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Arsenal Vs Spurs: Paul Merson Misses The Mark
Paul Merson has stated that he expects Tottenham Hotspur to win comfortably against Arsenal. Here’s why he is missing the mark.
The North London derby is here. For the first time in Arsene Wenger’s 21-year tenure, it is more than likely that Tottenham Hotspur will finish ahead of Arsenal by the end of the season, currently sitting 14 points ahead of their bitter North London rivals having played just one more game.
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That is a seemingly unassailable chasm to overcome. But the Gunners should nonetheless be wanting to win on Sunday for a number of reasons: to dent their title chances, to aid their own top four hopes and to reclaim the pride of North London.
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And as a result, every man and his dog are making their predictions for the upcoming tie, the latest of which being former Gooner midfielder Paul Merson. Speaking in his usual role as a pundit for Sky Sports, Merson claimed that he believed Spurs would win relatively comfortably:
"“Credit to Arsenal for that performance in the FA Cup semi-final against Man City. I didn’t see it coming. But I cannot bring myself to back them to beat Tottenham on Sunday. Alexis Sanchez needs the match of his life, Mesut Ozil needs to have an unbelievable performance, and it needs to go their way on the day. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m going 3-1 to Spurs this weekend. There’s a long way to go in this title race.”"
While it is difficult to argue that a side who have now won eight Premier League games in succession, at home, with their visitors struggling for form and forced into experimenting with a variety of systems such are their issues, will not win, to state that it will be comfortable is perhaps a little shortsighted. However, the most important and influencing characteristic of a derby is how competitive they are.
No matter the disparity in the quality of the two sides, competition always reigns supreme in local derbies. Moreover, given the new-found grit and determination that Wenger’s players have shown in recent games, then it will certainly be a tough, hard-fought 90 minutes.
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Although I still expect Spurs to win on Sunday, a 3-1 victory is a little bit of slight on their visitors. It is sure to be a tight game with little between the two teams, both desperate to secure the victory.