Who’ll win the North London Derby?
The highlight of the week in England following the international break is without a doubt the North London derby, with Arsenal making the short journey to Tottenham’s glamorous new stadium for a spicy PL showdown.
This will be the 65th meeting between these two teams in competition history with Arsenal having the better of this battle. The Gunners have won 24 of the 65 meetings whereas Tottenham have won 15.
Tough start to the Spurs season
It has not been a good start to the season for Ange Postecoglu, something he would have wanted to avoid following an underwhelming second half to the season last year. This can be viewed as the ideal match for them to kick on and get their season going and they will be grateful that new signing Dominic Solanke and key defender Micky Van de Ven are set to return from injury. There can be no better game to get the fans back on your side than a victory in the derby match and Tottenham will be looking to reverse a poor recent run, with one win in the last seven meetings. None of the last 22 PL matches Tottenham have played at home have ended in a stalemate, so that result would appear unlikely. Spurs have won fifteen of the last twenty two, not a bad record for a run that stretches all the way back to April 2023.
Arsenal worries
Arsenal will not be pleased by what has gone on in the recent international break, losing their captain, their key player, to injury. On a more positive note, manager Mikel Arteta has just signed a new three year contract with the club, so stability will be the order of the day for the coming years. This first match following that new contract will certainly test him as he has no fewer than six first team players unavailable. Declan Rice is also unavailable due to suspension following his rather ridiculous sending off prior to the break. However, it is precisely for this reason that top teams have big squads and it will be utilised in this match if Arsenal hope to maintain their recent good record against their closest and fiercest rivals. Arsenal will need to win matches such as this, in difficult circumstances, if they hope to be a serious challenger for the title, which they have not won for over two decades. Their away record is good, having not lost at all in 2024 and managing eight clean sheets on that run.
Final Thoughts
This is generally a high-scoring match and both teams to score is always a good pick, as this fixture has more instances than any other in PL history where that result has taken place, 43 in total. The visitors will be favourites to win the match and over 2.5 is also favoured. James Maddison is likely to be key for the home team, he assisted two goals in his first north London derby last season and he will be looking to make a point having missed out on playing for England in the recent international break. As for Arsenal, Bukayo Saka is the man in form of late and he scored in both derbies last season.
Fans of both clubs will be desperate to get one over on their nearest rivals as this match takes on added importance this weekend, with both teams not really able to tolerate defeat as they aim to go one step further than last year, be that league champions for the visitors or a top four finish for Tottenham.
Last updated: 12.09.24
