Tottenham Hotspur head coach Robert Vilahamn says that it could be a good time to play Arsenal given the fact that they are still under interim management and he believes that his side can thrive under the tag of underdogs.
The Lilywhites play host to The Gunners in the first North London derby of the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon.
Despite still being managerless, Arsenal go into the game as favourites but Spurs boss Vilahamn believes that his side can thrive as the underdogs.
“The main thing for us is that we don’t need to worry too much about their form,” Vilahamn said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “When you play a derby against Arsenal, you know that we are going to be really sharp and do everything that we can to win the game.
“I think they’re in a stage where they have an interim coach and they are finding ways [to win]. They’ve had a couple of really good results but on the other hand, if we win the game, they’ll still have a big problem in the league. They’ll have pressure on them as well, so I actually think this is a good time to play them because they still have an interim coach and they have to chase teams in the table.
“We are going to give everything to win the game even if nobody expects us to win. I think that the underdog tag can be a good thing for us.”
Arsenal have won their last two games 5-0 and 4-0 while the goals have been shared around the team. Vilahamn says that his side will need a collective effort in defence to nullify The Gunners’ many attacking threats.
He said “We know their players very well. Of course, we have different scenarios on how they play in their roles, depending on who is starting the game, so we give individual feedback to the players.
“When they have so many good players, the main thing is that you defend together. If you go player-for-player and you lose one duel, they have the quality to score. For us, it is about defending together, make sure we are a collective and make sure we have each other’s backs; if you fail in the press or in a one-v-one, you have your teammate behind you who can step in.
“No matter which players they start or bring on, we are going to defend together and make sure that we have a team performance that destroys their attacking football.”
Vilahamn is in just his second season as Spurs head coach but he already understands the importance of success in the North London derby.
He said “Moving from Sweden to England and being in North London, you realise how big this game is, especially for our fans. Coming from the history of the men’s game as well with this big game in North London, we need to make it lilywhite.
“We know how much it means and we saw last season what it meant to our fans. This season, I think there are going to be even more fans [in the stadium]. It’s what it’s all about, beating your local opponent and making sure that you’re the best in the city.”
Tottenham Hotspur’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal kicks-off at 1.45pm this afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
