Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | Simon Burnton

• Press F5 or hit the auto-update for the latest • Email simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • Click here for all today’s latest scores • Follow Simon on Twitter, if that’s your thing 3.58pm: The players are running out, and that can only mean one thing – an ad break. 3.57pm: “I think he runs to the touchline and hugs Wenger à la Balotelli-Mancini last weekend,” suggests Ryan Wakefield. I would love to see Adebayor running down the touchline attempting to embrace Wenger, while Wenger runs down the touchline attempting to evade him. 3.54pm: Interesting if not-that-surprising-when-you-think-about-it stat from Sky: this is the first time in the history of the world Premier League that Tottenham have gone into a North London derby as favourites. 3.50pm: “Hello, Simon!” Hello, Ryan Dunne! “Is it fair to say that most neutrals, like me, are hoping for an Adebayor hat-trick and some ‘get it right up ye!’ fist-pumping aimed at the Arsenal fans? I admired Barry Glendenning for stating last year, in the midst of much Old Firm sixth-form moralistic hand-wringing, that the on-pitch fiery hi-jinks make it more, not less, of a compelling spectacle, and Adebayor’s past triumphant wind-up surely falls within the same category. And, based on past form, he’ll probably stop playing well in a couple of months anyways, so Arsenal fans will surely get the last laugh.” Well I’m all for hi-jinks on principle, and as public as possible, but do feel that there could be public order issues if Adebayor doesn’t control himself today (and heaven knows Tottenham – the area rather than the club – have had enough of those recently). 3.49pm: So, readers, how will Emmanuel Adebayor celebrate when he inevitably scores? 3.42pm: Meanwhile, elsewhere in London: Fulham 3 (Andrew Johnson 38) QPR 0. 3.35pm: Elsewhere, right now, Fulham are 2-0 up on QPR and Swansea are a Scott Sinclair penalty to the good against Stoke. 3.33pm: One change each for our rival combatants, then – Arsenal bring in Francis Coquelin for the injured Laurent Koscielny (Theo Walcott and Gervinho both having passed fitness tests), and jugular-seeking Tottenham replacing Sandro with Jermain Defoe. 3.32pm: Enough of yesteryear, though – here are today’s teams! Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto, Van der Vaart, Parker, Modric, Bale, Adebayor, Defoe. Subs: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Giovani, Bassong, Corluka, Livermore, Sandro. Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Song, Gibbs, Ramsey, Arteta, Coquelin, Walcott, van Persie, Gervinho. Subs: Fabianski, Park, Andre Santos, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Benayoun. Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral). 3.30pm: Hello world! So, the north London derby then. A fixture that has produced all sorts of breathless excitement in the past. So you want examples, do you? Well, here’s a list I made earlier (not exactly by myself, as you’ll notice). The Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal match kicks off at 4pm BST and Simon will be here with commentary from 3.30pm BST. If you get here before him, read Kevin McCarra’s preview: It is far too early to declare that there has been a shift in power in north London, but a win for Tottenham at White Hart Lane would have an impact. Harry Redknapp’s side would then lead Arsenal by five points, with a game in hand. visitors did not impress in the narrow Champions League win over Olympiakos and the quality of the squad is open to debate. Nonetheless, three wins in a row for Arsène Wenger’s team must have come as a relief, even if those matches were at the Emirates, with Shrewsbury among the defeated teams. Match pointers • Tottenham have kept only one clean sheet in 31 matches in all competitions against their north London rivals • Arsenal have won only two of their last 16 games away from the Emirates Stadium in all competitions • Emmanuel Adebayor scored eight goals in nine games for Arsenal against Spurs • Robin van Persie has scored four times in his last four starts against the hosts • These sides have drawn 17 times in the Premier League, the most ties of any fixture in the competition’s history Premier League 2011-12 Tottenham Hotspur Arsenal Simon Burnton guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 2, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.