ARSENAL will head to Spurs with a point to prove after suffering their darkest day in last season’s North London derby.
The Gunners were beaten 3-0 and ultimately went on to throw away a Champions League spot, as Antonio Conte’s side sneaked into fourth.
But this time they turn up as league leaders, and face a club where all is not well.
Rivals Spurs have been perennially slow starters, conceding the first goal in ten straight games before their 4-0 win at Crystal Palace last week.
And the Gunners know that with frustration building at owner Daniel Levy and Conte demanding more signings, they have a great chance to get the Tottenham fans to turn.
By the same token however, Arsenal will need to be on it from start to finish as Conte’s teams are known for providing late fireworks.
Ashley Young, who played under the Italian at Inter, said: “You could tell in games when teams would stay with us until half-time and then around the 60th minute you would see them drop off because they couldn’t deal with our fitness.
“We would kick on again and there were so many times we got late goals.”
Conte’s Spurs have been no exception, scoring 17 second half goals in their last ten games.
And Arsenal will also be mindful of their own game after being frustrated in a 0-0 draw at home to Newcastle and letting Man City back into the title race.
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It remains to be seen what approach Arteta will take temperamentally after being charged for player disorder in both their last two matches – against Newcastle and Oxford.
Senior players like Granit Xhaka are likely to be key in deciding when to turn up the heat on the opposition and the officials, and when to calm things down.
Sparks are likely to fly as the fiery Swiss captain and Tottenham’s equally hot-headed Dane Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg meet in midfield.
But it is in the centre of the pitch where Arsenal will hope the creativity of Xhaka, Odegaard and potentially even Emile Smith Rowe off the bench can give them the upper hand.
If they fail to win that battle, and Spurs are able to get Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and the potentially-returning Dejan Kulusevski into the game then it may be the home fans celebrating at full time.
SunSport prediction: Tottenham 1 Arsenal 1
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
