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EPL: North London derby: Tottenham vs Arsenal

London, Mar 1: Gareth Bale will key for Tottenham ahead of their crucial test against Arsenal at White Hart Lane. Bale has been in the best form of his career and Spurs are favourites against Arsenal on Sunday in the North London derby clash which is crucial for both sides hopes of Champions League qualification.

Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal will battle it out to claim a Champions League spot and victory for third-placed Tottenham would send them seven points clear of the fifth-placed Gunners and keep them above Chelsea.

Bale has been compared to the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo with his goal-scoring abilities for Spurs. The Welshman has scored eight goals in his last six matches, the latest being a late winner against West Ham.

The North London derby offers a goal fest with 39 goals in the last eight meetings. Last season when these two sides met in the league Spurs led 2-0 but lost 5-2 and Arsenal ended up finishing third while Spurs came fourth but were denied a Champions League spot after Chelsea, who finished sixth, won qualification after becoming Champions of Europe.

This will be the 152nd derby game between the two sides and Spurs will be aware of the threat posed by Arsenal while the Gunners will try to keep Bale quiet.

Andre Villas-Boas has won over the Spurs fans after a difficult start to his managerial career at White Hart Lane while Arsene Wenger has come under criticism from supporters after falling out of both the FA Cup, Capital One Cup and the Champions League loss to Bayern Munich.

However, Arsenal have not been out of the top-four since Wenger took over in 1996 and the Frenchman is confident his side can challenge for the top two spots but they last ended up in the runners-up position in 2004-05.

Meanwhile, both Spurs and Arsenal will issue a warning to supporters intent on using sick chants during their clash on Sunday.

Wenger has been the target of sick chants from Spurs manager while Emmanuel Adebayor, a former Gunner, has been abused a number of times by Arsenal fans.

OneIndia News

Story first published: Tuesday, August 22, 2017, 12:27 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 22, 2017