The Premier League (PL) resumes after the International Break on Saturday 1 October with two Premier London Derbies (PLDs) matches – Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace v Chelsea. In England’s last match before the FIFA World Cup, an exciting 3-3 draw with Germany, Captain Harry Kane collected his 50th Cap and scored his 51st England goal! Not only is he just 2 behind record scorer Wayne Rooney but his ‘goal-a-game’ scoring is remarkable. Rooney took 120 games for 53 goals, Jimmy Greaves 57 for his 44, Nat Lofthouse 33 for 30, and Vivian Woodward 23 games for 29 goals from 1903 to 1911. Congratulations to them all!
The North London derby last season was a watershed for the Spurs Head Coach Nuno Espirito Santo. The Lilywhites were unbeaten after three 1-0 wins and the Gunners point less after three defeats. A comprehensive 3-1 home win set Arsenal on their way and was the first of three consecutive PLDs defeats for Spurs. Santo was gone after 10 matches of the season. There have been 4 home wins and 2 draws in the last 6 seasons. Arsenal will want another to hold on to top spot, and Harry Kane will want another goal to pass Thierry Henry’s PLDs record and to help Spurs remain unbeaten. It will be very fiercely contested.
The second PLDs match sees Chelsea, under their new Head Coach Graham Potter, away to Crystal Palace. There has only been one home win in the last 6 seasons and 5 defeats. The Eagles will be looking to exploit the Blues unusual vulnerability in what has been a turbulent start to their season. Potter will want his new Club to soon displace his old one – Brighton and Hove Albion – in the PL top 4, and to please his new boss lest he proves as trigger-happy as the previous Chelsea owner one Roman Abramovich. Who would be a manager!
Until next time “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.