FanPost

Arsenal scouting report: Spurs v Arsenal

http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/arsenal-v-tottenham-hotspur

Michael Cox is on point, while the journalist is talking out of his butt.

According to Michael Cox (of ZonalMarking fame), Arsenal have corrected their deficiencies from our last game, including fixing the high line problem, whereas Spurs will most likely leave a high line for our forwards to exploit. However, Lloris is a very effective sweeper keeper. The key thing will probably who AVB plays in midfield. (Our selection at midfield is pretty certain... Cazorla on left, swapping with Rosicky at CAM, backed up by Ramsey and Flamini.) AVB will have to choose 3 of Dembele, Paulinho, Sandro, or Capoue. Dembele and Paulinho are the only ones who offer much going forward, and there's also the question of whether ABC chooses to play one holding midfielder, or two. Either way, it will be a bruising midfield, but creativity will be a question. That's in contrast to our midfield, which has much less size, but could offer more creatively.

Second question is: who does AVB play on the wings? Lennon will most likely get the nod to start on the right, one would think, but Townsend's trickery (aka diving) has also been quite effective, so who knows. It will most likely be Chadli on the left, with Lamela being a recent arrival. Dembele might be the other option. Soldado is a no brainer up front.

I think Simon Johnson overestimates the impact that having the transfers done early will have. As can be seen from Spurs first few games, they've sputtered in the PL, much like Arsenal did at the beginning of last season, and it's probably down to squad gelling. That being said, he's got a point with AVB's high-pressure, counter-attacking system. Interesting statistic though: Spurs have only beat Arsenal once at home in the past 20 years.

Final verdict: Spurs will have a hard time scoring. Their wingers and Soldado will find our deeper line hard to exploit, they have no Bale for the magic, and the one area they could exploit (direct runs through midfield) has not seemed to work out for them in previous PL games. Flamini's addition to the squad could also help in that respect.

BUT, this also comes down to whether or not Arsenal can keep all their players on the field. (Looking particularly at you, Flamini and Wilshere.) If we can, I think Arsenal can take the win.