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Wenger speaks of Sunday Derby,he believes that Tottenham will come out in full force

Published

11 years ago

March 14, 2014

Arsene Wenger is wary of a wounded Tottenham
Hotspur as his Premier League title-chasing
Arsenal side head to White Hart Lane for a
crucial north London derby on Sunday.
While Arsenal are hardly in the best of league
form, having lost their last two away from home, Tottenham’s season
is in danger of imploding after a 4-0 drubbing at Chelsea last
weekend and 3-1 midweek home defeat by Benfica in the Europa
League.
It would appear to be the perfect time for Arsenal to face their bitter
rivals, although with Wenger only having three league wins at White
Hart Lane since arriving in 1996, he knows that form is often
irrelevant in highly charged games.
“We have played two draws and three losses there (in the last five
league meetings at Spurs),” Wenger told reporters on Friday.
“It is a difficult ground to go to for everybody.
“It has always been difficult at White Hart Lane but we are in a
position where of course we want to win the game.”
Arsenal’s defeat at Stoke City put a dent in their title hopes. They
are in third place, seven points behind leaders Chelsea with some
difficult matches to come.
Tottenham are fifth, six points behind Arsenal and four behind
Manchester City, who have three games in hand.
“After Stoke it was very important that we had a good result against
Everton (in the FA Cup). We had a good result even at Bayern (in
the Champions League) but it’s important that we continue and have
no weak moment any more until the end of the season,” Wenger said.
Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood, who will be taking charge in his
first north London derby since replacing sacked Andre Villas-Boas
in December, has endured a difficult few days after an encouraging
start to his managerial career.
Sherwood publicly questioned his players’ attitude after a second-half
collapse at Chelsea, but he has received some sympathy from Wenger,
who has seen nine Spurs managers come and go during his tenure at
Arsenal.
“I think he said that the performance was not right, and I say that as
well sometimes,” Wenger said.
“For the rest I think he is dealing with it well.
“Tottenham have bought so many players that it might take them some
time to get the right balance or find the right level. I think they are a
good side.
“I still think it always takes time when you bring in many new
players, but you cannot say Spurs have had a bad season, they’ve had
a good season and they are there.”
Should Tottenham lose, their hopes of finishing in the top four would
be as good as finished, according to Sherwood.
“If we still have any hope of getting in the top four we have to win on
Sunday,” said Sherwood.
“In some ways it’s the perfect match for us after the week we’ve had.”