Arsenal’s biggest game of the season so far is almost upon us as they take on Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby.
Saturday’s lunchtime offering from the Premier League – the first fixture after the September international break – will pit the league leaders against third, but there’s much more than standings and three points at stake with both sets of supporters hopeful of claiming bragging rights.
It finished 3-1 to Arsenal in the corresponding fixture last season, but the most recent meeting between the two sides went in favour of Spurs amid a battle for Champions League qualification and it’s safe to say Mikel Arteta was far from happy with how events unfolded back in May.
Fast forward a few months and this weekend’s game has all the ingredients to serve up another classic. Although, the Spaniard has to deal with the fact that he won’t have a fully fit first-team squad available for selection with Mohamed Elneny, Cedric Soares and Emile Smith Rowe all confirmed absentees.
However, it would appear that the Spaniard has been handed a quadruple fitness boost in the shape of Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenho, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu all being in contention to face Spurs, and that might create a team selection headache – especially at left-back.
With that said, football.london’s Arsenal writers Kaya Kaynak, Tashan Deniran-Alleyne, Bailey Keogh and Tom Canton are on hand to step into the firing line and offer their assistance to Arteta by providing their say on who should start for the hosts at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal XI vs Tottenham: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
