Mauricio Pochettino will hope to stamp his mark on another derby when Tottenham host Arsenal for the second north London derby of the season.
Spurs have a poor record against the Gunners and have not won in their last four meetings with their bitter rivals. They had to hang on for a point at the Emirates Stadium earlier this season.
Pochettino will still fancy his side’s chances as he has a proven record of masterminding unlikely victories in big derbies. He steered Espanyol to their first victory over Barcelona at the Camp Nou in 27 years in the El Derbi Barcelones.
The Argentine will be aware that Arsenal are slight favourites, even in Spurs’ own backyard, but he will look to upset the odds again.
His team is in fine form having won four of their last six games, which leaves them just two points below the Champions League places. A win against Arsenal will be worth more than just a bragging rights as Spurs would overtake the Gunners into fifth place and gain an advantage in the top-four race.
Arsenal are looking to extend their derby dominance after they completed a league double over Spurs last season, in addition to knocking their neighbours out of the FA Cup.
A win would be a big boost for the Gunners as they would open up a five-point gap ahead of Spurs. Per Mertesacker is drawing confidence from their dominance the last time they visited White Hart Lane, when they won 0-1 thanks to Tomas Rosicky’s stunning volley in the opening minute.
Spurs team news
- Tottenham have a clean bill of health.
- Nabil Bentaleb is back from Africa Cup of Nations duty and, if fatigue isn’t too much of an issue, he will be straight back in the Spurs team.
Arsenal team news
- Alexis Sanchez has been ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury.
- Danny Welbeck is available after recovering from a thigh injury.
- Mikel Arteta (ankle), Abou Diaby (calf), Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mathieu Debuchy (dislocated shoulder) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (groin) are all sidelined.
Spurs vs Arsenal prediction
Pochettino may retain the side that defeated West Brom 0-3 because it had a lot of energy, which will be useful to cope with Arsenal. That would mean Harry Kane leading the high pressing, while Mousa Dembele could be flanked by Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela as the three attacking midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Arsene Wenger may adopt a similar formation, with Francis Coquelin sitting alongside Aaron Ramsey to protect the defence from Spurs’ attacking midfielders, who tend to float around in the final-third.
Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott may continue flanking Santi Cazorla, while Oliver Giroud leads the attacks as the lone centre forward.
The Gunners should continue with the cautious attacking approach they have recently been using since that has rewarded them with five straight wins in all competitions, including four clean sheets.
Spurs have a conundrum because Pochettino usually details his side to adopt a high pressing game with their defenders holding a high line. They ditched that for a compact defensive shape in the reverse fixture and it worked as they nicked a point at Arsenal.
If they keep their high pressing game, which they probably will considering the recent success, then Jan Vertonghen and Federico Fazio will need a very good game. Full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker will also have to be sensible with their offensive movements because Arsenal eviscerated an Aston Villa side that employed a high defensive line last week.
