If the last two weeks for Arsene Wenger were bad enough, it could get a whole lot worse on Sunday as Tottenham arrive at the Emirates.
After the misery in Milan came surrender in Sunderland last Saturday, effectively ending any hope of silverware returning to the club’s trophy cabinet. Mackems captain Lee Cattermole, twisting the knife, even opined: "I thought we wanted it more than they did."
During their seven-year trophyless itch, even a dysfunctional Spurs have yielded a trophy. But whether Arsenal win, lose or draw at home to their north London rivals at the weekend, they are, for the first time in Wenger’s 15-and-a-half-years, the inferior side with an N postcode.
Arsenal supporters continue to mock Tottenham's 50-year + wait for another title:
Harry Redknapp’s Spurs still have an outside chance of winning the Premier League, and it would be a small crumb of comfort to Arsenal supporters if they derailed the Lilywhites’ momentum.
More pressingly though is their quest for a Champions League berth. Their fourth-placed position flatters them, but victory against their nemesis could galvanise a club lacking as much in confidence as they are in sympathisers.
Both clubs have released a joint statement calling for calm from supporters:
Since Redknapp arrived at White Hart Lane in October 2008, he has lost just two out of eight derbies, winning three. Here’s the key match-ups that could determine whether his team can extend that record to four...
Ledley King v Robin van Persie
“He’s only got one knee, but he’s better than John Terry,” holler Tottenham fans of their captain. Despite his chronic knee injury, King has been ever-present lately, having started Spurs’ last four Premier League matches – a spell that has seen just three goals shipped. Van Persie meanwhile has gone three games without a goal – his worst fasting in an otherwise superb domestic campaign. Arguably a duel between the league’s best defender and the league’s best striker, Arsenal have lost on seven out of the 16 occasions when the Dutchman has failed to score this term.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain v Benoit Assou-Ekotto
With the Gunners overly reliant on Van Persie’s potency and Tottenham’s rearguard tighter in the Redknapp era, much hinges on Arsenal’s supporting cast. Oxlade-Chamberlain, unlucky to be overlooked for Stuart Pearce’s England squad, has had a bright beginning to his Premier League career. Against the nomadic Assou-Ekotto, he faces an opponent whose defending remains as suspect as his haircut, so the right-wing emerges as an even more popular outlet for the Gunners.
TOTTENHAM COME BACK FROM BEING 4-2 DOWN TO DRAW 4-4 IN HARRY REDKNAPP'S SECOND GAME IN CHARGE:
Alexandre Song v Luka Modric
Not on-song against Sunderland last week, the Cameroonian will be under immense pressure to quell the influence of the visitors’ Croat. Modric is the puppeteer of Tottenham attacks, aided by Scott Parker doing the donkeywork beside him. Song has a busy afternoon in store with the aforementioned duo as well as the possible savvy of fit-again Rafael van der Vaart dropping deep. But nullifying Modric remains the key, despite Van der Vaart’s four goals in three games against Arsenal.
Gareth Bale v Bacary Sagna
Bale received the man of the match award at Arsenal last season when his goal instigated Spurs’ comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2. Sagna – no slouch by any means – was once bypassed as if he was a Mini to the Welshman's Porsche, and still doesn’t look 100 per cent fit after almost four months out injured. One of Europe’s finest right-backs, he may be dependent on either Aaron Ramsey or Mikel Arteta shifting over to double up with Oxlade-Chamberlain so crucial.