If anyone can make things difficult for themselves Tottenham Hotspur can! Last week at home to Sporting CS (Lisbon) in the UEFA Champions League a winning “goal” by Harry Kane deep in added time was denied by VAR. That meant a very difficult last match in France against Olympique de Marseille on Tuesday 1 November 2022, and without Head Coach Antonio Conte – sent off in the furore. So tight was the match, and the other in the group, that over the 100 plus minutes of the games 3 of the 4 Clubs headed the group. In the 5th minute of added time Kane put Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg through to score the winner which this time stood. The Lilywhites were through to the last 16 as Group D winners!
Premier London Derbies (PLDs) matches resume on Sunday 6 November with Chelsea v Arsenal and West Ham United v Crystal Palace. The first match features our most successful Clubs in the PLDs All-time Table which The Blues lead. The last 6 seasons have seen 2 home and 2 away wins and 2 draws. Chelsea comfortably topped their Champions League Group (E) with 13 points. Arsenal had a narrow 1-0 win at home to Zurich to top Group A in the Europa League with 5 wins from 6. Their PL form is very impressive too and The Gunners may well leave Stamford Bridge with 3 more PL points on Sunday.
West Ham United have eased through their Group (B) in the UEFA Europa Conference League completing 6 wins out of 6 with a 0-3 win in Romania against FCSB. In the Premier League (PL) it is a different story with only 4 wins in 12 starts as have Crystal Palace, who themselves have 2 draws and 2 points more. With 3 draws, 2 home and 1 away win in the last 6 seasons it will be a hard-fought contest, but The Hammers were able to rest senior players, and expect their European successes to carry them to a much-needed home win.
Until next time, “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.