Team news and expected line-up: Tottenham v Arsenal

‘Sanchez out of the derby!!!’ That was the exact message I received from a fellow Spurs supporter yesterday afternoon when the news broke that Arsenal’s main man Alexis Sanchez would not be fit for Saturday’s North London Derby.

No other words were needed – the message was clear – no Alexis instilled hope, belief, a sense that we could beat the enemy at the weekend.

I have to admit I was overjoyed when I discovered the Chilean would have to sit out of the derby due to a hamstring injury, but then it got me thinking about the current Tottenham squad and wondering which player would make an Arsenal fan send a text message like the one I received.

I’m pretty sure back in the day that Luka Modric, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Gareth Bale would have been worthy of a message, but I’m not so sure there is one player in our squad now that I can say that about.

Does one player make a team?

With Bale in our side, at least at the end of his career at White Hart Lane, we were regularly branded a ‘one man team’, and of course the same is now being said in some parts about Arsenal and their genius Alexis.

Of course, in a flash I would have Bale back at the Lane, but there is no denying that Tottenham were quite literally ‘bailed’ out on numerous occasions during his final season in the Premiership.

Players used to get the ball and their first thought was to simply give it to the Welsh wizard as quickly as possible. This worked time and time again so I was certainly not complaining, but what happens when that player you rely so heavily on has a bad day? What happens if they suffer an injury and then a spell on the sidelines? While every side has one star man, the go-to-guy when you are desperate for a goal, a team needs more than that.

Do Tottenham have that now? Maybe not. But I think we are significantly closer to it than what we have been since we first qualified for the Champions League back in 2010.

Arsenal without Alexis

The fact that one player being injured can create such a story this week goes to show just how important he is to the Arsenal side. Sanchez has bagged 12 Premier League goals so far and has been a revelation since signing from Barcelona.

Back in September in the reverse fixture at the Emirates, Sanchez was introduced on the hour mark after Nacer Chadli had given Spurs the lead, and inevitably made a difference; running our defence ragged before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain equalised for the Gunners.

Having only had to defend against Arsenal’s top scorer for 30 minutes this season, I can guarantee our back four will be delighted to know that he won’t be featuring tomorrow.

What to expect?

If I was told six weeks ago that a win against Arsenal would see us go above our rivals, I wouldn’t have believed it. However, a victory tomorrow will see us leapfrog the Gunners and Southampton and move us into fourth spot.

Do I expect that? Well I am never confident that we can beat Wenger’s men, but without Alexis up top, or in the middle of the park, or defence (because he literally does cover every blade of the grass on the pitch!), I have a sneaky suspicion Tottenham will have the bragging rights of North London tomorrow afternoon.

Predicted 11

Lloris; Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Mason, Dembele, Lamela, Eriksen; Kane

Arsenal

While Sanchez looks set to miss out, England striker Danny Welbeck is expected back in the squad after recovering from a thigh injury.

New signing Gabriel Paulista should also be included, while midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (groin) is still out along with Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mikel Arterta (ankle), Abou Diaby (calf) and full-back Mathieu Debuchy (shoulder).

What they said

Mauricio Pochettino, on selection dilemmas with a fully fit squad:

“All the players are available and this is a very good thing for us. It’s difficult for me to now pick the 18 players, but it’s better to have that competition. It’s important for all the team to be fit and available for Saturday.”

Arsene Wenger, ahead of the big clash:

“These are two teams fighting very hard to be at the top of the league and it can be a spectacular game. In the derby, the home ground is not too significant at times. It is high commitment, high pace and we just focus on the quality of our game and the quality of our performance, no matter where we play.”

 

Massive game. Kane, Eriksen, no **** it, the whole team need to play well. A win here leads to more

 

Hope the lads are up for this one, Poch has put a bit of steel in the spine and weve got to go after them and disrupt their play and boss them in the middle. Prefer Stambouli over Benteleb as I wouldn't risk the fatigue factor after the Africans cup. Would like Chadli on the left working in tandem with Kane who likes to drift in and out from the left, these two were devastating against Chelsea and can do it again with Eriksen being heavily marked, id give him a bit more room on the right to come inside also working in tandem with Mason. Stambouli holds and has shown that he also has decent distribution. We've been way too nice in this fixture in the past and im sick of watching us sit back and giving them so much space to run at us.
North London is ours COYS.
Lloris
Walker Fazio Jan Rose
Stambouli
Mason Dembele
Eriksen Kane Chadli

 

We're healthy they are not, it's a derby but we still have home field. A draw is a loss, let's make another statement. We need to be responsible and alert, Arsenal has been play going defense and scoring on counters. I'd rather see Dembele start rather than Chadli, we need to over the load the midfield.

Lloris; Walker, Fazio, Jan, Rose; Mason Stambouli; Lamela, Dembele, Eriksen; Kane

 

Can't see us not conceding today our defence still not the best
My team
Lloris
Walker,Jan,fazio,rose
Stambouli
Bentaleb,demble,mason
Eriksen
Kane
Or
Lloris
Walker,Jan,fazio,rose,
Bentaleb,mason
Lamela,Dembele,Eriksen
Kane
And a bit of luck

 

I'm pretty sure they would be happy to see Kane or eriksen out tbf! I'd go with a 4 1 4 1 formation with bentaleb screening the bk four. Lloris walker dier JV Davies bentaleb eriksen dembele chadli townsend chadli Kane.