North London Derby: Match Review

Due to both Spurs and Arsenal being in great form in the build up to this fixture, it was destined to be a thrilling match-up. Arsenal came in to this game on the back of a brilliant 5-0 walkover against the struggling Aston Villa, and they proved to their doubters they were not a one man team, as star man Alexis Sanchez was out with a hamstring injury. On the other hand, Spurs last fixture saw them cruise over West Brom at the Hawthornes. With a great free kick in the opening minutes from Christian Eriksen, and a brace from the in-form Harry Kane lead them to a 3-0 victory.

Kane heads in the winner for Tottenham

Both teams looked bright in the opening minutes at White Hart Lane. It was obvious that Arsenal had a game plan to sit deep, invite pressure on themselves and let Spurs come forward with the ball, this which worked against Manchester City, also the opposite of what they did against Spurs in previous years. However, this game plan seemed to work as in the 11th minute Arsenal broke and a great cross from Danny Welbeck fell to a Oliver Giroud whose miss-hit fed Mesut Ozil, and he calmly slotted in the opener.

After the break Spurs continued to trouble Arsenal's defence, with David Ospina making some outstanding stops, it looked like it wasn't going to be Tottenham's Day. This was until the 54th minute, Spurs had a corner which Ospina spilled and Kane was there to slot it in at the back post and equalize, a typical poachers goal. Following this the Lily Whites had a period of constant shots at Ospina which shook up the Arsenal defence and really 'spurred Spurs' on to take the lead. Arsenal did have their chances though, with Danny Welbeck forcing a great save out of Frenchman Hugo Lloris, and Laurent Koscielny heading it straight into Lloris' arms from a corner. However, Spurs left it late to take the lead as in the 86th minute, a great ball from Nabil Bentaleb met Harry Kane's head and he exquisitely guided it in to the top left corner, leaving Ospina helpless.

It was a outstanding performance by Tottenham, and Arsenal will be dissapointed with themselves as they never looked like the better team throuhgout the whole 90 minutes. This win puts Spurs a point above their North London rivals, and will help them drastically if they aim to achieve that top 4 finish at the end of this unpredictable season.

Transfer Deadline Day Round-Up

Although this year's transfer deadline day did not live up to its expectations of which it recieved, it certainly was not a boring day for Premier League clubs. There were a lot of last minute negotiations which did and didnt go as planned for certain teams, for example Emmanuel Adebayor's move to West Ham which was blocked by Spurs Chairman, Daniel Levy.

Juan Cuadrado completes his £23.3m signing to Chelsea

Before all the drama, we will start with the main signing of this year's transfer deadline day, Juan Cuadrado's £23.3m pound move from Fiorentina to Chelsea. This transfer had been on the cards for a while before deadline day, as the Colombian international uploaded a photo twitter of him at Stamford Bridge captioned "Hello, from the Bridge", which sent the Chelsea fans on social media bezerk. Cuadrado will ironically wear the number 23 shirt for the Blues, and he is certainly set to be a fan favourite with his silky footwork and exquisite first touch.

However, the arrival of Cuadrado meant the departure of Chelsea winger, Andre Schurrle. The German World Cup winner did not see anywhere near as much playing time as he would of liked for the Blues, and with the signing of Juan Cuadrado, it was inevitable that he was going to leave. The 24 year old coincidentally signed for Wolfsburg for £24m pounds. There are high expectations for Schurrle following his expensive transfer, but he has proven for his club and also country that he has what it takes to peform at the best level, following his great performances for Germany in last year's World Cup.

Other deals in the Premier League included Aaron Lennon's loan deal from Spurs to Everton, which I think is a great signing by Everton as they need a bit more pace and creativity in their team and Lennon can give them this. Southampton signed Serbian international Filip Durjicic on loan from Benfica, and they also completed the permenant signing of Ryan Bertrand who has been a regular starter for the Saints.