Who: Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur
Content: English Premier League
Location: Emirates Stadium (London)
When: Sunday 4:30pm (16:30 GMT)
How to follow: Get everything ready on Al Jazeera Sports from 13:30 GMT ahead of the live text commentary stream.
In this weekend’s Premier League highlights, Arsenal will take on Tottenham in a north London derby. Spurs are desperate to revitalize their own faltering season while halting their arch-rivals’ title contention.
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League leaders Arsenal started the weekend with 26 points, four points ahead of second-placed Man City, but a 2-2 draw with Sunderland before the international break ended their run of 10 consecutive wins and eight consecutive clean sheets.
Spurs head into the weekend in fifth place with 18 points, a position that is perhaps more favorable to Thomas Frank’s side, who have suffered from a severe lack of creativity and a number of defensive lapses.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last six games and have dominated the last derby, but Spurs travel to the Emirates, where they have the best away record in the league this season.
Gabriel faces ‘several weeks’ out in big blow for Arsenal
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães will be sidelined for “a few weeks” after sustaining an injury on international duty, manager Mikel Arteta confirmed on Friday.
The Brazilian centre-back has been a constant presence in the Gunners’ backline in the Premier League, conceding just five goals in 11 games, but suffered a thigh injury during Brazil’s 2-0 friendly win over Senegal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend.
“He’s our backline leader, so it’s obviously a blow. For me, that’s never a positive thing,” Arteta said.
“The good thing is we have very good options and people just have to get up and do the work now.”
Arteta says it’s a privilege to lead Arsenal in the derby
Arteta spoke to Arsenal’s in-house media about his passion for the North London derby and the sense of “privilege” he feels by attending these games.
“There’s been a lot of changes over the years and we’ve become more dominant, which is really beautiful. We know what it means to them, especially when they play at home in front of the nation,” he said.
“The energy they bring, the energy the team brings in every single thing they do, it’s just a privilege to be able to play a game like that. I can’t wait for Sunday.”
Frank wants ‘controlled chaos’ against Arsenal
Tottenham’s manager admitted on Friday that Spurs were well behind their arch-rivals, but said he believed they could disrupt Arteta’s side on Sunday.
“What’s interesting is that Mikel and I probably both want a slightly more controlled match, but it’s probably going to be a completely crazy match in the end,” Frank, who is experiencing his first derby, told reporters.
“I think it’s going to be a difficult (match), but I think it’s going to be a match where we can go anywhere.”
Frank is seen as a much more pragmatic coach than Ange Postecoglou, who he replaced near the end of the season, with an emphasis on set-pieces and stats that served him so well at Brentford.
But Frank won’t just tell his team to pick up points on Sunday.
“Definitely embrace controlled chaos, or whatever chaos we want to create, if that makes sense, because chaos can be good,” Frank said. “Disruption can be in transition, high pressure, the second phase of set-pieces, and of course those are all areas that you want to exploit if possible.
“By the way, we’re never going to go 0-0. We might end up 0-0, but we’re always going to go for the win. Always, always, always.”
Tottenham’s impressive away form
Frank’s side have 13 points from five games and the Dane said this will give them confidence ahead of Sunday’s showdown.
“Arsenal are leading the table by a huge margin,” Frank said. “We have had a good few years, but we need to do everything we can to turn things around.
“It’s a game on Sunday that I’m sure we’ll be very competitive in. We’re going to do everything we can to beat them.”
direct confrontation
Arsenal and Spurs have played each other 211 times, of which Arsenal won 89, Tottenham won 67 and 55 ended in a draw.
The Gunners were twice as good as their rivals last season, but Tottenham have only won two of their last 10 games against Arsenal since December 2020.
Tottenham have not won at the Emirates since the League Cup in 2018, and their last win against their neighbors in the Premier League was a 3-2 win 15 years ago.
Spurs’ last win against Arsenal was a 3-0 home win in the Premier League in May 2022.
arsenal team news
Arsenal will be without Gabriel, but they have good back-up options in summer signings Cristian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie.
Club captain Martin Odegaard will not be able to play due to a knee injury, while Kai Havertz will be absent due to delayed recovery from an injury. Forward Gabriel Jesus is slowly rehabbing after tearing his ACL, but is expected to return in the new year.
Meanwhile, striker Victor Gokeres, wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke, and left-back Riccardo Calafiori are big doubts as they continue to recover from injuries.
Leandro Trossard is likely to start as a false nine, while Ebelesi Eze is expected to play on the left wing.
Arsenal’s expected starting lineup
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori. Eze, Zubimendi, Rice. Saka, Merino, Trossard
tottenham team news
Forward Randal Kolo Muani is available after suffering a head injury in the last game against Manchester United, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Defender Archie Gray and midfielder Lukas Bergvall, who was left out of the Sweden squad, are also available, while Pape Matar Sarr remains in the Spurs squad despite being injured while playing for Senegal.
It remains unclear whether winger Mohamed Kudus will be able to recover from his knock and return to action against the Gunners.
Ben Davis, Kota Takai and Radu Dragusin are all in serious doubt as they struggle to recover from bruises.
Spurs remain without Dominic Solanke, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma due to long-term injuries.
Tottenham’s expected starting lineup
Vicario. Polo, Romero, van de Ven, Udogi. Bentancur, Parinha, Simmons. Johnson, Richarlison, Odbert
