Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit seems to have angered former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara just before the North London Derby.
Mikel Arteta and Ange Postecoglou’s men will both be going into the fixture looking for a win, and it could be a great game to watch.
Spurs have a better chance on Sunday than they have had in recent years because as many as seven Arsenal players could miss the North London Derby.
That is a big advantage for them, but Arsenal legend Petit believes the Gunners’ problems will have no bearing on the result whatsoever.
Jamie O’Hara reacts to Emmanuel Petit’s Arsenal and Tottenham combined XI
Petit left Arsenal over two decades ago, but he still remembers how fierce the rivalry is between the Gunners and Tottenham.
The legendary Frenchman, who won a number of trophies including the World Cup, played in plenty of derbies in his career, and he’s a great judge of players.
On talkSPORT, Petit was asked about his prediction for the upcoming North London Derby. Instead of giving a straight answer, he told Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent to name how many Spurs players would get into an Arsenal and Tottenham combined XI.
With Martin Odegaard expected to miss the game and Declan Rice suspended, those two players were not taken into consideration.
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Even then, only Heung-min Son and James Maddison made the cut.
“So maybe two (Spurs) players maximum (get into Arsenal’s team), even when Odegaard and Declan Rice are not there! So you have your answer (on who will win).”
O’Hara, who is a big Tottenham fan, was not happy at all.
He said on talkSPORT: “I think he’s talking garbage and I can’t believe I’m saying that about Emmanuel Petit because he’s literally one of the legends!
“Two players? What’s he talking about? How many Arsenal players get into Spurs’ team?”
O’Hara thinks six Tottenham players would get into Arsenal’s team
We don’t know what O’Hara is so upset about, Petit is absolutely right!
Son is the only Tottenham player who would even get close to the Arsenal team when everyone’s fit. Maddison could get the nod if Odegaard’s unavailable, but if not, he’s not getting anywhere near Arteta’s side.
We completely agree with Petit here, but O’Hara, to defend himself, has come up with his own combined XI, and we think it is absolutely ridiculous.
The pundit picked Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro in defence, with Yves Bissouma, Maddison and Son also in the side.
O’Hara believes only David Raya, William Saliba, Thomas Partey, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz would get into this Spurs side, which is simply absurd.
The three Spurs defenders he has picked conceded 61 goals in the Premier League in the 2023/24 season, which is more than twice as many as Arsenal’s backline did.
Bissouma is a decent player, but he doesn’t even get close to Partey if both players are fully fit.
O’Hara claimed that Petit’s combined XI is ‘garbage’, but we think he should have a long, hard look at his team before commenting on a World Cup winner’s opinion.