Both teams currently have 13 points from their first five games of the season. Arsenal comes into this exciting match with momentum from a recent Champions League win against PSV Eindhoven. In past years, Arsenal fans had to watch Tottenham play in the Champions League while they were in the Europa League. This time, Arsenal showed they deserve a spot in Europe's top competition by defeating a strong PSV side. Even though PSV had been unbeaten in 26 matches, Arsenal won convincingly with goals from familiar names like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, and Leandro Trossard.
Facing a team like PSV, who played an attacking style, may have been a welcome change for Arsenal after struggling against Everton's defensive tactics. Leandro Trossard, stepping in for the injured Gabriel Martinelli, provided a moment of brilliance to secure a win for Arsenal.
Arsenal's only hiccup this season was a 4-4 home draw with Fulham, but they've collected 13 points out of 15 possible in the Premier League, putting them in fourth place, just behind Liverpool and their upcoming rivals, Tottenham, based on goal difference.
Interestingly, Arsenal is the only team among the top seven not to score in double figures this season, as manager Mikel Arteta has adopted a more cautious attacking approach. However, even optimistic Tottenham fans would find it hard to believe that Arsenal will stay at nine goals in the league after this weekend.
In Tottenham's recent match against Sheffield United, Richarlison took the spotlight. He came off the bench and played a key role in Tottenham's comeback, scoring an equalizer and setting up Dejan Kulusevski for a late winner in the 10th minute of added time. This remarkable comeback allowed Tottenham to maintain their unbeaten streak in the Premier League under manager Ange Postecoglou. They've also scored at least twice in every Premier League game under his management. It's been nearly 13 years since Tottenham won a top-flight game at the Emirates Stadium.
The upcoming match will be the 208th competitive North London derby since Arsenal and Tottenham first played against each other in 1896. Arsenal has won four of the last five meetings with their arch-rivals.
INJURIES & SUSPENSION
While Arsenal managed to break their unfortunate streak at Goodison Park last weekend, the curse took its toll on Martinelli. His difficult day involved a controversial offside call that disallowed his goal, followed by a hamstring injury sustained while attempting to score.Martinelli didn't play in the win against PSV, but Arsenal's manager, Arteta, hasn't ruled out his return for the Tottenham match. However, Thomas Partey (groin), Mohamed Elneny (knee), and Jurrien Timber (knee) won't be available for Arteta.
Arteta is likely to save most of his lineup changes for the EFL Cup clash with Brentford next week. Therefore, we can expect to see most, if not all, of the players who started in the recent game, including David Raya in goal, continuing his competition with Aaron Ramsdale.
Tottenham faced a more significant injury blow this week when Ivan Perisic suffered a severe ACL injury during training. He will undergo surgery and face a long recovery period, possibly signaling the end of his time at Spurs. This injury adds to Tottenham's growing list of players on the treatment table, including Bryan Gil (groin), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Alfie Whiteman (ankle), and Giovani Lo Celso (thigh).
Despite a challenging week, Richarlison's heroics have earned him a strong case to return to the starting lineup for Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium instead of Manor Solomon. Additionally, Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, and Micky van de Ven will make their North London debuts in the defense.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Arsenal possible starting lineup:Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Vieira; Saka, Jesus, Trossard
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Richarlison
EXPERT PREDICTION
Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham
Arsenal hasn't kept a clean sheet at home in the Premier League, but based on their performance on Wednesday, it seems they have found their ability to score goals again. They are likely to win the North London derby at the Emirates, as they usually do.
