One of the most – if not, the most – anticipated fixtures of Tottenham Hotspur’s calendar is upon this weekend, when table-topping Arsenal come to town for Sunday’s Premier League encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that kicks off at 4:30 PM BST and is live on Sky Sports for those unable to make it to the match. If you want to have your say on this weekend’s North London derby, you can do so on the Vital Spurs Fan Forum here.
Going into Sunday’s match, it is easy to forget that just 8 months ago, the corresponding fixture last season saw Spurs resoundingly topple the Gunners en route to snatching a Champions League spot from under their noses. Now, the tables have turned, and Mikel Arteta’s side are the ones sitting pretty at the top of the tree, 11 points clear of Spurs and with the chance to move further away from them with a victory here.
Naturally, Arsenal’s consistency and Spurs’ inconsistency has made the visitors favourites going into this one, but with any NLD, you just never know how things will pan out. Well, I say that, but the home side has won this fixture in the league in the last six meetings, and you have to go back 19 matches to find the last time the visiting side won in this fixture – Arsenal’s 1-0 win at White Hart Lane in March 2014.
Irrespective of Spurs’ decent recent home record against the Gunners, the hosts’ indifferent form over the past few months, even before the World Cup, has had many Spurs fans approaching the fixture with a degree of trepidation.
However, these damp spirits may very well be elevated by Spurs head coach Antonio Conte’s positive injury update in his earlier address to the media (read more on that here), stating that Dejan Kulusevski would be fit to play, but that Rodrigo Bentancur and Richarlison remain doubts going into Sunday’s match and will be monitored in the squad’s final training session before the match tomorrow.
With Kulusevski back in the side, Harry Kane looking to beat Jimmy Greaves’ record as Spurs’ all-time record goalscorer against a side he already loves playing against, and a roused home support, anything is possible – here’s hoping the players think the same!