Arsenal kicked off their Champions League campaign with a commanding 4-0 win over PSV but they will have to quickly shift their focus to this weekend’s game where they welcome Spurs in the Premier League.
The two North London rivals are tied on points after five gameweeks and it’s safe to say that this one is set to be one of the closest-fought derbies in recent memory. Tottenham Hotspur are doing great under their new manager and they will be very confident of picking up a win on Sunday.
Arsenal however are yet to lose a match this season and right now, they are one of the strongest teams in the whole of Europe. The Gunners have conceded only four league goals this season, keeping two clean sheets in the process but one of the worries for the manager is that his team has netted only nine goals. All the dominant and fluid play has not resulted in too many goals.
Because these two teams are so evenly matched we are not expecting an absolute goal-fest on Sunday either which means one or two goals will be good enough to determine the outcome of the season’s first North London Derby.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber are both ruled out for this weekend and while the midfielder will be back in one or two weeks, Timber is expected to be out of action until the new year.
David Raya started against Everton and also in midweek and we think he’s now moved up the pecking order, ahead of Aaron Ramsdale.
Gabriel Martinelli was withdrawn in the first half of Arsenal’s win at Everton last week due to a hamstring injury and there is a major question mark over his availability for Sunday.
Before the PSV game, Arteta had claimed there’s an outside chance that Martinelli might be fit for the derby but we seriously doubt if he will be ready.
“He felt something in his hamstring and we need to do some further tests to assess if there is any big damage or not,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had told reporters earlier this week.
“But he will be out for tomorrow’s game, for sure. It is a possibility [he could miss the north London derby], we don’t know yet. As I said, we need some more tests and let’s see what happens.”
With Martinelli likely to miss out, Leandro Trossard will hold onto his place as the left winger while Bukayo Saka plays out on the right.
Fabio Vieira will be pushing Kai Havertz for a place in the first XI but because this is Tottenham, we don’t think the Arsenal manager will risk putting a big name like Havertz on the bench.
Gabriel Jesus got a start in midweek and even scored a goal but in the league, Mikel Arteta has opted to use Eddie Nketiah as his main centre-forward. Constant injuries have seen Jesus fall down the pecking order and it will not be a big surprise if his manager pushes him back to the bench on Sunday.
A player like Gabriel Jesus deserves to play against Spurs but Nketiah has done really well when called upon so not a lot of eyebrows will be raised if the Brazilian international is used as a sub.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Spurs:
Predicted Starting line up(4-3-3): Raya; Zinchenko, Gabriel, William Salib, Ben White; Havertz, Odegaard, Declan Rice; Trossard, Nketiah/Jesus, Bukayo Saka.
