Are we on the road to greater things now?

Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal



Tomorrow morning the hordes of battered eyed gnomes encroach on our temporary home and try to rattle their plastic sabres at the battling warriors of Tottenham Hotspurs, also known as the mighty Lily whites. The battle commences at 12.30 precisely – to the dot – to see who is the mighty ones.
After a slight setback - we lost our first round encounter - tomorrow is part two of the battle of the Gods v the pip-squeaks. Those tin Gunners who have been sliding up and down the pole under the direction of Wenger, the Arse of the team.

Tomorrow we must win against the tin men to prove our worth and future direction. So much is expected on the shoulders of warriors, but we have the strength in depth and the psychological advantage to pin the tin toy gunners to the count of three, or a total whip-out-submission.

Our part as fans it to shout, yell, scream, bellow, screech, bark, roar, holler, callout or even whisper our mighty battle cry.
So I say to you my fellow friends do your bit and get behind your/ our team. And if you are sitting in front of a TV or listening – with your ears – on the radio it doesn’t matter, use your voice to its best decimals.

Concerning the team news; our £23million signing Lucas Moura is fit with fire and wants the chance to come on and show his worth. In other words, he is available.

Toby Alderweireld, Harry Winks and Danny Rose are also ready to show – after their match against Newport – their metal and want to be desperately selected.

The arse-aches goalkeeper Petr Cech – the deckchair attendant -  is in doubt for the game, after getting his testicles in a twist and allowing them to bounce all over the place. So we all wish him a long injury period and that his testicles are cut off so that they eventually free him of his restrictions; say, a year or ten.
Danny Welbeck could be fit, or not to be fit, your question and guess. But Nacho Monreal has recovered from illness (what illness I hear you say? Not the testicles again? No, sadly). Let us hope not, but then again it doesn’t matter who they have on, we are still the mighty ones and are ready for anybody.

Head-to-head

• Arsenal beat Spurs for the first time in seven Premier League meetings in the reverse fixture last November.
• This is the first game between the sides at Wembley since April 1993, when a goal by Tony Adams gave Arsenal a 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory.
• Tottenham have dropped 37 points from winning positions in Premier League games against Arsenal - the worst record of any club against a single opponent.
• They have met 194 times in all competitions, with Arsenal leading by 81 wins to Tottenham's 62.

Tottenham Hotspur

• Spurs are unbeaten in eight league games but have drawn three of the last five.
• Mauricio Pochettino's side have gone 12 home matches without defeat in the Premier League, winning eight of the past 10.
• The four points earned from their two most recent league fixtures, against Manchester United and Liverpool, is one more than they managed in five previous games this season against other current top-six sides.
• Since Pochettino took charge ahead of the 2014-15 season, Spurs have the best home record in Premier League matches between the current top six teams: 10 wins and 35 points from 18 fixtures.
• Tottenham have scored in 14 successive top-flight matches since the 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on 18 November.
• They have conceded nine of their 24 league goals this season, or 38%, after the 75th minute of matches.
• Harry Kane has scored six goals in six league games against Arsenal. He has 21 goals in 32 Premier League London derby matches, an average of 0.66 per game.

Arsenal

• Arsene Wenger's side are winless in 15 Premier League away games against the current top five clubs since a 2-0 victory at Manchester City in January 2015 (D6, L9).
• Arsenal have only averaged a point per away game in the Premier League this season, with three wins, four draws and six defeats. They have the division's ninth best away record.
• They could suffer three straight away defeats in the Premier League for the first time since a run of four losses ended last April.
• However, Arsenal are unbeaten in their last nine matches at Wembley Stadium, winning them all including two penalty shootouts.
• The Gunners have gone eight league games without a clean sheet since mid-December.
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored four goals in four appearances against Tottenham: one in the Champions League and three goals in the Europa League.
• Henrikh Mkhitaryan has set up three Premier League goals in 120 minutes of action for Arsenal, as many as Alexis Sanchez managed in 1507 minutes for the Gunners this season.

Yours Truly, Don Scully