nerves jittery.

Last year it was right to remember that it was the 100th anniversary of the armistice. This year it is right for Spurs fans to be reminded of the events of 1919, 100 years ago now, which led to Arsenal being elevated to the first division (they had not earned a promotion) at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur. Those events are best summarised by Norman Giller in an article published on Spurs Odyssey in June 2016.

Norman wrote this:-

"It was naturally assumed – with the extra places available – that the teams that finished in the last two places in the 1914-15 season, Chelsea and Tottenham, would automatically retain their First Division status, with Derby and Preston promoted as the top two teams in the Second Division to make up the 22 clubs.

But nobody took into account the Machiavellian manoeuvres of Arsenal chairman Sir Henry Norris. He secretly negotiated behind the scenes and behind the backs, and had powerful Liverpool chairman and League president John McKenna – nicknamed ‘Honest John’ – giving him surprisingly strong support.

Despite finishing only fifth in the Second Division in 1914-15, it was Arsenal who were promoted along with Chelsea, Derby and Preston. The team that lost out was Tottenham, and all these years later it still rankles and irritates, like an itch that will not go away and the more you scratch it the worse it gets."

We will never forget!

The least said about this season's away game against Arsenal the better. Even the fact that we went back there later in December and knocked them out of this season's League Cup is more than a little lost in the bad memory of losing to Chelsea in the two-leg semi-final. Two trips to The Emirates and also to Stamford Bridge is always a nightmare, after all! The two trips to The London Stadium were much more fun, on reflection.

Better to focus upon our better home record in Premier League games against the old enemy. They haven't won an away league game against us for five years. That was also a game played in March (2014) when Rosicky secured the points with a second minute goal. Guess who the referee was! Yes, none other than alleged Spurs fan Mike Dean!

Our record at home over the last ten such league meetings is Won 6 Drawn 3 and Lost just that one game. Our win last season was in front of a record Premier League crowd at Wembley (83,222). Our hero Harry Kane was the scorer of the solitary goal. By coincidence the match referee was Mr. Anthony Taylor, who is in charge tomorrow. There was a scare after the Chelsea game suggesting that despite being booked for his spat with David Luiz, Harry Kane might face FA investigation over a suggestion of a head butt upon Azpilicueta. Referee Andre Marriner confirmed he had seen that incident and deemed that no action was required, which means no subsequent sanction, and Harry can face Arsenal tomorrow.

Whether Jan Vertonghen and Harry Winks can play remains to be seen, as both require late assessments regarding fitness. It seems that "Super" jan was not rested as we might have thought was the case at Stamford Bridge, but he has had a hip injury. Harry Winks has the same issue and we will still be missing Dele Alli and Eric Dier.

Arsenal's only definite absentee of note is full back Bellerin, who faces a long hard roaad to recovery with his ACL knee injury sustained against Chelsea in January. Manager Unai Emery hopes to have Koscielny and Lichsteiner available. Koscielny suffered a knock against Bournemouth on Wednesday night.

Arsenal were full of goals but they also were given loads of space by Bournemouth who have lost 9 consecutive away games, and conceded loads of goals in the process. This is Tottenham and I fancy us to bounce back in front of a big Wembley crowd. I am even predicting a 2-1 win!

It's almost three months since we have seen referee Anthony Taylor in the middle. That was on 5th December when we beat Southampton 3-1 at Wembley. Mr Taylor's only other game in charge of us this season was also a 3-1 home win against Fulham. A third such success would be wonderful!

· Spurs' record in recent London Derby matches

· "It was Twenty Years ago today!" - Spurs beat Southampton 3-0 with goals from Armstrong, Iversen and Dominguez.

Top of page | Index to 2018-19 Match Reports

Last season's match
Read the full report of the corresponding fixture from last season here
Statistics
Fixtures, appearances, current league table, form guide, reserves fixtures, and Spurs Honours. [more..]
Archives
Find match reports, appearances, goalscorers and features from previous seasons. [more..]
Pick of the Week
Selected Spurs related sites are highlighted in this section. [more..]
Links
View a comprehensive list of links to other Spurs related sites. (With a few extras) [more..]
About this site
· Overview
· History
· Contributors
Contacts
Site Owner
· Paul Smith

We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Full details van be found via the Spurs Odyssey Privacy Policy