‘Still got a Tottenham in them’ – Arsenal legend sends top four dig to bitter rivals
Paul Merson believes Tottenham’s performance in the win over Aston Villa was unconvincing and still feels Arsenal are firmly in contention to finish in the Premier League top four this season. Spurs tightened their grip on fourth after claiming a 4-0 win against Villa on Saturday to extend the gap on Mikel Arteta’s side to […]
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Paul Merson believes Tottenham’s performance in the win over Aston Villa was unconvincing and still feels Arsenal are firmly in contention to finish in the Premier League top four this season.
Spurs tightened their grip on fourth after claiming a 4-0 win against Villa on Saturday to extend the gap on Mikel Arteta’s side to three points, who suffered a disappointing defeat to Brighton.
After Heung-min Son opened the scoring within three minutes, it was far from plain sailing for Antonio Conte’s men who were then required to defend for the entirety of the first half.
Villa strikers Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings spurned a number of good chances to level, while Spurs captain Hugo Lloris was forced into making a handful of excellent stops to keep his side ahead.
But Tottenham regrouped for the second period with Dejan Kulusevski netting five minutes after the restart to take the wind out of the hosts’ sails, before Son scored two more to complete his hat-trick.
Despite the scoreline, Spurs’ display in the Midlands has left former Arsenal midfielder Merson unconvinced by their credentials to finish in the top four, claiming they have ‘still got a Tottenham in them’.
He wrote for Sky Sports: “I still feel Arsenal are in it because Tottenham have still got a Tottenham in them.
“I don’t mean that in a horrible way, but they still have got a Tottenham in them. Everyone was going mad about them but they could’ve been blown away in the first half against Aston Villa.
“Villa should’ve been out of sight and they only have to have one of those days in the next seven weeks. The 4-0 win over Villa covered over the cracks.
“They did some great stuff, don’t get me wrong, but in the first half Hugo Lloris had to make save after save. So I’m still not convinced by Tottenham.
“The top four is still very much on for Arsenal.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Spurs rode their luck at times against Aston Villa and it wasn’t their finest performance, but they still turned it around in the second half as good teams do.
Conte will not want to let his team go through a half like that again, though, so he will likely be focused on that to prevent it ahead of the run-in.
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