For all of my footballing life Tottenham have been in Arsenal’s shadow. In fact, the only year I recall them being a threat was the year we went to the Champions League final and according to legend it was just a plate of fetid Lasagna which caused them to crash out of 5th place in the last game of the season. The fact that there’s no mention in that legend of the other 37 games that they played nor the fact that despite their cheating at Highbury and playing on when Eboue was injured they still only managed a point in the April game against us that year, speaks volumes of the shadow-induced delusion that Spurs fans suffer.

And now they’ve hired a snake-oil salesman for a manager and the club feel like they are reaching new heights, challenging Arsenal again and worthy opponents.  All this despite the fact that Arsenal are 13 points clear of Tottenham, challenging for 1st place in the league while they are barely clinging to the hope that they will take 4th, despite all that they feel that they are within touching distance of Arsenal. They feel like if they could just get the slight upper hand, grab the last rung, they could pull themselves out of the sewer and drag themselves into the daylight of the Champions League.

They want it so bad, they can taste it, and that makes them dangerous. A win over Arsenal today will break a ten year curse, end our last chance for any silverware this season, and keep them within touching distance of that fourth place trophy.

Cause for concern is the fact that Tottenham have only allowed 10 goals on their home patch this season. Though that concern is mitigated by the fact that their best player, and Perry Groves’ target for Arsenal, Wilson Palacios is out serving a suspension. Not only that but their first choice back 4 is probably not going to be available with Ledley King and Woodgate both out. Also out are Jenas (who only ever has one good game a season and it’s always against us), Lennon and Kranjcar though I do hear tell that Harry might have a gamble and put rat-faced chav in the lineup.

Meanwhile, us Arsenal supporters are more than aware of the injury problems that have hit our team and today is no different: Arshavin, Gallas, Djourou, Song, Fabregas, Ramsey, and Gibbs are all ruled out for today. Song, in particular, is a big, big blow for Arsenal and how many of you would have said that with a straight face to start the season? Song is out until Manchester City, at least.

The good news is that Robin van Persie makes the bench today with some people making noises about a possible start even. I’d like to say that Robin starting would shock me but after all the ups and downs of the season nothing is going to surprise me any more. Wouldn’t it just be like Arsene Wenger this year to start Rosicky, van Persie, and Bendtner up front and then at the 60th minute take Robin off and put Theo on?

In the midfield our selection is driven by who’s available, really, so Diaby, Nasri and Denilson will probably get the start there. Let’s face it, we need a big game from those three players. It’s the North London Derby, the season’s on the line and you’ve had 8 days to rest I expect a crazy amazing work rate from the midfield. Show Tottenham the lessons we learned from Barcelona, you know, the lessons you learn from playing football at the highest level and not just challenging for 5th place in the Premier League.

At the back, Sol Campbell is slated to start along side Thomas Vermaelen and big Sol’s inclusion in this game is, well, huge. He’ll certainly be the target of abuse from the troglodytes that populate their stands as he was in 2008 when at Pompey and 11 were convicted of shouting homophobic remarks. He dealt with it then and I’m sure Sol is big enough to deal with it now. At fullback, I’m expecting Sagna to start, he almost always plays in big away games, though Wenger could throw on Eboue for more attack in the second half. Meanwhile, Clichy is the only option at left back as far as I’m concerned.

And finally, I hate to be the bearer of plague infected news, but Mark Crapenburg is going to be in charge of today’s match. His catalog of offenses against Arsenal this season is long and varied and you all should be familiar with his refereeing style by now: utter shit. People often wonder how someone like Howard Webb is considered the best referee in England but all you have to do is hold him up against Crapenburg and you can see why he’s considered marginally better. Whereas Webb gave John Terry a caution for his red card tackle on James Milner, I have video of Mark Clattenburg watching Adebayor stamp on Robin van Persie’s face and doing NOTHING:

This isn’t the first, nor the last time which Crapenburg allowed teams to basically assault Arsenal players and given the manner which Tottenham approached the game at the Emirates (snapping into tackles early to “send a message”) I wouldn’t be surprised to see Spuds come out, see that Crapenburg is in charge, and try to break Arsenal legs. Remember Bentley’s red card challenge at the start of the game? That. Don’t be surprised if Mark Clattenburg sees nothing wrong with this tactic and allows them to get away with it.

Arsenal, for their part, are going to have to overcome all of this. We know how Clattenburg referees, we know how Spurs play, we know that they are desperate for three points, we just have to be better. If not, they’ll get their screen prints fired up for the commemorative tee shirts, and head out into the sun for the first time in a decade. We can’t have that, can we?

P.S. Where to watch the match in the States

From what I can tell, the game is not on television in the United States. I checked the Fox Soccer channels, their internet channel, and the ESPN channels. I’ll call Russ from Doyle’s to see if he has any information, and if you all have anything please post it in the comments.

P.P.S.

The game is live on ESPN 2 in HD starting at 11:45 PST, yay!