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Although Tottenham defeated Newcastle and Manchester United, two powerful rivals, in the previous two rounds of the league, although Southampton started high and low this season, even though James Beatty, who shined last season, is no longer as good this season. , the former Premier League golden boot Kevin Phillips, who was introduced with a large sum of money, also fell into a long-term goal drought, although Tottenham had a considerable advantage against Southampton in all aspects - you know, they dominated the field. Tottenham almost beat Southampton, who had changed coaches midway through the game, in the middle of the game. They shot as many as 27 times in the whole game, and they had more time on the ball than the Saints. Nearly forty percent!
Although Tottenham had such a huge advantage in this game, the final result was not satisfactory. Tottenham's 27 shots in the 90 minutes only resulted in one goal, while Southampton seized one of the few counterattack opportunities, and Beatty equalized the score in the 83rd minute. Let Tottenham go home in despair at St. Mary's Stadium!
However, despite being unexpectedly tied with Southampton on the road, Tottenham's ranking in the league standings was not surpassed by Manchester United - in another game at the same time, Manchester United played Arsenal at Highbury Stadium. It was a one-to-one draw, and the league was winless for three consecutive rounds!
As a result, Tottenham, which had a draw with Southampton, continued to rank third in the standings, still maintaining a two-point gap with Manchester United. This situation allowed Manchester United players to taste Ferguson's carefully crafted hair dryers again after the game. This time, Sir Alex Ferguson, who was full of anger and wanted to vent, found a quite suitable excuse - now that there is only the league left to play, you can actually win three consecutive rounds. Can you still be successful? !
Not to mention the Manchester United players who are in dire straits, let’s get back to business and talk about Tottenham’s situation. After returning to London from Southampton, the Tottenham team immediately began intense preparations under the leadership of George, because Tottenham's next opponent is their city rival, Arsenal, who currently ranks first in the league. !
And this is also the fourth time the two teams have met this season!
However, the result of this north London derby will not affect the league rankings of Tottenham and Arsenal. Because this is not a Premier League game, but the semi-finals of the English FA Cup!
Regarding this situation, Wenger and George rarely maintained the same opinion, and they invariably complained about the guy who arranged this cheating schedule - although Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are indeed irreconcilable. It’s true that they are mortal enemies, and the North London derby does have a lot of gimmicks, but if a derby like this happens five times in a row (the two teams have to play each other once in the league), no matter who they are, they will get tired. ?
Especially Wenger, when he noticed that the opponent in the next game was Tottenham Hotspur again, the always graceful professor couldn't help but wanted to look up to the sky and yell: Why is it you again? !
You know, the current situation is completely different from before. Tottenham have never lost to Arsenal in a North London derby since George became the coach. Especially in the League Cup semi-finals, George's glorious deeds of knocking Arsenal out of the League Cup with only one substitute lineup made Wenger even more frightened about playing against Tottenham - although there were many comments after the game. The media and fans who support Arsenal are indignant and think that Tottenham eliminated Arsenal because of their shamelessness and good luck. However, the professor has clearly realized that the reason why Tottenham advanced to the League Cup final is because George has discovered The key to this Arsenal team!
Therefore, if possible, Wenger does not want to encounter Tottenham anywhere other than the league, because in this way, Arsenal's chance of being eliminated is much higher than their chance of beating Tottenham. many!
Of course, complaints are complaints. Although both George and Wenger are a little unhappy about the fourth North London derby this season, they are not stupid enough to ask the FA to modify the FA Cup semi-final matchup arrangement. Because everyone can see that this is just a coincidence, and no one is operating in secret, the FA has enough confidence to reject this unreasonable proposal.
After all, even those who arranged the fixtures could not have predicted that such a coincidence would happen - not only did Tottenham and Arsenal happen to be in the same half of the League Cup and FA Cup, but they also happened to be in the same half. Neither team was eliminated in either arena, resulting in the bizarre phenomenon of five North London derbies being played in one season.
You know, the League Cup and the FA Cup, which adopt a single-game determination system, have always been hotbeds of upsets. Even powerful clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal cannot guarantee that they will last until the end. Take this season as an example. Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough, who have reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, can only be regarded as mid-table in the Premier League. This time, Millwall, who has won the semi-finals of the FA Cup, is a team from the English League One. team. Although the latter situation is quite rare, it is enough to show how unfriendly these two cup competitions in England are to those traditional strong teams.
Just like that, the time came to April 3rd. The Tottenham team arrived at Highbury Stadium on time and walked out of the tunnel amidst the boos of tens of thousands of Arsenal fans, preparing to defeat the Gunners in the next ninety minutes and win the trip to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium ( Tickets for the venue of the FA Cup Final!
In this game, Arsenal's pressure is obviously much greater than Tottenham's. After all, Tottenham now only have to deal with two fronts: the Premier League and the FA Cup, while Arsenal has one more Champions League to fight than Tottenham. The most important thing is that four days after this FA Cup semi-final, there will be the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Arsenal and Chelsea!
For Arsenal, who urgently need to prove their strength in the European competition, the Champions League is obviously much more important than the FA Cup. It is naturally impossible for Wenger to give up the Champions League, which is more profitable and more influential, for the sake of this FA Cup semi-final. Therefore, in terms of formation, the professor naturally has to make choices and cannot let the main players compete in this game. The game consumed too much, which had a negative impact on the Champions League match four days later.
In addition, Vieira's civil compensation lawsuit has not yet been concluded, which has caused Wenger to become increasingly stretched when arranging the starting lineup, and also made the professor feel that Arsenal's chance of winning this derby is really small. Very pitiful.
After all, in the West, civil compensation lawsuits have always been known to take a long time. Especially when Tottenham are not eager to get the verdict and even intend to delay it, it is simply impossible to complete this case as soon as possible. And this will naturally have a quite adverse impact on Vieira's competitive state. Under such circumstances, Wenger was even more unlikely to let the captain and team core start in this FA Cup semi-final. Even though Vieira's desire to compete was quite strong, it did not make the professor change his mind.
Therefore, in order to better prepare for the second leg of the Champions League against Chelsea four days later, Wenger had to send a large number of substitute players in this FA Cup semi-final.
Goalkeeper Lehmann, right back Sigan, central defenders Senderos and Martin Keown, left back Clichy, midfield four of Reyes, Edu, Cesc Fabregas and Parlor, Weir Todd and Kanu partner up front. This is Arsenal's starting lineup for this game.
Obviously, faced with the strong pressure from Chelsea and the fact that he had never won a game under George, Wenger finally chose to give in and strategically gave up the FA Cup semi-finals, leaving the team's main battleground behind. All the energy is concentrated on the Champions League match four days later!
Looking at Tottenham again, George obviously has no intention of breaking his promise and continues to send out a starting lineup dominated by substitute players: Casey Keller, Stephen Carr, Ledley King, Dawson, Matthew Taylor, Poyet , Kompany, Basturk, Bierovka, Darren Anderton and David Villa, this is Tottenham's starting eleven tonight!
Since he had missed several weeks due to a knee injury, George did not let Karl and Ledley King play immediately in the league, but let them choose to return in the FA Cup, where the intensity of the competition was lower. After all, most teams usually choose to focus on the league and replace some substitute players in the FA Cup, not to mention Arsenal who have to distract themselves from the Champions League.
Therefore, in George's view, letting Ledley King and Karl start in the FA Cup semi-finals is obviously more suitable for the two of them to regain their game form and minimize the chance of them getting injured again as soon as they return. After all, for these players who have just recovered from injuries, the first few games after their return are the most critical. If you are not careful, you can easily get injured again.
At the same time, Arsenal fans seemed extremely depressed after seeing Wenger fielding such a starting lineup, while Tottenham fans who gathered in the away team's fan area celebrated happily in advance in the stands. After all, it is a rare sight for Tottenham to overwhelm Arsenal in the lineup. In addition, in the League Cup semi-finals, the team knocked Arsenal's entire lineup to the ground. Therefore, most Tottenham fans feel that Tottenham's game is already settled!
In this way, the North London Derby, which was staged in the FA Cup semi-finals, finally officially started with the whistle of the referee Paul Dugin!
