[bandini]

Here we go lads. The Gunners are going to be as tough as they come...

Arsene Wenger believes Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov is ``top class'' - and revealed he once thought about bringing the Bulgarian to Arsenal.

The Gunners take on their north London rivals in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final at the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger has Robin van Persie fit again following injury, but maintains he will field a ``young side``, a policy which has served him so well in the competition once again. Spurs boss Juande Ramos is, though, expected to use all of his key men in a bid to reach Wembley.

Berbatov - signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £10.9million during July 2006 - has continued his good form this season, smashing in four goals against Reading on December 29 and also netting a brace when the two sides met again in the FA Cup last weekend.

The future of the Bulgarian, 26, remains the subject of much speculation - with Chelsea said to be ready to launch a £30million raid - which the player claims have made him 'fed up'.

Wenger has long been an admirer of the powerful 6ft 2in forward, but felt he already had several attacking options when considering a bid himself.

The Arsenal manager declared: ``He is top class. He always has time on the pitch and when you play against him he is always in the places you don't want him to be.

``He is what I call a top class striker because he can provide, he can score, he can be at the start of the move and at the end of it. That is a sign of quality.''

Asked if he had ever considered a move for Berbatov, Wenger told Arsenal TV Online: ``Yes, when he played for Bayer Leverkusen. I noticed him once when he played against Real Madrid. He was a young boy at the time, but we were never in need of him.

``We had Thierry Henry, we had Robin van Persie. Then we got [Emmanuel] Adebayor, but I have known about him for a long time.''

Arsenal will be without defender Kolo Toure, winger Emmanuel Eboue and utility man Alex Song because of the African Nations Cup, which could see the trio away for a month.

Nevertheless, Wenger will resist the temptation to call on his big guns, although in-form striker Eduardo is likely to lead the line alongside Dane Nicklas Bendtner, after both strikers scored during the 2-0 FA Cup win at Burnley on Sunday.

Juande Ramos has won three trophies in the last two years and is now intent on ending Tottenham's drought by finally defeating Arsenal.

The Spaniard has a taste for knockout glory and brought a Copa del Rey and back-to-back UEFA Cups to Sevilla before leaving for White Hart Lane.

Despite a good recent record in terms of reaching the latter stages of competitions, Spurs have not won a trophy since 1999, the same year they last defeated their rivals Arsenal.

Ramos is looking for a positive result at the Emirates Stadium to head into the return leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, and he feels the recent defeat there shows the gap between the north London neighbours in closing.

``We really want is to do everything possible to reach a final because it's a long time since we've done it,'' said the Spurs head coach.

``We're professional players and want to everything possible for Tottenham to win.

``I want to carry on getting through. Every teams is different but them most important thing is getting through to get to final stages and see how likely it is that we can win something.''

Spurs were within sight of finally beating Arsenal just before Christmas but Robbie Keane missed a penalty at 1-1 and Arsene Wenger's side went on to win.

``There is a tremendous equality between the teams,'' Ramos added. ``They are the Premier League leaders at the moment but a couple of weeks ago we were very close to winning the match against them.

``If we do things well and manage to get a result there and in the second leg, we will be through.''

Two legs against Arsenal will be part of a hectic schedule, which sees Spurs will play five games in 14 days, but assistant boss Gus Poyet said: ``I liked it as a player.

``I wanted to play, that was why you are here - not just to train and run.''

The fixture congestion may allow Jermain Defoe a chance in the starting XI, although Ramos is expected to field Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane against Arsenal.

Defoe has been told by Ramos he can leave White Hart Lane if he wants, with the fact he only has 18 months left on his contract an issue the club want resolved.

source: ESPNsoccernet - Carling Cup - Arsenal v Tottenham Preview