TheSportsCampus

The Emirates will play host to the always fiery North London derby this Sunday as a beleaguered Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur. Arsene Wenger has endured one of the most tumultuous weeks of his long Arsenal reign after his side were pummelled by AC Milan in the Champions League before crashing out of the FA Cup at the hands of Sunderland on Saturday. Tottenham also endured a disappointing 0-0 draw against Stevenage in the FA Cup, thus forcing them into a replay. But Spurs still enjoy a healthy ten point lead over Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League and a victory on Sunday could take them a further step towards guaranteeing a Champions League place for next season.

(Click here for the Match Report)

Harry Redknapp has enjoyed great success over the Gunners in recent years, which is a drastic change from the old times when Arsenal routinely thrashed their neighbours. Spurs have won the last three fixtures between the two sides, including the one earlier in the season at White Hart Lane when Kyle Walker scored a spectacular winner in the 2nd half.

Arsenal

Wenger has seen his share of ups and downs during his 16 year reign in North London, but last week must count as one of his lowest points as his side collapsed like a pack of cards over a four-day period. The more crushing blow was the slow death of the Frenchman's footballing philosophy that has all but ensured that Arsenal will complete a 7th season without a trophy. Wenger's insistence on youth has masked the fact that he has accumulated a pool of under-performing and/or mediocre experienced players. The likes of Tomas Rosicky and Andrei Arshavin have been poor while most of the summer entries have proved to be cheap replacements for the departed elite. Replacing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri was always going to be a hard task, but Wenger was well aware of the situation and refused to dip into the market until the eleventh hour.

AC Milan horribly exposed them last week in the Champions League knockout tie, smashing four past a side that was guilty of the same old mistakes in defence and also suffered from a lack of composure on the ball. The mini-recovery towards the end of last year, when they re-grouped after a disastrous start to the campaign, was never going to last the entire campaign and it has proved so. They have won only four of their last ten fixtures in all competitions and only two of the six Premier League games since the turn of the year.

The one positive for Arsenal is the dire situation Chelsea also find themselves in, with the two London giants taking turns to be named the crisis club of the week. They are ahead of 5th placed Chelsea purely on goals scored, with Newcastle a point behind and Liverpool a further three adrift. The next few matchdays will determine their fate as the clash with Spurs is followed by games against Liverpool and Newcastle. A failure to make it into the Champions League, while being unprecedented in the Wenger-era, will cast a huge hole in the revenue stream for a club that is still paying off the debt from their move to the Emirates.

Tottenham

Tottenham's last Premier League outing saw them hammer five past a hapless Newcastle United at White Hart Lane. They have strengthened their grip on 3rd place with a run of just one loss in 10 games. But they have had their fair share of draws during that period, four to be precise. They drew blanks in the FA Cup on Saturday as lowly Stevenage forced then into a replay. The replay is sandwiched between ties against Manchester United and Everton in what is a relentless March fixture list for Spurs. They welcome Man United before travelling to Everton and Chelsea in consecutive weeks. With the clubs in the top six playing each other in the coming weeks, the table could well be taking its final shape.

The draw at Stevenage showcased the importance of Luka Modric to Spurs as they looked dishevelled and bereft of ideas when on the ball. The Croatian is the conductor of the midfield and in his absence Spurs struggled to bring their wide players into the game. But the defence has stepped up in the face of mounting injuries as Spurs have maintained three clean sheets in a row. Redknapp's decision to add experience in the January is beginning to pay-off as Louis Saha has already shown his true worth with his goals while Ryan Nelsen could be an important backup defender.

The long injury list has hampered Redknapp greatly as he frets on the fitness of Emmanuel Adebayor, Modric and Rafael van der Vaart. Modric missed the FA Cup game with the flu while Adebayor picked up a knee injury in training. Benoit Assou-Ekotto had a groin surgery last week, but should be fit for Sunday's game.

Head-to-Head:

2nd Oct, 2012: Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal
20th Nov, 2010: Arsenal 2-3 Tottenham

Form Guide:

Arsenal: LLWWD

18th Feb, 2012: Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal (FA Cup)
15th Feb, 2012: AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal (UCL)
11th Feb, 2012: Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal
4th Feb, 2012: Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn
1st Feb, 2012: Bolton 0-0 Arsenal

Tottenham: DWDWW

19th Feb, 2012: Stevenage 0-0 Tottenham (FA Cup)
11th Feb, 2012: Tottenham 5-0 Newcastle
6th Feb, 2012: Liverpool 0-0 Tottenham
31st Jan, 2012: Tottenham 3-1 Wigan
27th Jan, 2012: Watford 0-1 Tottenham (FA Cup)

Probable Line-Ups:

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny (Gk), Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Van Persie

The defensive crises at Arsenal seems to be worsening with each passing week as they are set to be without Per Mertesacker, Sebastien Squillaci and Francis Coquelin for Sunday's game. Laurent Koscielny is expected to make a return after missing the Sunderland game while Carl Jenkinson has returned to full training and will probably start on the bench. Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs and Thomas Vermaelen will complete the back four, with Wojciech Szczesny continuing in goal. Aaron Ramsey took a slight knock to his ankle in the FA Cup game, but he should take his place in midfield, with Alex Song and Mikel Arteta playing behind him. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gervinho and Theo Walcott are the three preferred men fighting it out for two spots on the wing. Robin van Persie 

Tottenham (4-4-1-1): Friedel (Gk), Walker, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Modric, Parker, Kranjcar, Bale, Van der Vaart, Adebayor

Van der Vaart, Modric, Adebayor and Assou-Ekotto are all expected to make the starting line-up after having sufficiently recovered from their respective injuries and illnesses. The settled backline will have Brad Friedel in goal and Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson, Ledley King and Benoit Assou-Ekotto ahead of him in flat back-four. Redknapp might play Jake Livermore and Scott Parker in the deep positions to free up Modric or he might revert to his favoured formation with Modric and Parker holding midfield, with Van der Vaart the spare man. Gareth Bale will start on the left while either Niko Kranjcar or Aaron Lennon will fill-in on the right. Adebayor will return to his old stomping ground as he comes face-to-face with the Arsenal fans he so infuriated with his infamous celebration while at Man City.

Prediction: Goals are guaranteed in this fixture, with only one goalless draw occurring in the last decade. Spurs have form on their side but Arsenal have a surprisingly great defensive record at home, with only Man City and Liverpool conceding fewer goals in front of their fans. The opening goal will be crucial as Arsenal could collapse if they concede early in the game. Spurs have pace to burn on the wings and they will be more than a handful for Arsenal's shaky defence.

Predicted Score: Arsenal 1-2 Tottenham

File Photograph Copyright:·Ryu Voelkel

This article is the exclusive copyright of·TheSportsCampus, and permission to reproduce it has not been granted.