“Stating the obvious” is what they say in English to what Mikel Arteta said about his team’s upcoming home game. It is the “most important game of the season” so far for Arsenal, said the coach, and no fan of his team would contradict him; the North London derby against Tottenham is becoming increasingly important. But if you want to see a game between two top teams in London on this Premier League weekend, you have to move just under twelve kilometers to the southwest from the Emirates Stadium, to Stamford Bridge in the Fulham district.
The elite of European and English football will meet there on Saturday (1.30 p.m.), with Champions League winners FC Chelsea welcoming their final opponent Manchester City. Then the question is answered whether Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel can defeat city coach Pep Guardiola in the fourth duel in a row, or whether the Catalan’s team can defeat the “blues”, which are now even better than in said premier class final can offer. In Arsenal’s stadium, on the other hand, only two local rivals can be seen who have lost touch.
In April, both had imagined they were participating in a Super League
The “Big Six”, the sextet of the largest English clubs, which is completed by Liverpool and Manchester United in addition to the clubs mentioned, has become a four-plus-two model: North London is left behind. At the end of last season, Tottenham did not take any of the top six places for the first time since 2009, and Arsenal had fallen out of the top ranks for the first time in 24 years the previous summer. In April, both had briefly imagined they were participating in a Super League, now the Spurs have to get by with the – also new, but not really elitist – Conference League and Arsenal completely without European football.
United in their average: Tottenham Hotspur with Oliver Skipp and Arsenal with striker Alexandre Lacazette.
(Photo: Andy Rowland / PRiME Media / imago)
After five matchdays, Chelsea and Liverpool are at the top of the Premier League with identical records, both conceding their only goal in a direct encounter. Manchester United follow in third place with equal points, City are within striking distance – and with a 5-0 win over Arsenal they left no doubt that they are in a different class of quality. Tottenham also got their limits after a good, but playfully uninspiring start to the season when they lost 3-0 at home to Chelsea.
This power structure does not surprise anyone who has watched the hustle and bustle on the transfer market in the summer. As the newly crowned Champions League winners, Chelsea took on € 115m to fix the squad’s only significant weakness and fill their attacking center with Romelu Lukaku, one of the best strikers in the world. Tottenham’s summer transfer was essentially about not losing his own center-forward Harry Kane to rivals Manchester City. Although the Spurs fought off all offers, the English national captain could openly communicate his emigration thoughts again next year.
The money that City saved by Kane’s stay was invested by the Abu Dhabi-based club in other ways: in England’s fan favorite Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, for example. City rivals United strengthened themselves with top-class players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane from Madrid. And Arsenal, United’s long-term rivals from the first decades of the Premier League? Also the Gunners spent a lot of money but have to hope that top players get lost – otherwise they would not end up in the Emirates. The most prominent entry is called Martin Ödegaard, 22, who undoubtedly has quality and talent, but has so far not been able to assert himself at any major club.
One could have already known in 2019 that Mourinho’s best days were behind him
The financial situation is only one reason for this situation. Arsenal’s owners are less generous than those of the top clubs, but the club still pays considerable transfer fees – only they were often poorly invested in recent years. And the former Arsenal player Mikel Arteta enjoys the trust of the executive suite, but has only shown sporadically in his young coaching career that he can lead a club to success.
Tottenham, on the other hand, recently relied on a coach in José Mourinho who can boast an impressive collection of titles. The fact that his glory days were a few years in the past was no secret as early as 2019 when the Spurs hired him. Likewise, the fact that developing young players is not his core business. At the end of the liaison between the Portuguese and the Spurs there was an unclean separation, successor Nuno Espirito Santo should now rebuild Tottenham as soon as possible. The financial headroom for this is very likely smaller than with Arsenal. President Daniel Levy is notorious for his tough way of negotiating with other clubs – the example of Kane has proven this again. But he rarely fulfills the wishes of his coaches either. The construction of the expensive new stadium reinforced this attitude.
There were mistakes in management at Arsenal as at Tottenham, but the truth is that the greater the financial strength, the less serious they are. Not every transfer is made at Manchester United, and many people in England say about coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that his only qualification for the job is his legendary status as an active United player. Nevertheless, the English record champions still have a charisma that attracts players like Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane – and the necessary change. Because of the advantages of the industrial city of Manchester, very few players sign.
With Chelsea and City, the two clubs that currently have everything will meet on Saturday
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp was not embarrassed in the summer to snippy comment on the immense purchasing power of the competition: “We can’t spend money that we don’t have. The others can,” said Anfield. Of course, Liverpool also has financially strong investors, but they don’t open their boxes quite as far as in Manchester. The fact that the club is still an integral part of the quartet of the great has a lot to do with Klopp.
In Chelsea and City on Saturday, the two who currently have everything they need will duel: outstanding coaches, excellent squads and, for the time being, oil pardon, sources of money. Liverpool and United currently each meet two of these requirements.
Tottenham and Arsenal, on the other hand, are currently not at the forefront in any of these categories, the focus in the summer was more on the future than the present: None of the permanently signed players at Spurs or Gunners is older than 23. Before the duel on Sunday, the local rivals are united in the hope that something excellent will soon grow together again in North London – and that the distance to the top has not become insurmountable by then.