Crouch gunning for Arsenal

Spurs front-man determined to put one over North London rivals

Last updated: 29th October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Crouch gunning for Arsenal

Crouch: Has Arsenal in his sights

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Tottenham striker Peter Crouch has vowed to target any weaknesses in Arsenal's defence ahead of Saturday's North London derby.

With both clubs having started the season impressively the Emirates Stadium clash has added spice, with Spurs striker Robbie Keane having argued Harry Redknapp's squad is stronger overall than Arsene Wenger's.

While Arsenal have impressed offensively this season they have also had their fair share of problems at the back, conceding late goals against AZ Alkmaar and West Ham before defeating Liverpool in the Carling Cup this week.

"You saw at the start of the (West Ham) game when they went 2-0 up that they play great football, as they always do," Crouch said.

"Hopefully we can keep that to a minimum and, as West Ham proved, you can come back and you can score goals against them. Hopefully we'll be tight at the back and get a good result."

Gatecrashers

Crouch is relishing Spurs' role as potential top-four gatecrashers, although he feels Arsenal are showing resilience to stay in the hunt after being written off by critics following the departures of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to Manchester City in the summer.

"I think at the start of the season a lot of people wrote off Arsenal," Crouch told the Tottenham Journal. "They've got a young squad but they seem to have shown everyone that they can still play.

"But I think we've also surprised a few people by the way we've started. We're in the top four at the minute and we want to stay there as long as we possibly can."

Crouch added: "I am really excited, I've been fortunate to play in some big derbies, some big games.

"Obviously the Liverpool-Man United game that I saw the other day, I played in that and that was fantastic. I played in the Birmingham derby, I played in the South Coast derby.

"I've played in a few, but this is certainly one that you look for when you're somebody who watches football.

"I always look at the North London derby and see how passionate it is and see the quality of the game, so I'm really looking forward to it.

"I watched the game at the Emirates last season, it was an unbelievable game to be honest. I'm not sure it's good for the managers or anyone else concerned when you see a 4-4 game, but we'll take any sort of a win over our local rivals."