The 14th round of the Premier League will kick off this weekend, and the centre of the storm will move from the south of the Manchester derby to the north of London, where another battle between defending champions Arsenal and bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur will take place!

Since entering the Premier League era, the gap between Tottenham and Arsenal has widened year by year. Tottenham's record is difficult to compete with Arsenal, and they can often only play the role of spoiler on Arsenal's title race. Last season, when the Gunners were on the verge of winning the title, Tottenham vowed to disrupt the game and played Arsenal away to keep the game to a draw, but eventually lost 2-1 thanks to a controversial penalty by Lauren.

This season, Tottenham Hotspur has risen strongly because of Chen Xi's emergence and has become a strong team that can compete with Arsenal in the standings. This has also allowed this year's "North London Derby" to get more attention from fans outside of London!

The north London derby has never been short of highlights, and this one is no exception.

Putting aside their century-old grudges, this year's battle for the league leader is naturally the first thing to watch. Both teams are now in the top two of the league with 28 points. The outcome of this game will undoubtedly determine the league leader's position! It will even affect the final league title race!

Speaking before the game, Hoddle said: "Tottenham haven't had a chance to compete for the league title for many years. This time it's against Arsenal and our players will be full of fighting spirit and we'll be desperate to get past Highbury and take the three points from there! ”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is also keen to win this game: "Tottenham have performed well this season, but I think their team still has a certain problem with consistency, and it will be difficult for them to maintain their good form throughout the season! Perhaps, from this game onwards, it will be a watershed moment for them! ”

The captains of both teams also made their respective statements before the game. Tottenham captain Redknapp said: "For us, there's always one goal to play in Highbury, and that's to win! Getting three points at Highbury and getting to the top of the league is our goal this time! ”

Vieira's reply was also very much in line with his tough-guy image: "Tottenham want to win at Highbury? Then you have to ask me if I agree! ”

In addition to the battle for the top of the standings, the scorer list is also the object of contention between the two teams, and now Arsenal's Thierry Henry and Tottenham's Chen Xi are both at the top of the scorer list with 11 goals, in addition to goals, the two assists also occupy the top two, as if the two best players in the Premier League this season! It can be said that the direct dialogue between the two in this match will also greatly affect the outcome of the match.

As last season's Premier League shooter, Henry burst into great power at the beginning of the season and has always been at the top of the scorer list. But since the 11th round, he has been in a goal drought, and in his last three league games and two Champions League games, he has failed to score anything. This also gave Chen Xi and Fanny behind them a chance to catch up.

Henry also responded to the recent goal drought: "Yes, I feel a little tired after consecutive campaigns, leagues, Champions League, national team. It has affected my form as well, but in the north London derby I have to contribute. I think I'll break the goal drought in this game and then have a new goal peak! ”

Chen Xi was also interviewed: "I never thought about competing for the throne of the shooter king before. If it weren't for the media coverage, I wouldn't have even known I had scored so many goals. As a midfielder, I think the team's win is more important than my individual performance, so I'm more happy to contribute my assists to my team-mates. I only shoot and score goals when the team needs me to step up. Of course, in Highbury, I want to be able to break through He-Man's guarded gates! ”

The statements of the two also made the media compare them.

In terms of goals, both men scored 11 goals, but Henry had two penalties and Chen Xi scored through open battles or free-kicks. In this way, Chen Xi's goal has a higher gold content.

In terms of assists, Chen Xi is almost twice as much as Henry.

Judging from the data alone, Chen Xi seems to have surpassed King Henry of Highbury in an all-round way. But as a newcomer, in addition to statistics, he also needs to prove himself in big scenes like the north London derby in order to be recognized by others.

As for Henry, it is also a very shameless thing to be surpassed by juniors in terms of statistics, and he needs to defend his position as the king of North London and even the Premier League in this direct conversation!

Finally, as a player who moved from Tottenham to Arsenal, Campbell will also be a highlight of this game. Although this is Arsenal's home game, Campbell will still face a lot of pressure against his old club who has been with him for nine months.

However, according to media reports before the game, Campbell will likely miss the north London derby with a back injury. In addition to Campbell, veterans Keown, He-Man and Kanu are all injured and will be in danger of missing the game.

This is not good news for the Arsenal defence, given that Tottenham have been one of the most attacking teams this season!

Tottenham have not seen any new injuries, with veteran Poyet back in training but still unavailable, with Ledley King and Zieg both suffering minor injuries but both starting as a surprise.

In particular, Ledley King, who was Campbell's successor, said in an interview: "As a young player, I've always dreamed of playing in a city like this, and I want to be able to help the team block the opposition and help the team win the game. ”

The two teams that both had European missions in midweek coincidentally hid a number of key players.

In the Champions League clash with Eredivisie champions Feyenoord, Ljungberg, Ashley Cole, Bergkamp, Wiltord and Gilberto Silva were all on the bench, with the latter three only coming on after 60 minutes.

Hoddle even put most of the main players except Chen Xi on the bench, just so that the team can go all out in this north London derby!

For such an important game, the British media naturally spared no effort to report it.

Most of the media agreed that this match would be a "gun and thorn" confrontation and that it would be a very exciting matchup.

Most of these media outlets have done an objective analysis of the two teams, and no one has made direct predictions.

Howard, who had been silent for a long time because of Chen Xi's hat-trick against Liverpool, finally jumped out before this north London derby.

Writing in a column for The Sun, "The North London derby is real, Highbury will be Tottenham Waterloo", he expressed his support for Arsenal and his consistent disparagement of Tottenham.

Howard analyzed in this report that even if there are many main players missing, the Arsenal team is still much stronger than Tottenham. At the same time, Tottenham, who have not won the league title for 40 years, also lack the foundation to challenge the traditional giants of Arsenal and Manchester United.

In Howard's view, the direct dialogue between the two teams will undoubtedly end in a rout for Tottenham, and Hoddle's Tottenham will also start from Highbury!

Howard also made a special trip to the article to include a quote from Ashley Cole in an interview: "We will give Tottenham a little bit of color in this game, especially their Chinese rookie." As long as he dares to come to our left side, I'll show him what real defense is! ”

Obviously, this guy is still worried about Chen Xi snatching his favorite girl in a nightclub!

Regarding Ashley Cole's provocation, Chen Xi also shot back in an interview: "If I can't find an opportunity on the right side of the Arsenal team, I may consider switching to their left side to challenge the so-called 'real defense'!" ”

robbed someone else's future wife, Chen Xi didn't feel any loss, but for the first time publicly fought back in the media, this guy is really unkind!

Chen Xi's response also made Tottenham fans addicted, Tottenham has not been able to speak so confidently in front of the Arsenal people for a long time. And Chen Xi, who has performed well recently, obviously has this capital!

Even more excited are the media, because they have found the bright spot again. One is a wide talent in the Premier League, the other is England's best left-back, and the direct dialogue between the two is very eye-catching!

Neutral fans who are following this match also have more expectations for this game.

Tottenham's legendary goalscorer Jimmy Graves also stood up to show his support for Chen Xi at this time, and the veteran who is over 60 years old said in an interview: "Edison is the most talented player Tottenham has produced in the last decade, his attacking tools are very rich, I believe he can break through the door of the Arsenal team and lead the team to victory!" ”

Tottenham Hotspur has a legendary goalscorer, and Arsenal legend Ian Wright, who is also a goalscorer, has also chosen to come out to cheer for the Arsenal team: "Wenger's Arsenal team is the strongest Arsenal team in the last decade, and I believe this team can create a dynasty. As for the north London derby, the victory will inevitably belong to Arsenal! ”

It was already full of gunpowder before the game, which also made the outside world look forward to the upcoming north London derby.

Chen Xi is also looking forward to this game coming soon, because he can't wait to conquer Highbury!

(To be continued)