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Preview: The first North London Derby of the season

Preview: The first North London Derby of the season

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The North London rivals lock horns at The Emirates Stadium in the ‘Do We Have To?’ Derby on Sunday, as Arsenal seek to consolidate their position at the top of the Premier League.

By Ian King

Arsenal now have Manchester City plainly in their rear-view mirror

In the 92nd minute of Arsenal’s last match at Sunderland, Brian Brobbey blew a bit of a hole in the arguments that this year’s Premier League title race is already done and dusted by equalising for the home team, and the question now is whether Mikel Arteta has had his puncture repair kit out over the international break. 

Arsenal have been the best team in the Premier League so far this season and deserve the four point lead they had over the chasing pack going in to the weekend, but Manchester City’s 3-0 mauling of Liverpool left them firmly in their rear-view mirror. Objects in your mirror are closer than they appear, and all that.

Spurs, meanwhile, remain something of a curate’s egg of a team, though if you believed some of the more hysterical responses to their recent matches you’d think they were fifth from bottom in the table rather from fifth from the top. They reached Peak Spurs by taking the lead in injury-time against Manchester United in their last outing before losing it again a couple of minutes later.

Spurs recent record against Arsenal is…not good

There can be no sugarcoating the fact that Spurs have only taken one point from their last six games in the North London Derby, and their record at The Emirates Stadium is pretty abysmal. By next summer, Arsenal will have been there for twenty years, and Spurs have only ever won there twice, 2-0 in the League Cup in December 2018 and 3-2 in the League in November 2010. 

It could be a long afternoon for Spurs’ central defence

With injuries having affected much of their front line so far this season, much may depend on Leandro Trossard, who came off the bench to put Arsenal 2-1 up at Sunderland a fortnight ago and who may start this one, if injuries are continuing to bite. If they’re planning a set-piece assault on the Spurs defence, Micky van de Ven will need to be on top of his defensive game for Spurs. He could be in for a busy afternoon. 

The Gabriel injury is a big loss for Mikel Arteta

The big Premier League international break news was of an injury to Gabriel during Brazil’s friendly match against Senegal at – *checks notes* – The Emirates Stadium. He’s going to be out for a few weeks. Viktor Gyökeres, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus are all (or have been) varying degrees of injured, but Gyökeres, Martinelli and Madueke could return, though at the time of writing no word has been given that any of them will. 

Spurs remain without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Kota Takai and Lucas Bergvall. In addition to these players, Randal Kolo Muani is also now out with a jaw injury. There’s better news on the Mohammed Kudus front, though. He ended up missing both Spurs’ last game against Manchester United and both of Ghana’s matches during the international break, but could return for this one, though I’ve said this before. Bergvall, Takai and Gray could return, while Cristian Romero and Pape Sarr should also be okay to play.

H2H results in last three seasons

This derby may not be a thriller, and that’s just the way Arsenal like it

Spurs’ recent abysmal record in this fixture doesn’t offer much hope for their supporters of anything beyond a comfortable home win. Some of the criticism of Thomas Frank’s team this season has been a little over the top, but it remains the case that they exist in a curious state of being simultaneously completely predictable and utterly unpredictable. Schrodinger’s XI, if you will. If they’re completely on their game, they could take something from this, but few of the omens look positive. 

Arsenal dropping points at Sunderland in their last match before the international break allowed Manchester City to trim their lead at the top of the table, but we’ll need to see more evidence before it can be said with any degree of certainty that they’re wobbling at the top of the Premier League table. The reliance on set-pieces may look a little agricultural at times, but it’s been working, and their lead at the top of a Premier League that is so tight below them gives them a valuable buffer. 

With all of that in mind, it’s difficult to see past the home win, so I’ll say 1-0 to the Arsenal, and, just as we’ve already seen three times in the Premier League already this season, that’s just the way they like it. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Preview: The first North London Derby of the season

The North London rivals lock horns at The Emirates Stadium in the ‘Do We Have To?’ Derby on Sunday, as Arsenal seek to consolidate their position at the top of the Premier League.

By Ian King

Arsenal now have Manchester City plainly in their rear-view mirror

In the 92nd minute of Arsenal’s last match at Sunderland, Brian Brobbey blew a bit of a hole in the arguments that this year’s Premier League title race is already done and dusted by equalising for the home team, and the question now is whether Mikel Arteta has had his puncture repair kit out over the international break. 

Arsenal have been the best team in the Premier League so far this season and deserve the four point lead they had over the chasing pack going in to the weekend, but Manchester City’s 3-0 mauling of Liverpool left them firmly in their rear-view mirror. Objects in your mirror are closer than they appear, and all that.

Spurs, meanwhile, remain something of a curate’s egg of a team, though if you believed some of the more hysterical responses to their recent matches you’d think they were fifth from bottom in the table rather from fifth from the top. They reached Peak Spurs by taking the lead in injury-time against Manchester United in their last outing before losing it again a couple of minutes later.

Spurs recent record against Arsenal is…not good

There can be no sugarcoating the fact that Spurs have only taken one point from their last six games in the North London Derby, and their record at The Emirates Stadium is pretty abysmal. By next summer, Arsenal will have been there for twenty years, and Spurs have only ever won there twice, 2-0 in the League Cup in December 2018 and 3-2 in the League in November 2010. 

It could be a long afternoon for Spurs’ central defence

With injuries having affected much of their front line so far this season, much may depend on Leandro Trossard, who came off the bench to put Arsenal 2-1 up at Sunderland a fortnight ago and who may start this one, if injuries are continuing to bite. If they’re planning a set-piece assault on the Spurs defence, Micky van de Ven will need to be on top of his defensive game for Spurs. He could be in for a busy afternoon. 

The Gabriel injury is a big loss for Mikel Arteta

The big Premier League international break news was of an injury to Gabriel during Brazil’s friendly match against Senegal at – *checks notes* – The Emirates Stadium. He’s going to be out for a few weeks. Viktor Gyökeres, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus are all (or have been) varying degrees of injured, but Gyökeres, Martinelli and Madueke could return, though at the time of writing no word has been given that any of them will. 

Spurs remain without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Kota Takai and Lucas Bergvall. In addition to these players, Randal Kolo Muani is also now out with a jaw injury. There’s better news on the Mohammed Kudus front, though. He ended up missing both Spurs’ last game against Manchester United and both of Ghana’s matches during the international break, but could return for this one, though I’ve said this before. Bergvall, Takai and Gray could return, while Cristian Romero and Pape Sarr should also be okay to play.

H2H results in last three seasons

This derby may not be a thriller, and that’s just the way Arsenal like it

Spurs’ recent abysmal record in this fixture doesn’t offer much hope for their supporters of anything beyond a comfortable home win. Some of the criticism of Thomas Frank’s team this season has been a little over the top, but it remains the case that they exist in a curious state of being simultaneously completely predictable and utterly unpredictable. Schrodinger’s XI, if you will. If they’re completely on their game, they could take something from this, but few of the omens look positive. 

Arsenal dropping points at Sunderland in their last match before the international break allowed Manchester City to trim their lead at the top of the table, but we’ll need to see more evidence before it can be said with any degree of certainty that they’re wobbling at the top of the Premier League table. The reliance on set-pieces may look a little agricultural at times, but it’s been working, and their lead at the top of a Premier League that is so tight below them gives them a valuable buffer. 

With all of that in mind, it’s difficult to see past the home win, so I’ll say 1-0 to the Arsenal, and, just as we’ve already seen three times in the Premier League already this season, that’s just the way they like it. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.