The Premier League will witness its first north London derby this weekend as Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur lock horns against each other at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners are coming on the back of an embarrassing 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in their last game. But, they have the upper hand due to their home advantage while collectively, they have shown a lot of promise under Unai Emery this season.
As for Tottenham, they are in a crisis at the moment, having recently slumped to a narrow defeat against Newcastle United. There are off-field issues as well, with Mauricio Pochettino unsure whether or not Christian Eriksen will continue playing for the club. But, the Lilywhites will look to set aside all their problems and earn the bragging rights by securing a win over Arsenal at the Emirates this weekend.
What we could expect from Tottenham?
Pochettino is someone who wants his team to play efficient football. The Argentine’s tactical philosophy mostly revolves around quick build-up play, where fullbacks play a key role. And with Arsenal missing two of their premier fullbacks in Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin, we could expect Spurs to overload both flanks.
That means Harry Kane will likely operate as the lone striker, with Son Heung-Min and Eriksen likely to be deployed as wide attackers. These two will look to put a lot of pressure on two attack-minded fullbacks in Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sead Kolasinac. It won’t be surprising to see Poch utilising Lucas Moura in this game as his pace and dynamism could prove to be effective against a vulnerable Arsenal defence.
What we could expect from Arsenal?
Unlike Tottenham, Arsenal will look to make full use of their strength in midfield, especially with Tanguy Ndombele suffering from a hamstring problem. Although Dani Ceballos is unlikely to feature, the trio of Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi could form a formidable partnership in the middle third of the pitch.
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Torreira will look to exploit Eric Dier’s awful passing by giving him very little time on the ball. Harry Winks is also prone to losing concentration, at times and it won’t be surprising to see Arsenal using at least one midfielder as a runner. Ceballos, in that regard, could be an ideal fit, especially when it comes to pressurising Winks.
How these two teams can be exploited?
Tottenham’s biggest weakness lies on the right side of the defence, where they lack a reliable option with Kyle Walker-Peters out injured. Serge Aurier is unlikely to feature while Juan Foyth has also been sidelined with an injury. That means Moussa Sissoko is the likeliest option in the said role, making Spurs prone to getting exposed from the right-back position.
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As for Arsenal, none of their defenders has shown any real character this season. David Luiz has looked abysmal whenever the opposition has pushed hard. He has also let attackers make runs in behind the defence while Sokratis, too, is not a great leader. Deploying a pacy attacker could be an ideal way to break apart the Arsenal defence.
Who has the advantage?
As mentioned earlier, Arsenal have the home advantage going into this game. But importantly, they have a powerful attack that can cause some serious troubles for the likes of Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez. However, their players must manage to perform at their 100% if they are to salvage anything from this fixture.
