Tottenham Hotspur could cap off a miserable week for bitter rivals Arsenal if they get the better of the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. Mikel Arteta’s side suffered a 2-0 loss to Newcastle United in their Carabao Cup semifinal last Tuesday and were then knocked out of the FA Cup on Sunday by Man United on penalties.
The two Cup losses to Newcastle and Man United came at the Emirates, but Arsenal interestingly are the only side not to have lost a Premier League game on home soil this season. The Gunners also have the added incentive of potentially reducing Liverpool’s gap at the top of the table to four points following the latter’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest last night.
Arsenal are however besieged by injury problems, with Gabriel Jesus the latest entrant in the treatment room following a suspected ACL rupture in the FA Cup loss against Man United. With Bukayo Saka also a long-term absentee, veteran Raheem Sterling is expected to fill in on the wing. Sterling did a decent job of it on the weekend after coming off the bench for Jesus, and is line for a starting role against Spurs.
The Gunners are also sweating on the fitness of Italian left back Riccardo Calafiori. With Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu already out, this could mean a start for youngster Myles-Lewis Skelly or possibly even Kieran Tierney.
Spurs also have injury issues of their own, with the likes of Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Micky Van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur all out. German Timo Werner is also a doubt after picking up a hamstring injury in their hard fought 3-0 win over Tamworth in the FA Cup over the weekend.
But injuries often give other players an opportunity to shine, as was demonstrated by debutant Antonin Kinsky in Spurs’ stunning League Cup triumph over Liverpool last week. Given the high-profile nature of the North London derby, there will be plenty of soccer streams for this fixture– TNT are covering it in the UK, and an excellent performance can potentially see a player’s name etched in the club history books. Despite Fraser Forster being close to fitness, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou is expected to give young Czech goalkeeper Kinsky another go between the sticks against Arsenal.
Spurs have beaten Man City (twice), Villa, Man United and Liverpool, but yet bizarrely find themselves 12th in the standings going into this NLD. At this stage, they’re closer to the drop zone than the top of the table.
Another interesting little stat- Spurs have the best defence away from home in the league this season- they’ve conceded just 9 goals in 9 away games despite losing five of them!
Last five games (most recent first)
Tamworth 0-3 Spurs
Spurs 1-0 Liverpool
Spurs 1-2 Newcastle
Spurs 2-2 Wolves
Forest 1-0 Spurs
Arsenal 1-1 Man United (3-5 on pens)
Arsenal 0-2 Newcastle United
Brighton 1-1 Arsenal
Brentford 1-3 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-0 Ipswich Town