Arsenal vs Tottenham preview, team news, how to watch and prediction

Arsenal will be looking to make a statement in the title race with victory over rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners have made a solid start to the new Premier League season. They sit joint second in the table on 13 points from a possible 15 having secured victories over Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Man Utd and most recently, Everton. The only disappointment for Mikel Arteta’s men came when they dropped two points at home to Fulham having been held to a frustrating 2-2 draw by their London rivals last month.

However, Arteta has expressed his delight at how his team have played so far this campaign and he feels some of their narrow wins should have been much more comfortable given how dominant Arsenal have been in most games. Three of their four victories so far have been by a one-goal margin, so Arteta is hoping his players can start taking their chances.

Arsenal certainly did just that in midweek upon their return to the Champions League. After six long years in the wilderness, the Gunners were back in the big time on Wednesday night and they didn’t disappoint after thrashing PSV Eindhoven 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium. Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard were all on target as Arsenal got off to the perfect start in Group B of the Champions League.

In truth, PSV were easy pray for Arsenal as they arrived in north London promising not to sit back and took the game to the Gunners. Given the gulf in class between the two sides, it was no surprise to see Arsenal take advantage of the extra space they were afforded and ripped PSV’s defence apart.

Arteta will be hoping for more of the same on Sunday against a Tottenham side who have been playing some lovely attacking football under new boss Ange Postecoglou. The Aussie’s philosophy is to play his brand of attacking football no matter the opposition, so we could see Spurs taking the game to Arsenal this weekend.  Obviously Tottenham have more quality than PSV and can cause Arsenal plenty of problems going forward, but it will still be a risky strategy from Postecoglou if he plays gung-ho at the Emirates given how the Gunners dismantled PSV for taking a similar approach.

Postecoglou has enjoyed a promising start to life in North London as Spurs sit two points behind Man City in joint second – alongside Arsenal – on 13 points following an unbeaten start. Tottenham fans are loving the new style of football after several years of a more conservative approach under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Whether that leads to trophies or a top four finish remains to be seen, but at least Spurs supporters are enjoying watching their team again.

Tottenham’s last win came with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sheffield United last Saturday. The Blades looked to have secured a shock win in North London but their time wasting came back to bite them as Spurs scored twice during 15 minutes of injury time to secure a 2-1 comeback win.

How to watch

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Subscribers can watch the game live via their Sky box or stream is on Sky Go.

If you want to watch the game in person, you can still buy Arsenal vs Tottenham tickets at Seatsnet.com but hurry as tickets are selling fast and the game is certain to be a sell-out.

Team news

Arsenal will need to assess the fitness of Gabriel Martinelli after he limped off during the win over Everton at Goodison Park with a hamstring complaint. The Brazilian international missed the win over PSV in midweek but Arteta hasn’t ruled him out of the Tottenham game just yet. Martinelli will be checked over by Arsenal’s medical team before a decision is made over his availability, but Arteta will be desperate for him to play as the 22-year-old has become a key player for the Gunners.

One player who is certain to miss out this weekend is Thomas Partey. The Ghanaian international has been ruled out for up to six weeks after suffering a groin injury last month and won’t be back in contention until mid-October.

Summer signing Jurrien Timber is also out for the foreseeable future. The Dutchman sustained a serious ACL injury on his league debut and could miss the entire season – which is a huge blow for Arsenal.

Tottenham have also suffered a major blow after it was revealed that Ivan Perisic is facing a race against time to play again this season after damaging his ACL in training this week.

Spurs will also be without Ryan Sessegnon as he’s still recovering from a thigh injury while Bryan Gil is out with a groin problem. Giovani Lo Celso is still working his way back from a thigh injury so he won’t feature against Arsenal either.

Rodrigo Bentancur has been stepping up his recovery from a knee injury that has kept him out for several months. He’s back in training but the trip to Arsenal is likely to come too soon for the South American midfielder.

Likely Line-ups

The big question at Arsenal is who will start in goal. Aaron Ramsdale has been dropped for the last two games with David Raya given his chance to impress. The Spaniard has kept two clean sheets so it’s hard to see Arteta changes things this weekend.

Trossard should start in attack as Martinelli is unlikely to be fully fit while Fabio Vieira may get the nod over Kai Havertz in midfield. Gabriel Jesus should keep his place after an excellent display in midweek, with Eddie Nketiah remaining on the bench.

For Tottenham, Richarlison could have secured his place after impressing off the bench against Sheffield United. James Maddison will get his first taste of a NLD and he’ll be looking to continue his fine start to life at Spurs.

Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Vieira; Saka, Trossard, Jesus

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Richarlison

Prediction

The North London Derby is usually an entertaining affair and that promises to be the case again this weekend, especially if Postecoglou sets his team up to attack Arsenal. The Aussie is unlikely to abandon his principles so we should see two attacking teams going at it on Sunday.

That is likely to favour Arsenal though, particularly at home. The Gunners have struggled to keep clean sheet at the Emirates so Spurs will fancy their chances of scoring, but Arsenal should prove too powerful at the other end. Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham