The Football World will witness the most important North London derby of this century as Tottenham plays host to Arsenal in the fight for a Champions League spot.
Chelsea’s win over Leeds last night means the Blues are one point from securing a Champions League spot with the other already secured by Manchester City and Liverpool, this has not left the two teams from North London to fight for the fourth place.
Going into tonight’s game, Arsenal is currently sitting pretty in the fourth position with four-point ahead of Tottenham, all that the Gunners need is a win to qualify for their first Champions League in five years, but Conte’s men will be looking to upset Arsenal for a spot.
A worrying stat for Mikel Arteta will be the fact that they have failed to beat Spurs in their last seven home games with their recent defeat coming under the guidance of the then manager, Jose Mourinho, Harry Kane, and Heung-Min Son were on the scoresheet for Spurs as they defeated the Gunners 2-0.
However, the last meeting at Emirates was a good one for the Gunners, they were just gathering their momentum as a team while Tottenham was lacking consistency in their performances. Arsenal dominated the game from the blast of the whistle till the end and they won with goals coming from Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, consolation goal came from Son late in the second half
The two teams will also be wary of Paul Tierney. The 41-year-old’s officiating has not done a good favor for both Arsenal and Tottenham. Gunners have not won or scored in the two games he has officiated this season while Spurs have only managed to pick up a point from the four games he has been in charge and Tierney is also the second referee to dish out most yellow cards this season.
Arteta’s boys have shown what they are capable of what this season holds even though they had a bit of a tough time when they lost three games on the bounce but their run of games to tonight’s encounter has been fantastic with four wins over Chelsea, Manchester United, West Ham, and Leeds United
Antonio Conte’s men’s performances have not been top-notch, although they showed glimpses of what they can do on their good day. Their last four games have not been much of class, Spurs have only managed to pick up a maximum point against Leicester, lost against Brighton, and drew against Brentford and Liverpool.
Despite Tottenham’s inconsistency, Heung-Min Son has been on a good run of form, scoring three goals in his last two with the last one coming against Liverpool. Meanwhile, Harry Kane has not shown his best this season but his threats and attributes can not be underestimated.
Eddie Nketiah and Mohamed Elneny are the two players to look out for in this game, the former has rewarded Arteta’s trust in him with four goals in four games for the Gunners while the latter has stepped into the injured Thomas Partey’s shoes with some brilliant display in recent times.
Both managers will look to play their best game tonight even though Mikel Arteta’s side looks like the one to win this one but we can’t undermine the influence of Antonio Conte
