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English Premier League 2008-09 Champions - Manchester United

SachDan

By SachDan
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English Premier League 2008-09 Champions - Manchester United  

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    • Manchester United
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    • Chelsea
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    • Arsenal
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    • Liverpool
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SachDan Newbie

SachDan

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Hope' date=' he doesnt do the same to you on Wed, all the best mate Hammers next :two_thumbs_up:[/quote'] So North London derby at Emirates stadium?? this contest has always excited me...2004 Oct I think at White Hart Lane..have been a fan of this ever since..wat a match that was?? Asnl won 5-4!! a rejuvenated spurs to take care of...Good Luck
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Shane Newbie

Shane

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Premier League Preview: Arsenal-Tottenham Hotspur

The build-up to the 143rd league meeting between North London neighbours and arch-rivals Arsenal and Tottenham has been dominated by the managerial upheaval at White Hart Lane which saw Juande Ramos sacked on Saturday night and Harry Redknapp installed as his successor in time to oversee a first Premier League win of the season for Spurs at home to Bolton. Since then, it's all been about who Redknapp will bring in as his coaching staff (Kevin Bond has been appointed, Tim Sherwood is considering an offer, Clive Allen has been promised a role, Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand are on Harry's radar), who he might buy and sell in January, whether he will be in Portsmouth today to accept the freedom of the city following Pompey's FA Cup win, and who will replace him as manager at Fratton Park (it looks like ex-Gunner Tony Adams). Amid all these distractions, there is a massive game of football looming, and despite the feel-good factor suddenly enveloping White Hart Lane, the two teams going into it could hardly be in more contrasting positions. On Sunday, Tottenham's victory took them within a point of climbing off the bottom of the table, though they remain three points from safety. On the same day, Arsenal were beating West Ham away by the same 2-0 scoreline, to consolidate their place in the top four, four points behind Liverpool and now only one behind Chelsea. It was the Gunners' sixth League win of the campaign - only Liverpool have won more (seven); in contrast only Newcastle have won as few as Spurs (one). Of course, the 'new manager phenomenon' is a well-known factor in football, whereby a change in the dug-out elicits an immediate, positive response from previously under-performing players. Redknapp got that reaction from the Spurs squad on Sunday; the challenge now is to keep it going against rivals who will be determined to earn three more points to maintain the momentum of their title bid. Redknapp knows what everyone in football knows: Spurs have a squad of good players but have not had a good team. The new man at the helm insists it's all to do with confidence, and some of that will have returned following Sunday's win. Nevertheless, Redknapp will be attempting to become the first of the six most recent Spurs managers to win the North London derby. David Pleat, Glenn Hoddle, Jacques Santini, Martin Jol and Juande Ramos all failed to steer Spurs to a League victory against their bitter rivals. Coincidentally, Hoddle and Jol both started their reigns with games against Arsenal. The Gunners beat Hoddle's side 2-0 at Highbury in March 2001, and Jol's side 5-4 at the Lane in November 2004. It is a commentary on the relative stability of the two clubs that since Arsene Wenger was appointed Arsenal boss in September 1996, when Gerry Francis was in charge at Spurs, Tottenham have had nine different full-time managers and several caretakers. (Since David Pleat was 'caretaker' for the entire 2003-04 season, he counts as a full-time manager!). It is also a commentary on the relative success of the clubs in the Premiership era that Arsenal currently hold a 17-match unbeaten League sequence against Spurs (10 wins, seven draws). Their last League defeat was on 7th November 1999 when Martin Keown and Freddie Ljungberg were sent off and Spurs, under joint-caretakers Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence, won 2-1 at the Lane. The last time Tottenham won on Arsenal turf was at the back-end of the inaugural Premier League season, on 11th May 1993, when Arsenal boss George Graham (later to manage Spurs) rested most of his first team ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final against Sheffield Wednesday and paid the price with a 1-3 home defeat. That 1-2 reverse at the Lane in 1999 remains the only defeat Wenger has suffered against Spurs in 24 meetings. The Frenchman was also unbeaten in four cup encounters - until the two teams clashed in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final on 22nd January this year. Then, Juande Ramos guided his team to a resounding 5-1 victory - a vanquishing of the old enemy that invigorated all Tottenham fans and was the springboard to their lifting the Cup by beating Chelsea at Wembley the following month. How Redknapp - despite growing up as an Arsenal fan - would relish being able to savour what would be Tottenham's second successive win over the Gunners on Wednesday night. But of course it all went sadly wrong for Ramos after the twin peaks of thrashing Arsenal and then out-playing Chelsea in the final to put a trophy in the cabinet for the first time since Graham led them to glory in the same competition in 1999. Yet, although Spurs have endured their worst ever start to a season under Ramos, it is one of football's ironies that - should they succeed in beating Arsenal - they will advance to eight points, one more than they accumulated after the first 10 games last season. And if they can beat the Gunners, Redknapp will probably be given the freedom of Tottenham to go with his freedom of Portsmouth. But Arsenal's Robin van Persie is not too concerned about how much of an impact Redknapp's appointment will have on Wednesday's game. The Dutchman - needing one more goal to reach 50 for the Gunners - was encouraged by Arsenal's resilience and persistence when they overcame West Ham at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday. And when he was asked if Redknapp would transform Tottenham's fortunes, Van Persie replied: "I don't know and I honestly don't care. The game against Spurs is one on its own and it's a big one, irrespective of where they are in the table. They won their first game on Sunday, which is great for them, but we'll see what happens on Wednesday. It was a massive win for us against West Ham that proved we have the resilience to challenge for the League." Team-mate Theo Walcott said Arsenal had shown they had the ability dig in and do the unglamorous stuff necessary to sustain a title challenge. "The main thing is the three points - sometimes people say that we do not do all the dirty things, which we did during the first half, and that frustrated them at times. It goes to show that we do not just play pretty football and we can put our foot in when it has to be done." It may have to be done again on Wednesday in the torrid atmosphere of a North London derby - when manager Wenger will surely have no reason to exhort the Arsenal fans to get behind their team. It is the first midweek clash between them for nine years - and it should be electric. Head-To-Head This is the 143rd North London league derby, and the 160th competitive meeting between Arsenal and Spurs. The Gunners have won 59 of the League meetings, and Spurs 45, with the other 38 encounters ending in draws. Results of all League games (home and away): Arsenal 59 wins, Spurs 45, Draws 38 Premier League only: Arsenal 13 wins, Spurs 5, Draws 14 At Arsenal only: League (inc Premier League): Arsenal 36 wins, Spurs 17, Draws 18 Premier League only: Arsenal 9 wins, Spurs 1, Draws 6 Last Season's Corresponding Game: Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur 22 December 2007 - Ref: Rob Styles Arsenal scorers: Adebayor 48, Bendtner 76 Spurs scorer: Berbatov 66 FORM GUIDE Arsenal have avoided defeat in 11 of their last 12 games in all competitions, and in six of their last seven Premier League outings, while Spurs ended a nine-match winless run in the League by beating Bolton - which saw them score more than one goal in a League game for the first time in 16 attempts. Arsenal - Last Five Results 26 Oct (Premier League) v West Ham (A) WON 2-0 21 Oct (Champions League) v Fenerbahce (A) WON 5-2 18 Oct (Premier League) v Everton (H) WON 3-1 04 Oct (Premier League) v Sunderland (A) DREW 1-1 30 Sept (Champions League) v FC Porto (H) WON 4-0 Tottenham - Last Five Results 26 Oct (Premier League) v Bolton (H) WON 2-0 23 Oct (Uefa Cup) v Udinese (A) LOST 0-2 19 Oct (Premier League) v Stoke (A) LOST 1-2 05 Oct (Premier League) v Hull (H) LOST 0-1 02 Oct (Uefa Cup) v Wisla Krakow (A) DREW 1-1 TEAM NEWS Arsenal Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky remain sidelined, but Kolo Toure and Bacary Sagna were on the bench on Sunday, and Sagna came on briefly. Other injury news to follow. Last Starting XI: Almunia, Eboue, Gallas, Silvestre, Clichy, Walcott (Adebayor 67), Fabregas, Song Billong, Nasri (Diaby 68), Bendtner, Van Persie (Sagna 90). Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Toure, Ramsey, Djourou. Squad: To be confirmed. Tottenham Michael Dawson is suspended for two more games following his red card at Stoke. Injury news to follow. Last Starting XI: Gomes, Hutton, Corluka, King, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley, Jenas, Huddlestone, Modric, O'Hara (Lennon 70), Pavlyuchenko (Bent 67). Subs Not Used: Cesar, Zokora, Gunter, Giovani, Campbell. Squad: to be confirmed PLAYERS TO WATCH Arsenal Emmanuel Adebayor came off the bench at West Ham on Sunday, pressurised Julien Faubert into conceding an own goal and then hit the late second to seal Arsenal's win. The Togo striker has put behind him a summer of ill-advised sound-bites to the media about the relative charms of AC Milan, Barcelona and cash, and been welcomed back into the Arsenal fold on the strength of some more considered quotes and some excellent form. Adebayor has scored eight goals already this season, following his 30 last season, and now has 54 to his name as a Gunner since joining the club from Monaco in January 2006. Moreover, he has hit seven goals against Spurs in nine appearances against them. Tottenham David Bentley will be facing the club where he started his professional career. Now 24, Bentley made nine appearances (one in the league) and scored one goal for Arsenal before moving to Blackburn Rovers in August 2005. On joining Spurs in the summer he declared that Tottenham had always been in his heart and that he couldn't wait for the game against Arsenal, insisting that the atmosphere and inevitable hostile reaction to him from Gooners would be something to relish. He has yet to justify his fee or show the Spurs fans his true worth; being played out of position, or used as a substitute, by Juande Ramos had denied him the chance to establish any continuity in the side - and also, he claimed, cost him his England place. His outspoken reaction cost him a place in the squad for the Udinese games, Ramos's last in charge; but it is a near certainty that Redknapp will start with Bentley and encourage him to put on a show against his old team-mates. Certainly this is the ideal occasion for Bentley to deliver. PREDICTION Tottenham were one of nine clubs Arsenal did the double over last season, and Wenger will surely have his troops fully focused on picking up three points from this high-octane derby and ignoring the Redknapp effect. On current form, despite Tottenham's win at the weekend, the Gunners should extend their unbeaten League run against Spurs with a victory. Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur

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Shane Newbie

Shane

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ManU vs Hull City at Old Trafford in half an hours time :yay: Shane, another hard earned draw against Stoke City ??
Well, i hope not :nervous: , im more interested in knowing whose the other user who voted for Arsenal in here, FT Everton 1 - 0 Fulham
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