Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur
Date: 02/12/2018
K/O: 14:05
Venue: Emirates Stadium
TV: Sky Sports Premier League
Referee: Mike Dean
Sandwiched between two local derbies comes arguably the most historically entertaining of the lot – Arsenal against Tottenham. The hosts are three points behind Spurs, but would jump ahead of their North-London rivals with a victory on Sunday.
Arsenal grabbed their first league win in four games last Sunday with a closely fought victory over Bournemouth bringing their impressive unbeaten run to 17 matches in all competitions. However, the Gunners have recently dropped six points from draws, and will be eager not to let their rivals go six points ahead of them.
Arsenal certainly have an in-form striker on their hands in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – the 29-year-old has claimed eight league goals this season, putting him joint-top of the goalscoring chart. Tottenham will have to show some defensive resilience if they are to keep the Gabon international at bay.
Being five points clear of sixth-placed Everton means that Arsenal have no reason to be looking over their shoulders yet, and a win on Sunday would be crucial in their quest for a top four finish.
Harry Kane has also picked up a few crucial goals in recent matches and will be licking his lips when he comes up against a team who have failed to keep a clean sheet in six Premier League matches. Spurs have started to look more of a threat in attack, and may hope to beat Arsenal on the counter attacks.
Like Arsenal, the Lilywhites also go into this match off the back of a victory – an unexpected dominant performance saw them breeze past their London neighbours Chelsea and take third place for themselves. Having said this, the Blues certainly had an off-day, and it would be a huge surprise if the Gunners were to let Spurs run away with the game quite so easily.
A win for Tottenham would put them temporarily level on points with second-placed Liverpool, who play Everton later on in the day. Spurs have had excellent away results this season, and beating Arsenal on their own ground would be immensely satisfying for the fans.
Team News
Arsenal will possibly be without two attackers on Sunday. Danny Welbeck almost certainly won’t feature due to an ankle injury picked up earlier in the month. Although Alexandre Lacazette looks set to feature in the match, his groin injury means he is not guaranteed a spot in the starting XI.
Nacho Monreal is also unavailable while recovering from a hamstring injury picked up in early October, while Koscielny continues to gain fitness after a long-term injury.
Arsenal had already qualified for the Europa League knockout stage before Thursday’s win against Vorskla Poltava and therefore had no need to play their best team for that match. Thus, they will likely have the full compliment available for the North-London derby.
As for Tottenham, Davinson Sanchez and Mousa Dembele are the only two players who will certainly not feature on Sunday due to their respective hamstring and ankle injuries. A number of players who have recently fully recovered from injury, including Heung-min Son and Christian Eriksen, have impressed in recent matches and will likely start for Spurs.
Kieran Trippier did not feature in Tottenham’s Champions League victory against Inter Milan and still remains doubtful of a return on the weekend.
Predicted Starting XI’s
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Kolasinac, Holding, Mustafi, Bellerin; Xhaka, Torreira; Aubameyang, Ozil, Mkhitaryan; Lacazette.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Davies, Alderweireld, Foyth, Aurier; Dier, Sissoko; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane.
Prediction: Arsenal 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
We could see a very even contest on Sunday and, while Spurs have the better form, Arsenal have started becoming more resilient at the back of late and tend to be more clinical in front of goal than their rivals.
