Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are level on points in the Premier League table, but will Mauricio Pochettino or Unai Emery come out on top?
It cannot have been easy for David Seaman watching Arsenal finish below Tottenham Hotspur for two seasons in a row.
While Spurs have gone from strength to strength under Mauricio Pochettino, playing some of the most attractive attacking football anywhere in the Premier League, former neutrals’ favourites Arsenal declined rapidly towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s reign.
The Gunners finished sixth in 2017/18, three places and 14 points behind their bitter North London rivals.
In the early weeks of this season, however, the balance has been redressed somewhat. Unai Emery has started to put his stamp on the Arsenal side with ten successive wins in all competitions and, as it stands, they are level on points with Tottenham and ahead of Pochettino’s side on goal-difference.
Speaking on Alan Brazil’s Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT (17 October, 9.45am), former Gunners goalkeeper Seaman has issued a sharp response when asked if Spurs are still a better team than Arsenal.
“No. I would never say that,” Seaman said. “Even if they were.”
Arsenal have certainly reacted positively to Emery’s arrival at the Emirates, with the attacking spark back thanks in part to the form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
But, with the 2004 Premier League champions still looking a little shaky at the back, it remains to be seen whether their well-publicised Achilles heel will cost them dear.
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