Will Tottenham’s pressing suffocate Arsenal, can West Ham undo their Lukaku curse and is Allardyce the man to stimulate and stabilise Sunderland?
1) Tottenham’s pressing may pay off against Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur will surely have taken note of Arsenal’s feeble attempts to cope with Bayern Munich’s high press on Wednesday. Mauricio Pochettino makes his players work feverishly out of possession, using intense training sessions to improve their fitness, and one of Tottenham’s most complete performances last season was when they overwhelmed Arsenal at White Hart Lane, recovering from the setback of Mesut Özil’s early goal by claiming a 2-1 victory thanks to a Harry Kane double in the second half. Yet they should also remember how they took the lead in their 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium last season. Nacer Chadli’s goal was created by Christian Eriksen winning the ball from a dawdling Mathieu Flamini in a dangerous position and with that in mind Arsenal will need to be sharp and alert when they have the ball near their own area, especially if Héctor Bellerín and Laurent Koscielny are missing from their back four again.
