Dec 14

A Preview Of The North London Derby.

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Purchase One Rose in Particular this Mother's Day Weekend. Peculiar events in elite English football are afoot. Former noticeably mediocre Bradford City loanee Liam Moore is currently part of a squad standing three points aloft at the Premier League summit. Physically immature teenagers are clambering into the starting XIs of football clubs with worldwide recognition and making impressions worthy of acclaim. The newest of the baby bunch being Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, whose two ‘horny' appearances in late February have earned him the internal accolade of being the club's Player of the Month. “The vicar in a tutu, he's not strange. He just wants to live his life this way.” Fast forward thirty years from these Smiths' lyrics being pencilled and sliding down the proverbial bannister with an outlandish desire to separate itself from the normal pack is the Premier League. It has truly become nothing more than a mug's game to forecast the final outcome of the league campaign, with wannabe pundits throwing in their towels, sideling back into the comfort of their armchairs and resting their aching brains in favour of simply being entertained. For those of us still plugging away at predicting the almost unpredictable, a fascinating encounter awaits in North London. The derby between Spurs and Arsenal hosted at White Hart Lane has arguably never been more significant since the Premier League's creation. Chasing the foxy leaders Leicester are the Lilywhites, who despite a recent setback at what was their final ever visit to Upton Park sit in second place with 54 points. Three points behind with a much weaker goal difference are the white sleeved internet poll winners Arsenal. This is a team that need to win every single one of their remaining fixtures in order to break the league's 80 point barrier, a task that appears extremely unlikely given their lack of form. Seasoned professional and all round decent chap Petr Cech suffered a calf injury running back to his goal after going up for a last minute corner in the midweek home loss to Swansea City, something that Arsenal fans have described as being very… well, Arsenal. This grants cheap as FPL chips stand-in goalie David Ospina a guaranteed place in the line-up for the lunchtime kick off. Priced at merely £4.7m on the Fantasy Premier League website, the Colombian is due to take the goalkeeping reins for the next three weeks at least. In eighteen Premier League appearances last season, Ospina kept eight clean sheets. In the process, he managed to grapple the permanent position away from embarrassed Barcelona admirer Wojciech Szczesny. Punt-worthy? Perhaps. Fans of statistics will be intrigued to learn that Spurs have only ever been top of the Premier League once after August. That was in September 2002. Now with realistic potential to obtain the top spot in the second half of a league season for the first time since the mid-eighties, the latest team obstacle to stand in their way is their most despised. The fixture truly promises to create headlines are the very least. Only Manchester United (7) have conceded less goals at home this season than Spurs (10). Rested midweek, defender Danny Rose is likely to start against Arsenal and with Rose comes an attacking presence through the left channel. Six assists and a freshly scored goal against Swansea have been provided by the twenty five year old during the league campaign so far. His adoration for getting chalk on his cleats could just be enough to stretch the Arsenal back four and cause them defensive issues. £5.1m is his asking price, tempting enough considering his side's defensive solidity for the past twenty eight matches. Damn Daniel. As unusual has become the usual in the English top division, it really is difficult to successfully envisage the score line of this eagerly anticipated North London derby. Whatever the result, it will be of no detriment to the Leicester City. Speaking from a neutral perspective, long may that continue. That's all for our A Preview Of The North London Derby, good luck this weekend in both FPL and DFF from all at the fplbet.com team.