Arsenal travel across North London with the ambition of winning back-to-back Premier League derbies at Tottenham for the first time.
The Gunners will arrive in good spirits following Tuesday night’s 5-0 demolition of Chelsea. Mikel Arteta has Arsenal resembling a well-tuned machine at just the right moment of the campaign.
In the title race, Manchester City refuses to be shaken off and sits one point behind Arsenal with a game in hand. Arteta’s men need to keep the pressure on City by winning all four remaining matches, starting with the 208th instalment of arguably the biggest derby in English football.
Tottenham is still smarting from a bad defeat at Newcastle last time out. The Lilywhites have benefited from a two-week break before playing a derby they must win to keep fading hopes of a top-four finish alive.
Team news
Arsenal
The game has probably come too early for Jurrien Timber, who played well in a run-out with the U21s earlier this week. The Dutchman aside, Arteta must be delighted to select from a full squad of match-fit players at the business end of the season.
Key decisions surround the left side of defence, central midfield, and the forward line. While not at his absolute best in midweek, the reliable Takehiro Tomiyasu looks likely to continue at left-back.
In the pre-match presser, Arteta discussed good selection “headaches”. One of them is opting to play either Jorginho or Thomas Partey in the number six role.
After a long absence, Partey reminded the coach of his considerable attributes against Chelsea, particularly his ability to shield the defence and release Declan Rice further forward with devastating effect.
Up front, the big choice is whether to go for Leandro Trossard’s clinical finishing or Gabriel Martinelli’s chaos-creating pace. Trossard will be hard to resist on current form, scoring in four of the last six matches.
Tottenham
Ben Davies will replace defender Destiny Udogie, who will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery. Oliver Skipp is out while recovering from a knock.
Richarlison and Pedro Porro will undergo fitness tests with both expected to start.
Predicted XI
Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka Havertz, Trossard
Match prediction
Tottenham 1.3 Arsenal
What are the managers saying?
Mikel Arteta
On inspiration from the 20th anniversary of the Invincibles title-win at Tottenham:
“I understand that, but it’s not going to happen mathematically even if we do win. There are moments that are very important in our history, and I’m sure a lot of players know about it. Certainly, the staff and the ones who have been here long enough know about it. It’s about making our own history now.”
Ange Postecoglou
On the challenge of playing Arsenal at this time:
“We understand the importance of the game – and we understand the importance, particularly at home, in these kind of games against our biggest rival and in the biggest derby, for us not letting our opponent get on top of us.”
How to watch
The match is being shown live in the UK on Sky Sports. Kick-off is 14:00 GMT
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