GW4 – The North London Derby

11/09/2019 Planet FPL

Arsenal 2

Tottenham 2

The Emirates Stadium is not a happy hunting ground for Tottenham. So at first glance, dropping a 2-0 goal lead to draw 2-2 might not make for great reading.

However, in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t such a bad day for North London’s finest. A second successive away point to a top 6 team (we lost both these fixtures last season) The return of Eriksen and Vertonghen to the starting line-up. Dele back from injury and a very impressive cameo from Lo Celso all helped to make the result a little easier to swallow.

The Line-up

I expected us to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. We did not. Poch instead, for the only time I can remember, deployed the troops in a 4-4-2 formation. When I first saw the line-up I wasn’t sure if we were playing 5 at the back, with Sissoko at RB or 4 with Alderweield at RB. As it turned out I was wrong on both counts! Poch instead elected to play Davinson Sanchez at RB. It was a move that no one really saw coming and despite Poch’s claims after the game that he was “great” and one of our best performers, I hope we don’t see this experiment again. He did improve in the second half but it wasn’t pretty to watch and was a real test of how strong my heart is now!

The watchlist

As with previous articles I won’t speak about every player but instead just focus on those who are genuine FPL assets

Lloris 5.5m – 6 saves

Made several top class saves but also scared the life out of me with a couple of his wobbly kicks. Clean sheets have been hard to come by this season (none so far!) but 5 of the next 6 fixtures look promising.

Rose 5.5m – 1 cross, 1 shot

We love Danny Rose, but it just hasn’t happened for him so far this season. Even when compared to our makeshift RB Sanchez Danny’s stats didn’t look great. Sanchez had double the touches in the opposition half and almost 4 times as many in the final 3rd. Danny only managed 1 cross in the entire match, which wasn’t successful. It was his mistake that lead to the first goal and he and Vertonghen made it far to easy for Aubameyang for the second.

This was never going to be a game in which we would be all out attacking, that’s just not the way we play when away to a fellow top 6 side so read into the stats what you want. The more worrying stat for the 2.3% of owners is that Ben Davies is fit again and came on for the final couple of minutes.

Lamala 6.0m ? – 1 shot, 2 crosses, 1 chance created

It was his run and shot that forced the spill from Leno leaving Eriksen with a tap in for the opener. Also started off the move where Kane hit the post and set up Son at the start of the 2nd half also. As ever, it was a battling performance from the Argentine who now has 2 assists and a goal this season. It will be interesting to see if he can retain his place now we have more options in midfield.

Eriksen 8.8m ⚽ – 4 shots, 6 crosses, 2 chances created

How good was it to see Denmark’s finest restored to the starting line up? We are such a better team when he is pulling the strings. Not only was he creating chances at one end, notable for Kane midway through the 2nd half but he was also making blocks and tackles at the other. He was in the right place at the right time to follow up on the spilled save from Leno. Aside from his goal he was involved in most of our good work, forcing the Arsenal stopper into a fine save from a well taken free kick as well as a good save from a fierce strike.

I won’t say he’s at his best yet, but now the transfer speculation is over and with him on almost all set pieces, he could come into our thinking very soon.

Son 9.5m ? 2 shots, 1 cross, 2 chances created

Arsenal, as most teams do, really struggled with his pace and energy. Played a lovely weighted ball to Lamela which lead to our first goal and was taken out by the walking yellow card that is Xhaka for the penalty. He faded late in the 2nd half and was replaced by Lo Celso. After his suspension at the start of the season he is now starting to get up to speed this season and in my opinion this is the guy you want for what looks like a great set of upcoming fixtures.

Kane 11.0m ⚽ – 3 shots, 1 chance created

After dropping back down to 11.0m during the week Kane punished his sellers with another goal in a NLD. Criticised by many for playing too deep, it was his flick on header 10 yards inside his own half that started the move leading to our first goal. A lovely taken penalty put him on the scoresheet for the 3rd time this season. Linked up brilliantly with Eriksen for what would have been a superb goal, only to be denied by the post on the hour mark.

Dele 8.4m

Dele made his return to first team action for the final 30 mins of the game. It was great to see him back and he was soon able to offer Spurs a new option with his running and movement. Should have had a penalty IMO, after being wrestled to the ground by Ceballos

Lo Celso 7.4m

Came on for the final few minutes. Although he couldn’t impact the game, he showed a couple of nice touches. I saw a tweet saying that even if Lo Celso was made to run around the pitch with a gun held to his head he would still have been the most composed man on it. Wasn’t phased by the occasion one bit. Something tells me this kid could be very special!

Davies 5.5m

Only got 2 minuets at the end of the game so nothing to report from that point of view. He is back though and that can only be a bad thing for Danny Rose owners if, as expected, Poch continues to rotate the pair.