The North London Derby is one of the biggest in the world. Both Arsenal and Tottenham have a huge tradition, and their rivalry is one of the longest and fiercest in the entire British football. We often saw some incredible matches even when these two sides weren’t in the top of English football, so just imagine what can we expect now. Both Emery and Pochettino are aiming a win, which guarantees a spectacle at Emirates.
Match Preview
Arsenal lost against Liverpool in the previous round. The Reds were much better, and took that one with 3-1, revealing several big issues in the Gunners’ game. Among them is, as usual, a poor defensive effort of some players, in particular, David Luiz when talking about this match. However, Arsenal is very convincing when playing at home. They have just one loss at Emirates since mid-December 2018, when they lost, against guess who – Tottenham. Emery’s team started the season with two wins over Newcastle on the road, 0-1, and Burnely at home 2-1. It seems that once again, the attacking part of the crew is much better than the back line and that they are going to have many problems to cover this issue. Of course, the chemistry between Luiz and the rest of the squad isn’t created, and Kiernay Tierney still isn’t ready to play, which leaves some room for improvement.
As for the Spurs, after managing to hold out for a draw against Man City on the road, 2-2, they completely disappointed against Newcastle at home. Pochettino’s team lost with 0-1, despite having 80% of the ball possession. It was one of those days when everything went wrong. The game against the Magpies was the first one for the Spurs after four straight in which we saw both teams to score. We all know how they play on the road, relying upon quick counter-attacks and moments of inspiration of their fantastic midfielders and Harry Kane up front. They will have the edge when looking at that aspect of the game, but we need to say that only once in the previous 10 games, Tottenham managed to keep a clean sheet. It is a worrying thing before the clash with a team with Arsenal’s attacking potential.
Head to Head
So far we’ve seen 198 matches between these two rivals, and Arsenal has a better H2H record. The Gunners won 82 times, while on the other side, Spurs have 64 wins. Exactly 52 matches have ended without a winner. During the previous season, these clubs played three times, and they have a neutral record. Arsenal won at Emirates 4-2, while Tottenham eliminated the Gunners at the same stadium in the English Football League Cup, 0-2. In the reversed leg of the Premiership battles, the clash ended with 1-1.
Prediction
We would give a slight advantage to Tottenham in this match. From our point of view, it seems that Spurs look better at the moment, and the recent loss against Newcastle was just an unlucky turn of events. Meanwhile, Arsenal will have troubles if Tottenham finds its rhythm especially if Harry Kane gets hot early on. Because of that, Spurs’ win here is our first suggestion, with odds set at 1.90. For the second recommendation, we have over 2.5 goals. It is written above that both sides have disbalance in their squads when comparing the attacking and defensive parts of the lineup. So three or more goals should be seen here. Odds on that are 0.61. Also, don’t forget to play BetXChange Fantasy League. You can get some nice rewards here besides betting. To be precise you could win R100,000.
