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Can the Teams of North London Beat the Manchester Duo?

Paul Scholes, right, celebrates his goal against Bolton Wanderers, which made him the oldest Englishman to score a league goal for Manchester United. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)

It’s North London against Manchester this weekend and the London teams will be looking to wipe away demons from the early days of the season when both were given severe drubbings; City triumphing 5-1 at White Hart Lane while United whacked eight past Arsenal, ending Arsene Wenger’s Project Youth once and for all.

Since then both London clubs have turned things around. Tottenham Hotspur holds bragging rights as they sit in equal third place behind both Manchester teams, while Arsenal have worked their way up the table since the dark, dark August days when they flirted in unfamiliar territory just above the relegation places.

The Gunners maybe fifth, but their recent form is less than impressive with just 10 goals scored in their last nine games. This has prompted manager Arsene Wenger to go out and re-sign Thierry Henry on a two month loan period.

Obviously Henry Is only a stop-gap measure while Mourane Chamakh and Gervinho are on African Cup of Nations duty, but with a full complement of strikers Arsenal have looked lightweight against teams like Wolves, QPR and Fulham. Against Swansea City they were outpassed and outclassed by a team many are calling Arsenal Lite.

Despite Per Mertersacker coming in and bringing vast levels of experience, they are still looking shaky at the back with sloppy goals given away with carefree abandon. In recent years, long term injuries have been a regular feature of Arsenal’s season and this campaign is been no exception, with Thomas Vermaelen, Andre Santos, Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna among the defenders absent for long periods.

Despite sitting second, Manchester United have also been guilty of inconsistency. Sir Alex Ferguson was quick to follow Wenger’s lead by bringing back an old face, in his case Paul Scholes, rather than gambling in an unnaturally quiet January transfer market.

In the early days of Wenger’s reign he held the upper hand over United but those days are long gone. Indeed, so one sided has this clash become over recent years, Ferguson has even started saying nice things about Wenger and Arsenal; a sure sign he considers them less as rivals and more as an old foe fallen on hard times.

Wenger will be hoping his team will be up for the United game on Sunday. Too often some of his big names have underperformed and if they can’t motivate themselves for this game then can they really have a future at the club?

At least the Arsenal have home advantage. Tottenham have to travel to Manchester where City have a blemish free record this season in the Premier League. The defeat at home to City has been really the one hiccup in a season that has been marked by a consistency that even die hard Tottenham fans find hard to recognize in their team.

City may not have been at their overpowering best in recent games, such blistering starts as they have enjoyed are nigh on impossible to maintain, but even when below par they have been nicking points.

But Tottenham are a different proposition. They won’t go there to defend or to minimize the punishment City will hope to unleash on them. They have their own threats, not least Gareth Bale bombing down the wing. They have Modric, they have Defoe and they have van der Vaart. And unlike Arsenal, Harry Redknapp hasn’t had to spend his time checking in at sick bay so much.

Redknapp is also aware this is probably the best chance Tottenham will have of winning the Premier League in many years. Even a top four place may not be enough to keep this squad together and he must know, with all his experience in the game, big names will be due a knock or a niggle as the season wears on.

For Arsenal, even a victory would not satisfy a support getting increasingly disillusioned at Wenger’s apparent reluctance to fix what they think needs fixing. Redkanapp needs to keep the momentum going while both City and especially United have shown they have the wherewithal to withstand the odd setback. Even if North London do win this weekend’s battles, it’s hard to look beyond Manchester for the end of season glory.

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