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Ahead of Arsenal’s victory over Borussia Dortmund last night, Arsene Wenger told his side to forget about Tottenham Hotspur as he was confident the Gunners will finish above their arch rivals in the Premier League table. The red side of North London were the first English side to qualify from the Champion League group stage with a 2-1 win over German club Dortmund, and are now certain of winning Group F which should deliver them an easier knock-out round draw.
The London pair are two of the most in form sides in the country, having both suffered from poor starts to the season, they are now in or around the European places. The clubs are currently as evenly matched as they ever have been in the Premier League era and many believe that Spurs are now in position to take over the crown as the kings of North London.
Wenger was pressured into making desperate signings at the end of the summer transfer window by supporters after the departures of a number of players including captain Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. The late arrivals; such as Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos; have failed to make much of an impression yet, but the club are on fine form beating Chelsea and Marseille away from home and are on a nine game unbeaten run. Their last defeat however was at the hands of Spurs who have an equally impressive run of form under Harry Redknapp.
An awful start to the season, including an 8-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, saw Arsenal in the bottom three and many beginning to question Wenger for the first time since his arrival at the club over 15 years ago. The main factor in Arsenal’s rebuilding since the United game has been the form of Robin Van Persie who has grabbed 12 goals in nine games making him one of the most on-form strikers in Europe currently. Van Persie is in discussions over a new deal at the Emirates and he is now fit and scoring, creating media suggestions that without him, Arsenal would struggle.
Arsenal’s rivals Tottenham are currently the team to watch in the Premier League with their attacking football and consistent players creating a really tough team to beat which has resulted in 10 league games without defeat. Redknapp did not spend big in the summer; unlike every other side in the top six or seven; bringing in Emmanuel Adebayor on loan, Brad Friedel on a free and their player of the year so far Scott Parker for £5million from relegated West Ham.
The pace in the side at White Hart Lane is frightening, with Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Kyle Walker attacking the wings and Rafael van der Vaart now relishing his attacking midfield role. Adebayor has starting scoring goals, keeping Jermain Defoe out of the team and the combination of Parker and Luca Modric in the midfield is possibly the best in the league.
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Spurs sit third with a game in hand at home to Everton, and are three points clear of Arsenal, which is effectively the points they gained over the Gunners with a 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane in October. Spurs are currently the top team in the capital, let alone the north quarter of it and it is surely time that they considered a real threat for the Champions League position, if not the title.
Wenger refuses to confirm that Spurs have the edge over Arsenal in the battle to be the top team in North London and that his teams progress in the Champions League may give them the edge.
“With or without Tottenham what we want is to be in the top four, that is our target.” Wenger said.
“It is a long way to go. I don’t believe we have to focus on Spurs, we have to focus on us improving. It is important that we don’t get confused about what we want to achieve. What we want to do is improve and play better.
“Our consistency has helped the team improve, and qualifying from the Champions League group will give us a lift again.”
The Arsenal supporters will not accept finishing behind their rivals and it may be time for Wenger to get serious about the challenge from down the road. Inured midfielder Jack Wilshere may have his say on the pitch in the second half of the season but he has already had his say on it by betting Spurs supporters that the Gunners will finish above them.
If Spurs end up finishing above Arsenal then Wilshere will donate £3,000 to charity and he has asked his Twitter-following Spurs contingent to match that to heat the already spicy rivalry between the two.
It may come down to the final few weeks of the season, a goal here or there, but Wenger will need to treat Spurs as a massive threat to their Champions League position and if Van Persie picks up his annual injury then it may be Europa League at best for the Gunners and Tottenham could be representing the North of the capital in next season number one club competition.
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