Could this finally be the season that ends Arsenal’s dominance over their north London rivals? With just eight games remaining, Spurs are 11 points ahead of Arsene Wenger’s men, although Arsenal have a game in hand. After last year, when Arsenal snatched second place from Spurs on the final day of the season, Mauricio Pochettino has re-energised his troops while Wenger’s side has lost momentum.
Tottenham Hotspur is a long-established top-flight club but has failed to cement a place at London’s footballing top table. The success of Chelsea and the constant ability of Arsenal to qualify for the Champions League have helped to ensure Spurs keep falling short. It is 21 seasons since Spurs finished above The Gunners and that is set to change this year.
Spurs are blessed with a young and progressive manager in Pochettino. After a fantastic first season in English football with Southampton he has built on this reputation at White Hart Lane. Despite a few setbacks, notably in the European competitions, he has built a team of dynamic young players who, contracts permitting, should be at the club for a long time. They sit second in the Premier League, just seven points behind Chelsea.
Wenger, on the other hand, is wrestling with massive unrest at The Emirates. A seeming acceptance that “fourth is the new first” is upsetting fans, with many getting louder and angrier. The squad seems at odds with one another and they seem destined to lose at least one of their big names in the summer transfer merry-go-round. They sit outside the top four and face a battle to continue Wenger’s record of qualifying for 19 straight Champions League seasons, the best of any club in England.
Arsenal have been at their wonderful new stadium for nearly 10 seasons, and enjoy match day revenue that is the envy of its rivals. This hasn’t been converted to money for spending in the transfer market, another source of angst for the fans.
The club’s season ticket prices are astronomical and supporters are now demanding marquee players to match their eye-watering direct debit payments. Wenger must have a little black book full of transfer targets and he now needs to persuade the money men to give him access to the mountain of cash sitting in the bank account.
Tottenham is on the verge of moving into its own hugely impressive new arena. The new stadium is taking shape around White Hart Lane and the club is scheduled to move in at the start of the 2018/19 season. The capacity has been deliberately set at just a few hundred more than The Emirates Stadium, a clever piece of psychological warfare by Daniel Levy and his board.
That could be the only chink in Spur’s armour right now. The final stage of construction involves the demolition of White Hart Lane to free up the necessary space. The result will be a season (or possibly more) of playing league games at Wembley, which is not a happy hunting-ground for Tottenham. Their Champions League campaign failed spectacularly at the National Stadium and in order for Pochettino, Kane, Alli and Co to carry on their progression, the Wembley demons need to be banished. If they manage to do that, then the gap between them and Arsenal could be even greater in a couple of years’ time.
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