There was not much for Arsenal fans to cheer about last night, as the German champions Bayern Munich more than made up for losing to the Gunners in London two weeks ago. The 5-1 defeat has the football media and the fans full of criticism for the Arsenal players, especially the defenders, and wondering whether this awful result has given Tottenham a big boost ahead of Sunday´s north London derby.
Well I am here to tell you that it has not, for a number of reasons. Firstly and perhaps most importantly there is the fact that form often goes out of the window in a fiercely fought local derby. How often have we seen a struggling club get back on track by beating their big rivals who were on a good run?
So when the Arsenal and Spurs players run out onto the Emirates pitch on Sunday, any thoughts about what happened in the previous game will be put to one side. Also, the Gunners have proved already this season that a bad night in Europe does not carry on into the Premier League.
After the disaster of losing our second Champions League game at home to Olympiacos, Arsenal produced arguably the best performance of the season to blow Manchester United out of the water and canter to a 3-0 win.
Finally, there is the heavy legs factor and being in the Europa League means that the spuds have one day fewer to recover and prepare. There is a theory that they will rest a few big players, such as Harry Kane, but after losing to Anderlecht last week they really need a result at home to the Belgians.
So if anyone is going to be put at a disadvantage by the games this week it will those from down the road. And if the Arsenal players cab forget about the UCL woes and focus on the Premier League chase, can the fans do the same and make sure that home advantage counts on Sunday?