There’s no way out.
Tottenham are 0-3 down at halftime against Arsenal in the 35th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Monday (Aug. 28).
Arsenal won 5-0 against Chelsea on April 24 in the 29th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League. The victory pushed Arsenal to 77 points (24 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses), separating them from second-place Liverpool (74 points from 34 games) and third-place Manchester City (73 points from 32 games).
However, Manchester City has played fewer games. Looking at Arsenal’s remaining schedule, there’s a good chance that the North London derby will be their toughest game. On the other hand, Tottenham’s situation is not easy either. With 60 points (18 wins, 6 draws, and 8 losses) after two fewer games, they are six points behind Aston Villa (66 points).
Furthermore, Spurs are also behind in goal difference (Aston Villa +21, Tottenham +16) due to their disastrous loss to Newcastle (0-4). A fifth-place finish in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) is also unlikely. With the PL’s Man City and Arsenal both eliminated, the Bundesliga is second to Serie A in the race for five UCL spots.
In conclusion, Tottenham must win to keep their UCL hopes alive. With six games left, they need to win as many of them as they can and still have a shot at fourth place. The problem is, the schedule isn’t easy, so it’s going to be a tough road.
Not only did they collapse in the first game of a hellish four-game stretch (0-4 loss at Newcastle), but the rest of the schedule is also very tough, with games against Arsenal, Chelsea (away), and Liverpool (away). Spurs will need to bounce back from the Newcastle loss and get back on track against Arsenal. For Arsenal, it’s a must-win game to keep their title hopes alive.
As the importance of the game grows, Spurs will be counting on the toe of Son Heung-min. With 15 goals and nine assists this season, he has been the alpha and omega of Spurs’ attack. Leading Spurs in the absence of Harry Kane, one more assist would give him 10 goals and 10 assists in the league for the third time in his career.
Only five other players have reached the 10-goal, 10-assist mark in the Premier League at least three times: Wayne Rooney (five times), Eric Cantona (four times), Frank Lampard (four times), Didier Drogba (three times), and Mohamed Salah (three times). Add to that the fact that this will be Son Heung-min’s 20th North London derby.
Since joining the club in the 2015-2016 season, Son has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 19 appearances for Arsenal. On a league basis, his six goals against the Gunners ranks him fourth on the all-time Premier League North London derby scoring list. Harry Kane tops the list with 14 goals.
He has also scored multiple goals against Arsenal this season. If Son keeps up his momentum and adds two more goals, he’ll join Arsenal 안전놀이터 legend Roberto Pires, who has eight. This personal record, combined with the team’s performance, makes this a very important game.
Son Heung-min, who had spoken at a press conference the day before, was also fired up: “Arsenal is a very good test. They are the best team in the world. It’s a perfect test for us. We’ve always had a good rivalry with Arsenal,” he said, adding, “It doesn’t matter who scores the goal or if I scored before. We just want to win,” he concluded.
As expected before kickoff, Tottenham lined up with Son Heung-min in the center of the attack, with Timo Werner, James Maddison, and Dejan Kuluczewski leading the line. In the midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur-Pierre Hoiberg will start. The back four is Ben Davies-Micky van der Penn-Christian Romero-Pedro Foro. Guglielmo Vicario is the starting goalkeeper,
Arsenal also started at full strength. Kai Havertz and Leandro Trosar-Bukayo Sakho started on both wings. In midfield, Declan Rice, Thomas Partey and Martin Ødegaard started. The back four was Takehiro Tomiyasu-Gabriel Magalhaes-William Saliba-Ben White. David Raya was the starting goalkeeper.
The two teams had starkly different concepts. Tottenham stuck to the Plan A that manager Enzi Postecoglou has been running all season. Arsenal’s 스포츠토토 사이트 추천 Mikel Arteta, on the other hand, brought a counter-attacking strategy that was strictly Tottenham’s version of the Spurs’ edge ball. He wanted to take the initiative and look for the counterattack.
Arsenal’s play worked. In the 15th minute, Arsenal’s set piece was deflected by Tottenham’s Hojbjerg, who failed to clear the ball properly. The Gunners immediately responded when van der Penn found the back of the net, but video assistant referee (VAR) ruled the goal offside.
That was a big offside. Tottenham were reeling. Arsenal doubled their lead in the 27th minute when Xhaka collected a long pass from Haberz and finished with a calm left-footed strike. Haberz quickly made it 3-0 with a header from a corner kick.
The first half ended with Arsenal still leading 3-0.