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Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal: 02/03/2019 – match preview and predicted starting XIs

Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal

Date: 02/03/2019

K/O: 12:30

Venue: Wembley Stadium

TV: BT Sport 1

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Wembley hosts the North London derby on Saturday, with Tottenham praying for a much-improved performance to avoid a third consecutive defeat that would put Arsenal just one point behind them.

One week ago Spurs were ten points clear of their rivals, but defeats at the hands of Burnley and Chelsea now leave them four points ahead of Arsenal, with many doubting that they’ll even be in the top four come the end of the season. Nevertheless, the bookies still fancy Spurs as favourites to win this match and if they don’t manage it, questions about whether Pochettino will leave the club in the summer will become even more relentless.

Tottenham’s upcoming games are certainly not getting any more forgiving, with Dortmund and Liverpool coming up in the month of March. This North London derby could prove to be pivotal in Spurs’ form for the rest of the season – win and they will go into their next matches in much higher spirits, lose and they will be in real danger of dropping out of the top four altogether.

Although Kane’s return from injury has unfortunately been marked by two defeats, there are promising signs for the Englishman, who scored against Burnley and probably would have caused Chelsea more problems if the Blues hadn’t been at their defensive best. The forward certainly likes a goal against Arsenal and will be extremely disappointed if he doesn’t manage to continue his scoring streak against the Gunners.

Arsenal themselves have won their last three league games, the most recent victory being a 5-1 hammering of Bournemouth on Wednesday. As a result, Arsenal impressively find themselves in the top four, one point ahead of Manchester United. The Gunners are also a freely scoring side, with Aubameyang and Lacazette both chipping in with plenty of goals, allowing for rotation between the two.

However, their defence is not their strongest attribute and conceding 38 goals this season has contributed to a slightly worse goal difference than Tottenham. Away performances have also been a concern for Unai Emery, with one away win in seven Premier League matches not helping their campaign at all. Having said this, Arsenal did win their last league game on the road against Huddersfield and will try to use this to propel them to within one point of their rivals.

Emery will be looking to re-establish the consistency they possessed at the start of the season and will be hoping that the shift Mesut Ozil put in on Wednesday will be analogous of the start of a more orderly end of the season for the Gunners. The German, as well as Mkhitaryan, ran the show against Bournemouth, and a repeat of this performance could make the difference on Saturday, if the manager decided to start the pair.

Team News

After a long run of games without any one of Kane, Alli or Son, Spurs could finally have their full compliment available up front, with Dele Alli potentially returning from injury. However, there is a high chance that Alli will not be fully ready for Saturday and will not be risked.

Eric Dier will also likely miss out due to illness, while Jan Vertonghen should return after missing the Chelsea match with a slight hip injury.

Arsenal’s injury list may have got even worse from a defensive point of view – Laurent Koscielny took a knock against Bournemouth on Wednesday which could rule him out against Spurs. However, the incident didn’t look to be too serious, and it’s probable that the Frenchman will not have to watch from the sidelines.

Lichsteiner is also a slight doubt, while fellow defenders Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin will be unavailable with injuries.

Predicted Starting XIs

Tottenham Hotspur (4-1-2-1-2): Lloris; Rose, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Aurier; Winks; Eriksen, Sissoko; Lucas; Kane, Son

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Leno; Kolasinac, Sokratis, Koscielny, Maitland-Niles; Xhaka, Torreira; Iwobi, Ozil, Mkhitaryan; Lacazette

Score Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1

If it wasn’t for Arsenal’s poor away form, Spurs would be in real danger of losing a third league match in a row. The game should be hotly contested and it’s difficult to see a particular team grabbing the three points on the day.

Harry Mahon

90maat's team correspondent for Tottenham Hotspur, graduate of Loughborough University and current student at the University of Surrey.

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