Premier League preview: Arsenal meet Tottenham in Saturday Night Football
Arsenal face Tottenham, live on Sky Sports 1HD
Arsenal welcome north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to Emirates Stadium for Saturday Night Football and will hope to extend their home dominance over their local rivals.
Spurs have won just twice at Arsenal in the league in almost 30 years and head into the game trailing Arsene Wenger’s side by two points and five places in the early table.
Saturday’s hosts are one of only two unbeaten teams in the Premier League after five games, but have drawn three of those, including a 2-2 draw with champions Manchester City in their previous home fixture.
The Gunners’ form away from the league, though, has not been as steady, with defeats by Borussia Dortmund and Southampton in the UEFA Champions League and Capital One Cup, respectively.
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However, Arsenal have won the last four at home against Spurs in all competitions and two of those victories have been 5-2 scorelines.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino has overseen an inconsistent start to his reign as Spurs boss after a four-match winning streak was followed by four games without a win before Nottingham Forest were beaten 3-1 in the Capital One Cup in midweek.
Spurs suffered a surprise 1-0 home defeat by West Brom last weekend and their start to the season is their worst since Juande Ramos was in charge at the advent of the 2008/09 campaign.
Pochettino’s side are unbeaten on their travels, though, in four games in all competitions, after posting wins at AEL Limassol and West Ham, and picking up draws at Sunderland and Partizan Belgrade.
Team news
Arsenal expect to have midfielder Mathieu Flamini back from a dead leg for the derby against Tottenham.
Defenders Kieran Gibbs and Per Mertesacker should also be available after being kept on the bench for what was a much-changed squad in the midweek Capital One Cup defeat to Southampton.
Spain defender Nacho Monreal (back) remains out, as is striker Yaya Sanogo (hamstring). Winger Theo Walcott (knee) continues his recovery along with midfielder Serge Gnabry (knee), but full-back Mathieu Debuchy (ankle) and France forward Olivier Giroud (fractured foot) are long-term absentees.
Opta Facts:
Arsenal last failed to score at home to Spurs in the Premier League in November 1998. Since then the Gunners have scored 38 times in 15 games.
Emmanuel Adebayor has scored more goals than any other player in north London derby history (8 for Arsenal and 2 for Spurs).
If there are four goals in this game then it will become the outright highest scoring fixture in Premier League history (currently 126 goals).
Pochettino has no fresh injury concerns ahead of his first north London derby against Arsenal.
The Tottenham head coach made 11 changes for Wednesday's Capital One Cup win over Nottingham Forest and is expected to make wholesale alterations for the trip to Emirates Stadium.
Ex-Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli are all likely to be recalled to the Spurs attacking line, with Kyle Walker the only noticeable absentee from Pochettino's squad following abdominal surgery.
Paul Merson’s prediction:
I don’t see anything but an easy Arsenal win. I just don’t think Tottenham are very good. Seriously, they got beaten at home by West Brom last week and, when Sky Sports showed the highlights, the best Spurs chance was a pass going through and Emmanuel Adebayor getting tackled. They didn’t have any good shots and I’m not just saying it, I honestly think this will be an easy win for Arsenal. Spurs look very soft and haven’t got anyone who will go there and kick Arsenal off the park. If the game is “you-pass-we-pass” I don’t see how they can stay with Arsenal. Playing Mesut Ozil behind Danny Welbeck worked a treat at Villa and I expect more of the same. I’ll say 3-0 to Arsenal – and that’s being kind!
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-2
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