First of all Arsenal fans, I want to say that I am not revelling in the misfortunes of others, but with Tottenham next up in the Premier League I am sure that Arsene Wenger would take any help we can get in beating our local rivals at the Emirates stadium on Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino does not have as many injury problems to cope with as our own manager, especially if the likes of Santi Cazorla, Hector Bellerin, Theo Walcott and both left backs Monreal and Gibbs do not recover in time to play in the north London derby, but the ones he does have could well be vital.
Most people will point to the possible absence of their centre forward Harry Kane as their biggest problem but I think the one that Arsenal can exploit the most is their central defender Toby Alderweireld. The sports injury website physioroom.com rates the Belgian defender as a major doubt to face us and he looks certain to miss out, giving their boss a major headache.
Last night in Europe he went for Dier alongside Vertonghen but they looked like they had never met and the defensive errors and anxiety went all across the back four, and ith the defensive midfielder Dembele having picked up an injury himself last night, they have also lost protection in front of the defenders. The pace and movement in the Gunners attack is perfectly suited to exploiting any defence that is not on the ball and well organised, so Alexis Sanchez and Ozil should have a field day.
What I think Arsenal need to do is to get at them from the off and utilise the high press like Bayer Leverkusen did last night. The spuds crumbled under the pressure and never really recovered so we can prey on that and get them on the back foot and in panic mode early in the game.
Has this one Spurs injury given Arsenal a huge advantage in the derby?
Bob.