{"id":12282,"date":"2025-11-22T12:14:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T12:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12282"},"modified":"2025-11-23T22:17:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T22:17:49","slug":"this-one-will-always-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12282","title":{"rendered":"This One Will Always Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
4th May 1971, Division 1, Tottenham Hotspur 0 v Arsenal 1, Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson jumps for joy after Ray Kennedy had scored the all important winning goal, as Arsenal clinched the Division 1 title with the win, the first part of the “Double” (Photo by Rolls Press\/Popperfoto via Getty Images\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the first fixture we all look for when the fixtures get released in June. Regardless of where we are in comparison to them, whether we\u2019re fighting for the title or the top four, or even if we\u2019re both languishing in mid-table, this one will always matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is of course time for the North London Derby. Whilst technically we have been playing Tottenham for almost 150 years, we as proud supporters of North London\u2019s original club, know that this fixture has only been an official local derby since 1965 when the Greater London boundaries were shifted to accommodate the region of Middlesex which included N17. So, despite those losers constantly harping on about Arsenal pitching up on \u201ctheir turf\u201d we were in fact a North London club over 50 years before they were. But hey, who would want to let good old-fashioned facts get in the way of a good argument? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s certainly a fixture Arsenal have dominated throughout our existence. To nobody\u2019s surprise we are vastly superior with 84 wins to their 61 and 52 draws. We have famously won the league at their hovel on two occasions, in 1971 and 2004. That\u2019s the same number of times as they\u2019ve managed to win it in their entire mediocre existence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 they moved from the old White Hart Lane and into their new shiny toilet bowl on the same site. In true Spurs and Daniel Levy fashion it was built way past the original deadline and miles over budget. Since they moved in, they have hosted more Beyonce concerts than Richarlison has goals. Well not quite but she\u2019s probably not far behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last season, unfortunately they finally managed to get their hands on some silverware that didn\u2019t come from Daniel Levy\u2019s Mum\u2019s kitchen drawers. They managed to fluke their way to Europa League success by beating fellow bottom feeders Manchester United in the final last May. This means we can brace ourselves from their moronic \u201cChampions of Europe\u201d chant. Sometimes there is no need to make fun of Spurs fans because they are perfectly capable of doing it themselves. They do in fact play the actual Champions of Europe, PSG on Wednesday where I strongly suspect they will get royally battered. I suspect they will start to sing it less after their next two games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of Arsenal\u2019s steady decline beginning towards the backend of the 2000\u2019s and into the 2010\u2019s which was coupled with Spurs\u2019 ascension to regular top 4-ish finishes, we had to contend with much tedious media discourse about a mythical \u201cpower shift in North London\u201d. Arsene Wenger was asked about this and he famously quipped \u201cPower shift? The last time I checked, they were still 11 titles and 4 miles away!\u201d How right he was. Quite apart from the fact that even in our period of decline, for which there were some valid reasons, we still won more than them, it was always more a case of Arsenal descending to lower levels rather than Spurs rising to any sort of great heights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent meetings have gone very heavily in our favour. Since the start of the 22\/23 season we have won 5, drawn 1 and lost 0. That includes each of our last three visits to the Toilet Bowl. In comparison, Spurs have not recorded a league victory in N5 since November 2010 and they have just two league victories at either The Emirates or Highbury in the Premier League era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This all contributes to our tag as heavy favourites for Sunday\u2019s game. Whilst Gabriel and Havertz are definitely out, and we are sweating over the fitness of several others, you would still feel confident we will be able to put out a team that is considerably stronger than our opponents. Spurs do also have a lengthy injury list, but the difference is our injured players are actually quite good at football.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My predicted eleven is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timber Saliba Hincapi\u00e9 Calafiori<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zubimendi \u00d8degaard Rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka Eze <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merino<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I expect our skipper will be deemed fit for this one. As a bonus prediction I think both Martinelli and Madueke will make the bench. What is this based on, you ask? Absolutely nothing other than the law of averages. We have so many players to come back, surely at least a couple of them will be fit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because we can\u2019t have absolutely everything in the universe go for us, I\u2019ve predicted Gy\u00f6keres to sit this one out to balance things out. Big Mik will continue to deputise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Oliver is the ref for this one. He has not reffed an Arsenal game since he gave Myles Lewis-Skelly a straight red for his malicious trip on Matt Docherty 80 yards from goal against Wolves in January.  What could possibly go wrong? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite potential injury woes and the likely PGMO nonsense, I fully expect a win. 3-0 to The Arsenal. Saka, Eze and Merino. My reasoning? We\u2019re very good and they are very not good. Nuff said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s give it the full beans for this one. COYG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"This<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This year, Willow is taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge<\/strong>, running for one week only <\/strong>from Tuesday 2 December<\/strong>. During this time, every donation you make will be DOUBLED<\/strong>, yes, doubled, thanks to our generous funders who have agreed to match your donation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means your gift will have twice the impact on the lives of seriously ill young adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Save the date and keep a look out for more details on how you can be part of this wonderful week of giving.<\/strong> Check out the Willow Foundation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the first fixture we all look for when the fixtures get released in June. Regardless of where we are in comparison to them, whether we\u2019re fighting for the title or the top four, or even if we\u2019re both languishing in mid-table, this one will always matter.  It is of course time for the North […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12282"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12291,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12282\/revisions\/12291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}