Arsenal welcome Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium in their next Premier League clash on Thursday.
The Gunners have their unbeatable PL home record intact and will be aiming to continue the streak in the mouthwatering North London derby.
The home side will be going into the game on the back of a defeat against Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup. Their poor run in the EFL and FA Cup needs to be addressed. Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou’s team put three past a helpless Tamworth, and they have now advanced to the next round.
But it’s a completely different story in the English league. Mikel Arteta’s side is just behind Liverpool in the second spot, and Spurs are lurking in 12th position with a huge 16-point difference between them.
💬 “We’ll go to Wednesday, another opportunity for us, probably at the right time as well to get what we deserve, perform again and give our supporters what they deserve as well.””
Mikel Arteta is keen to move on and prepare for our upcoming Premier League north London derby 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 12, 2025
A win is much needed for the host side as they can’t afford to lose points from here onwards. Liverpool’s fantastic run can only be halted by pressuring them at the top.
Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur: H2H records
Spurs have won just one of their previous eight matches between the two rivals. Their last win came way back in 2010. They also lost their latest game against their London rivals in September 2024 by a 1-0 scoreline and have conceded in 25 consecutive away games to Arsenal.
Arteta’s men could win three straight league games vs Spurs for the first time since 1989. The home fans will be amazed by the fact that Tottenh*m have won just two of their last 31 games against the Gunners (12 draws and 18 losses).
Arsenal victories: 88
Tottenham victories: 67
Draws: 55
Arsenal Premier League form: D, D, W, W, W, D
Tottenham Premier League form: L, W, L, L, D, L
Arsenal vs Tottenham: Team News
Arsenal continue to suffer from an injury crisis as striker Gabriel Jesus was stretched off with a knee injury in their last game against Man United. The Brazilian has been sidelined before, and another injury could keep him out for a long time.
The main equation will be: Who will start at the right-wing spot? Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka remain sidelined, and they can only rely on Raheem Sterling, who also returned recently.
🚨⚠️ Arteta: “Gabriel Jesus? Big worry, that’s my feeling”.
“He had to come off on a stretcher touching his knee… so unfortunately it’s not looking good”. pic.twitter.com/QKC8dkeCDG
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 12, 2025
Riccardo Calafiori was also missing in the United defeat, and it remains to be seen if he is given the nod in the next game. Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White remain unavailable for now.
Meanwhile, Tottenham have to address major injury issues of their own with several key stars missing for a long time. Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Richarlison, Ben Davies, Guglielmo Vicario, Wilson Odobert, and Rodrigo Bentancur are all stuck in the injury room.
Antonio Kinsky could get a chance to play in his first North London derby. Heung-min Son, Dominic Solanke, and Dejan Kulusevski made substitute appearances against Tamworth, and they are likely to be named in the starting XI in their next clash.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Tottenham:
David Raya, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli
Tottenham Hotspur predicted lineup vs Arsenal:
Antonio Kinsky, Pedro Porro, Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Djed Spence, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Heung-Min Son
North London Derby: Our Prediction
As both sides recently competed in a two-hour FA Cup marathon, as expected, this game is to be a dull one with a lack of goals from both ends. Spurs struggles in the league make them less ferocious, but they remain unpredictable as always.
The Gunners are firing on all cylinders, and they just need to make sure that they take their chances well at the N5. They need to pocket this morale-boosting derby double.
Our scoreline: Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
