Spurs Vs Arsenal

Tottenham's Gareth Bale has stoked the fires ahead of next weeks premier league north London derby, stating that Spurs are now ahead of Arsenal in terms of on the pitch quality:

I think five or 10 years ago Arsenal were always miles ahead of Tottenham. But that has changed in recent years.

Over the past few seasons we have closed that gap and I think now we have overtaken them on the pitch. I think we have the stronger squad.

Hopefully we can continue to do that as a club off the pitch as well, with the new stadium that is being built.

But on the pitch and as a team now we are a lot more consistent and as a club we’re moving in the right direction.

Arsenal may say they are still ahead of us.

But whatever people’s opinions I don’t think anyone can deny we are up there fighting with them on merit now.

Bale has been outstanding for Spurs this season scoring 17 in all competitions and maybe just maybe he has point here, being a long time spurs fan I've been bitten in the backside to many times making claims such as welsh wingers above but arsenals inconsistency this season couple with a new toughness brought to the spurs side by AVB could see 2013 as the season spurs overtake the gunners!

So my question to you is which team has the most quality, do you agree with Bale or are Arsenal still the team to beat in north London?

I think they're just about equal, which is a combination of Tottenham getting better and Arsenal getting worse over the next couple of years. Both have very good players, but Tottenham have got the momentum behind them of rising and it is much easier to keep rising than it is to halt a fall I think.

Lloris = Szczesny (Think Lloris will definitely become the better keeper though)

Walker < Sagna (Even if Sagna has got much worse since leg breaks, Walker is far too raw)

Dawson = Koscielny (I think Dawson has been getting worse while Koscielny has got better.)

Vertonghen > Vermaelen (Vertonghen is the better of the Belgians, Vermaelen is not the top defender he once was as he becomes more like David Luiz every game.)

Assou Ekotto < Nacho Monreal (I don't hate BAE as much as others, but I have been really impressed with Monreal who looks a top left back.)

Sandro < Arteta (I think Arteta has to be one of Wenger's best signings, not as spectacular as Fabregas he's still a really top deep-lying playmaker who has only got better with age.)

Dembele < Wilshere (I think Dembele has improved massively over the past couple of years, but Wilshere has been a shining light for Arsenal this year.)

Lennon < Walcott (No contest for me, Walcott is vastly superior to Lennon.)

Dempsey < Cazorla (Cazorla is another top signing, perhaps a little inconsistent he's clearly better than Dempsey.)

Bale > Podolski (Podolski is good, but Bale is great.)

Defoe > Giroud (I think Defoe is a natural forward, Giroud has struggled and I can't see that changing any time soon.)

That makes it: Tottenham 3-6 Arsenal with 2 draws.

However I think Tottenham are better in depth with players like Kaboul, Parker, Friedel, Adebayor, Holtby, Sigurðsson, Caulker where as Arsenal have a very poor squad depth with many just older disappointing players like Mertesacker, Arshavin, Rosicky and the odd young potential like Ox and Gibbs.

Therefore I'd say they're about equal, but Tottenham are almost certainly going to take over Arsenal in terms of quality unless Arsenal can have a huge turn around or Tottenham lose another big player like Bale who'd they'd struggle to replace.

I've gone for Spurs.

I think they have a really good depth to there squad now. Says a lot that they have had Kaboul and BAE out for a large chunk of the season but Naughton and Caulker have been fine in deputising, and now Sandro is out Parker slots right in.

In Holtby they have picked up a cracking little player. Real talent. Bale is becoming something else. Could do with another striker, Adebayor is not really what he used to be.

Arsenal have quality in the likes of Cazorla, Wilshere, Arteta, but the defence is still weak, Chesney seems to have regressed this year, and they miss RVP badly, despite Walcott and Giroud scoring a fair few goals.

Also Lloris for what £7-10 million in the summer was brilliant business by Spurs. He'll be a top top keeper for many a year

If i had to pick a starting 11 from the two sides it would look like this:

------------------------------------Lloris----------------------------------------

Walker-------------Vertonghen---------------Vermaelen------------Monreal

Walcott-------------Wilshere-------------------Cazorla---------------Bale

----------------------Defoe-------------------Podolski-------------------

That makes:

Spurs- 5
Arsenal- 6

But as crimey said I thinks the spurs squad and bench is stronger and in the above team my 7 subs would be:

Szczesny
Kaboul
Arteta
Sandro
Dembele
Lennon
Adebayor

Making the total:

Spurs- 10
Arsenal- 8

crimey, mate! you cant have been watching us that much if you think lloris is only equal to chesney and that dawson is losing it. you are also comparing strikers to wingers. lennon is far more dangerous on the wing than walcott where as walcott imo is a quality striker. youve given podolski no hope against bale but podolski's a striker, and not even a first team one. you are also comparing defensive midfielders with attacking ones. sandro was our best player until he got injured. we really should be comparing on current form and imo sandro has been better than arteta. sandro wont even be playing either so its arguable he should even be in this debate.

lloris
walker - vermaelen - vertonghen - monreal
lennon - wilshere - cazorla - dembele - bale
walcott