Tottenham will face Arsenal in the fourth round of the 2024-25 Premier League at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, at 10 p.m. on the 15th (Korea time). Tottenham is in 10th place with one win, one draw and one loss (four points), while Arsenal are in 4th place with two wins and one draw (seven points).
The match is in Tottenham's favor. Of course, the team can take advantage of its home ground as it is held at its home ground. Major players will also return. Coach Enze Postecoglou said in a press conference ahead of the match, "Mickey van der Penn is fine. I am ready to participate as I have trained throughout the A-match period. Solanke has also improved and returned to training later this week. We still have two more days to go, so I hope you finish your training well and play."
Main centre-back Van der Penn missed the last three-round match against Newcastle United due to injury. Solanke also failed to play in two matches due to an ankle injury after the opening match. The team won 4-0 at Everton in the second round, but lost 1-2 at Newcastle in the third round. The attack was frustrating, and without van der Penn's defense collapsed at a critical moment.
He is expected to start in the match against Arsenal. The effect of Solanke's introduction is enormous. It is a huge difference without a goal scorer to keep the balance in the penalty box. In addition, when Solanke plays, Son Heung-min will be able to move to the left winger and focus on his original mission. In other words, the efficiency of the attack will increase.
Son also has good sense. He displayed robust performance with one goal and two assists in the third Asian regional qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup North Korea-China.
Arsenal, on the other hand, will play against Tottenham in the worst case scenario. Captain Martin Odegaard will miss the A-match due to an injury sustained in the match, while his midfield partner Declan Rice will also be absent due to the aftermath of his departure. Newly hired Mikel Merino is also unavailable due to injury. All of the midfielders who will be playing as main players are out due to injury.
However, a prediction has been made that Tottenham will not be able to beat Arsenal. The British Evening Standard predicted a 1-1 draw on Tuesday, saying that neither side will take many risks early in the season.
As the team was in the early days of the season, the team would not likely have any extreme tactics such as unreasonable attack. However, the recent "North London Derby" continued to be quite fierce. Last season, Son Heung-min scored two goals alone in an away match against Arsenal, resulting in a 2-2 draw, and in Tottenham's home turf, Arsenal led 3-0 in the first half but conceded two goals in the second half.
https://bsc.news/post/safe-totosite-ranking-top-15-major-safe-playground-2024
