Tottenham vs Arsenal

The latest North London derby was a tale of two halves, albeit tales that favored one side in both. Tottenham vs Arsenal was also a tale of two goalkeepers.

Chelsea has some work to do while surprising Fulham and Brighton are hanging around on the periphery and are having fine campaigns. Emery, Emi driving Aston Villa forward (Aston Villa 2-1 Leeds): Leon Bailey opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, when Boubacar Kamara went on a long dribble through the center of the field before finding the Jamaican international cutting in from the right wing. Captain Lloyd Kelly, midfielder Jefferson Lerma, and hard man Philip Billing were all in the fold when Bournemouth was relegated to the Championship and were the club’s best hopes of getting something out of the team. Going the other way across the relegation line is West Ham (15 points), who have now taken all of one point from their last seven PL games. Wolves climb out of bottom three, leaving Irons there (Wolves 1-0 West Ham): Daniel Podence capped a quick Wolves counter-attack in the 48th minute, scoring the game’s only goal with a smashing strike from the top of the penalty area. And this is four-straight defeats for Leicester (17 points), who now find themselves just two points above the relegation zone. Foxes can’t get through Trees, who now loom above (Nottingham Forest 2-0 Leicester): “The victory sees Forest climb from 16th to 13th in the Premier League table, now four points clear over the relegation zone. The Brazilian spoke with trainers on the pitch midway through the first half but soon returned to the pitch and made it to halftime. Their attacking display was much better and with the addition of Mudryk and Felix (when is back from suspension) they have some really dynamic players in the final third about to come into this lineup. Sluggish Liverpool run off pitch by Seagulls (Brighton 3-0 Liverpool): There are excuses for the Reds with injuries and fixture congestion but they weren’t excuses Jurgen Klopp would accept in previous years (and certainly not against non-traditional powers). It is the blueprint for their success and this performance was eerily similar to so many of their wins this season. Imagine if Gabriel Jesus was healthy today (though Spurs fans are saying the same about Rodrigo Betancur).

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has now shared what he said to his players in the dressing room at half-time during yesterday's loss to Arsenal.

The players shouldn’t need any extra motivation to come out of the blocks quickly, especially in a north London derby. For sure I’m disappointed, I’m sorry for our fans, because I know the importance of this game but I think that we are trying to overcome a difficult period.” But yesterday seemed like more of a mentality problem as Tottenham played within themselves after conceding the first goal. [Tottenham Hotspur](https://tbrfootball.com/category/english-premier-league/tottenham-hotspur/) boss [Antonio Conte](https://tbrfootball.com/tag/antonio-conte/) has now shared with [the club’s official website](https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2023/january/antonio-s-verdict-on-arsenal/) what he said to his players in the dressing room at half-time yesterday. “With my players I said to stay in the game, don’t lose their mind, don’t lose their heads and to show that we wanted to fight until the end. Tottenham vs Arsenal: What Antonio Conte said to his players in the dressing room at half-time

At the start of the summer when Spurs acted swiftly and bolstered their top four squad with shrewd signings like Perisic, Spence, Bissouma and Richarlison ...

Still learning on the job. Has to be the most fouled player in the league. Has developed an almost telepathic understanding with his midfield partner and covers well when Partey roves forward. Two gorgeous pre-assists and a sumptuous volley that probably has the goal frame still humming were the highlights, among many other notable contributions. Shows incredible composure on the ball and plays with an admirable fearlessness. Had the measure of Kane and that is an impressive feat as very few defenders can handle him.

Gabriel Martinelli ensured that Arsenal colours were flying high after their north London derby win by throwing a scarf onto Tottenham's spidercam.

Martinelli was very much involved in the wild post-match celebrations, with the 21-year-old adding some red and white decoration to the fixtures and fittings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. [a club-record points haul collected after 18 games](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/arsenal-make-history-north-london-derby-club-record-points-tally/bltfbc8172168b56ca1), but there were troubling scenes at the final whistle against Spurs as [ Gunners goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was kicked by an angry home supporter](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/watch-arsenal-ramsdale-kicked-spurs-fan-tempers-north-london-derby/bltbc8f5629fe43d774). [a 2-0 victory over Spurs](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/arsenal-title-to-lose-winners-losers-ratings-odegaard-inspires-gunners-huge-derby-win-spurs/blt6dad62247cf5ba4e), as a Hugo Lloris own goal and [a long-range effort from Martin Odegaard](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/watch-captain-fantastic-odegaard-20-yard-stunner-misery-tottenham/blt8bd1382a85e40ea6) sealed the points for Mikel Arteta’s side, but he put in another lively performance on the flanks.

Eric Dier has surprisingly claimed that Tottenham's first-half performance 'wasn't bad' during their north London derby defeat yesterday.

But I don’t think the first-half was as bad as it would seem. Spurs are in desperate need of more players like Kulusevski – players who will not accept below-par performances or try to justify them. “But when you come in at 2-0 at half-time it looks a lot worse. Martin Odegaard doubled the Gunners’ lead with a stunning goal from distance just half an hour later. Of course, Conte’s men improved in the second-half but their performance in the opening 45 minutes of a north London derby was inexcusable. [Eric Dier](https://tbrfootball.com/tag/eric-dier/) has surprisingly claimed that [Tottenham Hotspur](https://tbrfootball.com/category/english-premier-league/tottenham-hotspur/)‘s first-half performance ‘wasn’t bad’ during their north London derby defeat yesterday – which was quite the contrast to [Dejan Kulusevski](https://tbrfootball.com/tag/dejan-kulusevski/)’s post-match comments.