Thierry Henry has anointed the side most likely to challenge Arsenal for this season's Premier League title. Mikel Arteta's men have finished second for three seasons in a row but this term, they look ready to finish at the top of the pile. But the Gunners legend says there is one rival you "don't want on your shoulder".
Arsenal await Tottenham test
This weekend, the north London derby returns, as Premier League pacesetters Arsenal host rivals Tottenham – who sit eight points back in fifth. While Spurs have struggled at home this season, they have the best away record in the division. As a result, Henry is wary of Thomas Frank's team.
He told Betway: "I never used to like to come back and have a tough game after international duty. Thankfully, Arsenal are playing a team who also have a lot of international players. Sometimes you play a team who stayed for the whole 10 days and they’re waiting for you. It’s a north London derby, so the intensity will be there. And you’re playing against a team who hasn’t lost away from home. Against Sunderland, Arsenal encountered something that they usually do to teams. They played the long ball, and it reminded me of my time in the Premier League, where you couldn’t put pressure on any team. Any free kick, throw in or goal kick was in your box, and suddenly you have to win those balls, and they didn’t when Ballard and Brobbey challenged them. So we will see what’s going to happen against Tottenham. I’m sure that the team is going to be ready. You don’t need anyone to tell you what to do in these games. You know what time it is. You need to wake up. If you don’t know that, that means you don’t understand who you’re playing for."
AdvertisementGetty ImagesArsenal warned about Man City
In two of the last three years, Manchester City pipped Arsenal to the Premier League title, with Liverpool coming out on top last term. This season, it seems Arsenal are primed to end their long drought for a league crown, which stretches back to 2004. But Henry is wary of Pep Guardiola's City, who appear to have tweaked their tactics and seem to be rejuvenated.
The former Barcelona ace said of City: "Very impressed. I never thought he would have allowed his wingers to come inside so early in the build-up like they do. I never thought he would allow his left winger to go on the right. That would never have happened with Pep in the past – two wingers on the same side of the ball, like against Man Utd at home. Pep has found a way. He had to find his starting 11, and you can see now that Jeremy Doku is clearly the guy on the left, while on the right it changes sometimes with Cherki or Savinho. When you have Phil Foden coming back in form, it changes things, although I think he’s better in that No. 10 position on the right, where he can come back on his left foot and punish you. We’re still waiting for Rodri to get back to a certain level. I think that’s a tiny bit missing, although Nico Gonzalez played well against Liverpool.
"Now he has Nico O’Reilly starting to look like the player that everyone thought he was going to be, and they have a freak up front who can score in his sleep. So if you’re an Arsenal fan, that’s exactly the team that you don’t want on your shoulder, because they know how to win. It’s not great as an Arsenal man to see them coming back to their level. They look like a team about to go on a run. I think Pep had to deal with having two new assistants and a new way of playing. What you were hoping for while City made that adjustment is that Arsenal could go ahead and take some points, and that’s exactly what happened. But it was always going to be a battle."
'Never lost a north London derby'
During his eight years at Arsenal, Henry never lost a north London derby. In fact, in 11 appearances, he won seven, drew four, and lost none. Plus, he scored five goals and added two assists.
When asked if he thought about his excellent record for Arsenal against Tottenham as a player, he said: "Hell yeah, I thought about it. I didn’t grow up as an Arsenal fan, and when I arrived I didn’t understand how important it was for the fans to beat Spurs. But then in the building you have Pat Rice, Paul Johnson, and all the guys who were Arsenal fans telling you, 'You have to beat them'. I was focused on Man Utd, like, 'Why is the derby so important? You want to catch first place, so don’t look at people that are behind you'. But then I started to realise how important it was to beat Tottenham, and then you want to keep that record. That’s why I celebrated like I did when I scored in the last north London derby at Highbury. I was on the bench because we had a Champions League semi-final, and the boss said he was going to rest me. I said, 'What? You’re gonna rest me against Tottenham?' I came off the bench and scored the equaliser, controlling it with the inside of my foot and toe-poking it straight away into the far corner, and that’s why my celebration was crazy – I didn’t want to lose to Tottenham for the first time in the last derby at Highbury. It became a thing for me because I became an Arsenal fan, and not losing against them is something I’m always going to cherish."
Getty Images SportCrunch games for Arsenal
After Sunday's game against Tottenham, Arsenal entertain the seemingly unstoppable Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday in what will be a huge test of their credentials. Then they travel to third-placed Chelsea to round off November. Over that period, City will likely be snapping at their heels, waiting for the Gunners to slip up.