Some derby matches in English football feel such high stakes that often the tussles themselves descend into attritional battles.
For the managers and players involved, the fear of losing and the fear of having momentum drawn from a season can often outweigh the will to win. Spectacles that have been given so much hype and so much focus can often fail to match the billing.
The north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur has never fallen into that particular bracket.
Though some sides will add a dash more physicality and forcefulness to their play in a derby match often these two bitter rivals just fly forward at one another. Goals flow and entertainment follows. It\’s a footballing derby.
And Saturday’s feels significant, as does the ongoing murmurings of a potential power shift in the north of the capital. Because it would appear that after plenty of head-patting done by Arsenal supporters to their Tottenham counterparts down the years, this version of Spurs are here to stay.
Mauricio Pochettino and his side would love nothing more than to rubber-stamp that fact with a win at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday lunchtime. Not just so they can get one over on their enemies, but because one of the small chinks in the armoury of this fine Tottenham side is their record away from home in the big matches.
At Manchester United in their previous away fixture Spurs appeared to take a backwards step from their usual front-foot football, allowing the Red Devils to nick the three points late on. Pochettino has only steered his side to one win in 16 matches away from home at the five other sides in the top six. It\’s a pattern a perfectionist like him will want to address.
That’ll give Arsenal confidence, as will the fact that, for all the praise Spurs have received this season and all the ridicule that has been poured on the Gunners, Arsene Wenger’s side would move to within a point of Tottenham should they beat them here.
So far this season there’s been plenty to like about Arsenal at home too, as they’ve won all five of their matches at the Emirates. Yet after victories over Leicester, Bournemouth, West Brom, Brighton and Swansea, this will be their biggest test of the campaign in front of their own fans by far.
It’ll be intriguing to see how the Gunners react from their loss to Manchester City previously when they were brushed aside by the league leaders. City’s attacking potency has troubled many aside this season, but Arsenal were still prised open too easily at times at the Etihad Stadium.
That would have made encouraging viewing for Harry Kane, who was absent the last time Spurs went to Old Trafford due to injury. On the five occasions the striker has come up against Arsenal, he’s been on the scoresheet six times.
There are other parts of Pochettino’s attack beginning to click into gear too, with Dele Alli grabbing a brace against Madrid. Christian Eriksen, who scored the third against Los Blancos, also netted a stunning hat-trick on international duty with Denmark, inspiring his side to a 5-1 win over the Republic of Ireland.
Should that trio blossom then Arsenal have yet to show the defensive acumen needed to keep Tottenham out, meaning the Gunners may favour an attacking approach in this fixture.
With Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil not showing their best this season as of yet, much of that burden will fall on the shoulders of Alexandre Lacazette. After being left out of the XI for the game against City, the French forward made his manager look a little silly when he came off the bench and scored in the second half.
Ahead of the clash against United, it appeared Spurs had taken a step forward in their confidence away from home, with the young squad of players hardening their mentality at these difficult places. The Old Trafford encounter suggested it may not quite be there yet.
Kane, Alli, and Eriksen will cause massive problems for an uncertain Arsenal defence, but the home supporters will raise the levels of their players and propel them to a key point.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham
Tips
Over 2.5 goals – 2.3 Unibet
Draw and both teams to score – 4.40 BetVictor
Christian Eriksen to score anytime – 4.80 Unibet
Calculators
