North London Takes on Manchester

For Premier League fans around the world, the last couple of weeks have been almost too painful to endure as something very important seems to have disappeared out of our lives. But with yet another international period finally in the books, we can once again look forward to the return of our most beloved brand of football this weekend. A coincidence that makes this weekend all the more special is the pairing up of the two North London rivals against the two Manchester giants.

Oh yes, with Arsenal visiting Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur hosting Manchester United, we can go ahead and say that it’s been well worth the wait. After all, these crunch fixtures are always expected to entertain hugely by means of providing some top quality football. In the case of this particular weekend, a rare glossy factor adding to the excitement is the unexpected image of the Barclays Premier League table. That is, Spurs and Manchester City are both in possession of perfect league records thus far, which means that their usually superior counterparts will be pushing extremely hard to put an end to the chasing game.

A solitary drawback seems to be the mounting injuries that are beginning to take a toll on the shallow rosters of both the North London sides. With Tottenham running out of options in the defense, midfielder Tom Huddlestone might have to play at the back if even one of the remaining back four needs to be replaced. And while Niko Kranjcar is a good long-term alternative to the injured Luka Modric, nobody should expect him to make an instant impact on his debut against the Premier League champions.

Spurs’ city rivals Arsenal, who will aim to make amends for their disappointing last visit to the Northwest, have also been hit with the devastating news of a groin injury to talismanic playmaker Andrei Arshavin. With Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, and Johan Djourou already in the treatment room, Arsene Wenger’s side couldn’t have it any worse. Optimists would point to the return of Cesc Fabregas and Tomas Rosicky as a refreshing news, but that doesn’t make any changes to the Gunners’ growing injury list.

In contrast, the flamboyant Manchester City outfit will only be missing Roque Santa Cruz, whose continued absence should not affect the Sky Blues in a significant way. Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, on the other hand, will hope for the return of star defender Rio Ferdinand. While it is true that they will still be missing the services of veteran goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar, isn’t that a blessing in disguise given the revelation that Ben Foster has turned out to be?

Nevertheless, injuries and absences as such are inevitable in any physically competitive sport. Therefore, it is important to focus on what we do have on our hands, which is an unmissable week of football action over the weekend that lies ahead. Remember to tune in to the Barclays Premier League on Saturday to catch all the action from the Eastlands (10:00 AM Eastern Time) and White Hart Lane (12:30PM Eastern Time).

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