"Has to be in the team" - Tim Sherwood makes bold claims while picking Arsenal and Tottenham combined XI 

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tim Sherwood struggled to name one Spurs player who would break into Arsenal's starting XI.

Both teams have made strong starts to the season, with Arsenal lingering in fifth in the Premier League standings with 10 points, while Tottenham are second with the same number of points.

While the rivals have won three games and drawn one each, Spurs have looked more impressive under new manager Ange Postecoglou. They have played a brilliant, attacking brand of football, with James Maddison excelling to fill the void of Harry Kane's departure.

With just a week away from the North London derby, Tim Sherwood made an appearance on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast. He was asked how many Spurs players would get into the current Arsenal team, to which he replied (via The Boot Room):

“At the moment there’s not one standing out to me who gets into the team. Vicario I don’t know because I don’t know enough about him, he started off very well. I was thinking Son, who do you leave out? Saka? Martinelli? Odegaard has to be in the team, he goes in where Maddison would go in."

He added:

"We’ve seen Maddison have these spells at Leicester. He has better players around him now, so hopefully he can continue playing on a regular basis like he is, and then he would have a chance, but I’m not sure where I’d fit him in at this moment because Odegaard has to be in before him."

Maddison has had a stellar start to the season, scoring two goals and providing two assists in five appearances, winning the Premier League's Player of the Month award for August.

However, it is fair to say the 26-year-old will need to display this consistency for a while longer to be compared to Martin Odegaard. The Arsenal skipper had a phenomenal 2022-23 campaign, scoring 15 goals and providing eight assists in 45 appearances.

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Who do Arsenal play next?

Arsenal may currently be fifth in the standings with 10 points, however, they are still two points behind leaders Manchester City and will be wary of letting the gap get too big so early in the season.

The Gunners have defeated Nottingham Forest (2-1), Crystal Palace (1-0), and Manchester United (3-1), but have drawn against Fulham (2-2). They will be looking to continue their good form against Sean Dyche's Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday, September 17.

The Toffees are struggling in 18th with just one point this season. However, they do have a recent statistical advantage against Mikel Arteta and Co.

Everton have won four of their last five home league games against the Gunners, including the last three in a row.