Arsenal welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Emirates Stadium for another eagerly anticipated game in this historic London rivalry. Come Sunday afternoon, Arsenal will be eager to make up for the 1-1 draw that played out when the two sides met at the Emirates last September.
Expectations
Conditioning will be a major factor in this game. In Arsenal’s case, they will have spent 90 minutes chasing the ball against a Bayern Munich side capable of controlling a frightening amount of possession. Arsène Wenger will need his players to recover quickly after Wednesday’s Champions League game.
Although Arsenal are slated to face Bayern Munich, Tottenham are actually in a much worse situation. From a scheduling standpoint, it is a terrible scenario to play Aston Villa on Monday night and then Anderlecht on Thursday night. This will leave the first XI low on energy, so Mauricio Pochettino has to use his squad-players to keep the team fresh.
Arsenal are a terrible team to play if your team is struggling for energy. Theo Walcott might be missing, but the Gunners still have the electric Alexis Sánchez. Another threat will be Joel Campbell, who scored a goal and was extremely effective in the 3-0 away victory over Swansea City last Saturday. The Costa Rican international could prove to be a solid deputy in the absence of the injured Theo Walcott.
Before taking the pitch on Monday night, Spurs had scored 16 goals in 10 games. However, that drops to just 11 goals in nine games when you disregard the goal-padding 5-1 win against Bournemouth. Tottenham are not scoring enough goals to support a defence that has impressed in conceding just eight goals out of their 10 first games.
Match Tips
Tip one: Arsenal to win @ 1.60 with Betfair
Tip two: Under 2.5 goals @ 2.37 with Betfair
A low-scoring game would not be surprising, given the defensive strengths of each team and the low attacking output of Tottenham. Arsenal are primed to take advantage of Tottenham’s heavy workload, but any victory could be with a narrow score-line, given how well Spurs have played in defence of late.