Arsenal vs. Tottenham

Arsenal vs. Tottenham. The North London Derby. Expected to be a brilliant match this weekend as it’s the first North London derby of the season. Both teams are in good form off the back of good wins against difficult opponents and at the moment, only 2 places separates the 2 sides. It looks like it could be one of the most interesting yet tense, North London derbies of all time. Over the last few years this has been an incredibly even contest with 3 draws 1 Arsenal win and 2 Tottenham wins over the last 6 matches. For Tottenham this is a big improvement. In the 52 Premier League matches between the sides Arsenal have won 19 and Spurs have won 12 with 21 draws. This shows that in recent years the North London derby has been closer than ever and also, that Spurs are rapidly improving.

Arsenal finally got a win last weekend against Bournemouth after 3 league draws in a row. This means that yet again, they have extended their unbeaten run to 17 in all competitions As well as 11 in the Premier League. This shows that Emery has really turned Arsenal into a side who thrives on consistency whereas last season they were all over the place, and could never keep consistent form. Their win against Bournemouth was quite deserved and expected goals had the match at 1.68 to 0.65 in Arsenal’s favour. Arsenal had 58.8% possession and outshot Bournemouth 20 to 11. Surprisingly though, they only managed 4 shots on target whereas Bournemouth managed 5, showing that maybe Arsenal’s shot locations weren’t as good or that their finishing wasn’t clinical enough. Again, Arsenal failed to go into the second half ahead as it was 1-1 at halftime with King scoring an equalizer late on in the half. If this continues, Arsenal will run out of luck, and eventually their slow starts will cost them.

With Lacazette possibly out injured for this one, the attacking responsibilities fall onto Aubameyang's shoulders. After scoring in his last game he now has 8 goals in the Premier League which is top in the division along with Sergio Aguero. Although Aubameyang is a very natural finisher, scoring almost a third of his total shots, he can’t be expected to be a creator as he is only making 19 passes a match and only has 1 assist this season. The creative side of things will most likely be left to Mesut Ozil or one of the fullbacks. Arsenal will need to be spot on in defence in this game as Tottenham have a number of strong attackers. The player most key to their defence at the moment seems to be the young centre back Rob Holding. Although he is not playing brilliantly or putting up fantastic numbers he has managed to slot into Sokratis’ place and is probably their most important defender currently. In his 7 Premier League starts he has made 18 tackles and interceptions meaning he is making more than 2.5 a game. He is also making an incredible 64 passes a match really suiting Unai Emery’s style of play.

Tottenham are on a really good run of form at the moment winning 7 of their last 8 Premier League matches, with their only loss during this period coming against Manchester City. Since that City game they have won 3 on the bounce beating difficult teams in Wolves, Crystal Palace and most recently, Chelsea. Spurs played incredibly well against Chelsea and some may argue that they deserved more than their 3-1 win. This is superb considering how well Chelsea have started the season under Maurizio Sarri. Expected goals had the game at 3.37 to 0.93 proving that Spurs definitely deserved a win. As well as this, Spurs outshot Chelsea 18 to 13 and had 9 shots on target to Chelsea’s 2. The surprising thing about this game is that Spurs allowed Chelsea 60% of the possession but this could largely relate to the fact that they were 2-0 up after only 18 minutes. Overall, Spurs look like they are on the rise after a bit of a shaky start to the season, as they now sit in 3rd place 5 points off leaders Manchester City.

Christian Eriksen is expected to be pulling the strings for Tottenham in this match as he played brilliantly in the match against Chelsea. In the game he got 2 assists and made an outstanding 7 key passes! This is incredible considering he is making an average of 2.7 key passes a match as an elite attacking midfielder. He’s not having the best of seasons by his high standards, with only 4 assists and not a single goal up to this point. With such a good performance against Chelsea though, he could be settling into some good form. Toby Alderweireld will be another crucial player in this match. He is the only defender who has played every  Premier League match for Tottenham this season and has often been incredibly important. He is both a good defender as well as an elite passer of the ball which is highlighted by the fact that he has made 24 tackles and interceptions and is making 63.6 passes a match. Arsenal are the 3rd highest goal scorers this season and Tottenham will need Alderweireld to be at the top of his game especially if the good but inexperienced Juan Foyth is playing next to him.

Arsenal have very similar injury problems this week as they did last week with Monreal, Lichtsteiner, Koscielny, Mavropanos and Welbeck all still on the injury books. But this time Alexandre Lacazette could be set to miss out with a groin strain. Although it is not certain that he will miss out, it will be crucial if he does as he has been one of Arsenal’s most important players of the season so far. Tottenham are still suffering from a fair few injury problems as Rose, Trippier, Sanchez and Dembele are all very likely to miss out for this one. Rose and Trippier both have small chances of making it back in time for the game but is very unlikely that either of them will start. Luckily for Tottenham, Vertonghen is finally back after missing the last 6 Premier League matches because of a hamstring injury. It will be interesting to see if he gets straight back into the squad though, as Foyth has deputized very while he was out injured. For this game though, you would expect Pochettino to go with the more experienced option and choose Vertonghen to start the match.

With both teams in fine fettle at the moment this is definitely the main game to watch on this derby weekend. In the last 3 matches between the sides the home team has won every time which really goes to show that the venue of this particular fixture matters quite a bit. This could give Arsenal a significant advantage especially as they have become known for their prestigious home form over the past few seasons. With Tottenham in 3rd place though, they look to be having another very strong season and it will be interesting to see if Arsenal’s weak defence can cope with the like of an in form Kane or Eriksen. Overall, I think the final score will be a 1-1 draw.