Home Premier League Arsenal Arsene Wenger reveals why North London derbies are high-scoring

Arsene Wenger reveals why North London derbies are high-scoring

2
0

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed why he believes the North London derbies are always high-scoring games and the Frenchman puts it down to both teams being positive and attacking even when they are away from home.

The last two games at the Emirates Stadium have finished 5-2 to Arsenal, but going back further, in the last seven games, there have been 36 goals, which works out to more than five goals a game.

Speaking to the club’s official website ahead of the North London derby, which takes place on Sunday, Wenger believes it’s because both teams are very attacking-minded.

“It is because the two teams go [into the match] with an offensive mind, with a desire to win,” he told Arsenal Player.

“Once you have scored first of course it opens the game up. We will again go into the game with that mind.

“It is two good teams against each other, on top of that it is a derby and on top of that there is a lot of passion there, so there is always uncertainty around these games.

“You want to focus on your football, the way you want to play and that is the best way of dealing with it.”

The Gunners boss also believes his side will be full of confidence going into the game, especially after they pipped their rivals to fourth place last season.

“We had a big battle with Tottenham last year, let’s not forget that,” he said. “At one point we were seven points behind, we lost there and we still bounced back and managed to [make up] eight points in 10 games. That was quite remarkable.

“We needed absolutely to be consistent because you could not say Tottenham dropped off dramatically but we were so good in the last 10 games that we got 26 points and that made the difference.”

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here