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This Sunday afternoon (7:30 PM, IST), the Emirates Stadium will host the North London Derby. Tottenham Hotspurs who are in a brilliant run of form, winning all 6 of their last 6 games in all competitions will go up against a rejuvenated Arsenal side under Unai Emery. At this moment, both teams are separated by only three points in the table.
Tottenham is currently 3rd with 30 points and Arsenal are 5th with 27 points. It is expected to be a goal fest at the Emirates. The ball has found the back of the net a total of 34 times in Premier League history, which is more than any other fixture. Another thing at the back of Emery's mind would be Arsenal's dismal performances against Spurs as of late.
In the last eight meetings, Arsenal has won only once against Spurs in the Premier League. (D4, L3).But as a fact of the matter, that one win came last year at the Emirates Stadium. Spurs have other things to worry about, the hostile crowd being the least of it.
In their last 25 Premier League matches, Arsenal has lost only once to Spurs at home, back in 2010. Spurs don't seem to get a clean sheet against Arsenal at the Emirates. They have conceded in the last 22 games at the Emirates, their last clean sheet coming back in 1998.
With a lot of interesting facts, there are interesting things to watch out for on Sunday. Here are 5 factors which could be the decider in the game.
#5 Will Emery start with a three-man defense?
In their last Premier League game, Arsenal started with a three-man defense with Sokratis in the middle. Mustafi and Rob Holding took their positions on either side of the Greek. Arsenal has played the majority of their games with a four-man defense.
In the four-man defense, Bellerin and Monreal used to take up the role of full-backs. When Emery plays a three-man defense, he could move Bellerin up the pitch where he has been effective, bagging four assists. Spurs are a team who attack a lot through the middle. Eriksen and Kane attack a lot through the middle areas.
Stats back this up. Spurs are very balanced when it comes to passage of play. Their build-up play is distributed with an even number of touches in all directions, almost 30% in left, right, and middle. In comparison to other teams who attack a lot through the wings, Spurs' players build up in the middle. They don't have the pace that threatens the wings which keep them attacking centralized.
On the other hand, 76% of Arsenal attacks are based on the wings. If a three-man defense is played, Bellerin could worry less about defensive duties and use his blistering speed in the final third. A three-man defense could do no harm to Arsenal, they have more attacking prowess and defensive solidity in the middle.
Let us wait and watch what happens.
#4 Concentration levels after the deadlock get broken
Arsenal's strength is Tottenham's weakness. On one hand, there is a rejuvenated Arsenal team who show great character and come back from losing positions. They came back to win from one goal down against West Ham and Leicester City. Against Liverpool, Lacazette struck in the 82nd minute to equalize.
Against Wolves, Mkhitaryan scored in the 86th minute to equalize. Arsenal always keeps their calm after falling behind. They struck twice in the second half against Crystal Palace after conceding at the brink of halftime.
Tottenham, on the other hand, fails to keep their cool while leading. They were leading until the 80-minute mark against Inter and conceding twice in quick succession to lose. They had the lead against Watford earlier this season and conceded twice in space of 7 minutes to lose.
They led against PSV until Luuk De Jong canceled the lead with an 87th-minute goal. Also against Wolves, they nearly blew their lead from three goals up with two panic penalties conceded.
A North London Derby is a pressure match and concentration levels will influence the result a lot. Arsenal has the upper hand in that area without a doubt. Will Spurs cope with the pressure?
#3 Will Juan Foyth start again, or should he?
Juan Foyth, the young Argentine defender impressed against Chelsea. He stood up to the expectations that the fans had on him and he proved his mettle to Pochettino. However, Jan Vertonghen is now completely fit and he started against Inter in the Champions League game.
In terms of experience, Vertonghen has a clear edge but depending on the situation even Foyth has a chance to start. If a three-man defense is in Pochettino's mind with Davinson Sanchez and Alderweireld starting, then Vertonghen seems a better option. The other two back up his slow reactions while he would provide the strength factor.
If Pochettino wants to stick with Aurier and Ben Davies as full-backs then Foyth is not bad. He is strong for his age and he is good with tackling and has speed which becomes a necessity during counter attacks.
A four-man defense with two fullbacks seems a better option. Arsenal has great fullbacks in their possession who could do as much damage as wide midfielders. The absence of fullbacks in Tottenham's starting level increases chances of stretching the three-man defense during counters. Pochettino also likes to rotate his starting 11 and keep players fresh, so maybe Foyth could start again.
#2 Who will be the players in the double pivot?
Unai Emery loves the double pivot. Some name double pivot as the clear reason for the "boring" football that the team plays. Certainly, Arsenal has not been boring as such this season. A double pivot is simply the operation of two defensive midfielders.
The key roles of a player in a double pivot are to distribute intelligently and hold the lines still while the other is free to move forward and support the attacks. So, one player can stay in the hole while the other is free to press the attacking player.
The advantages of the double pivot are less risk against counter-attack, no risk in wandering out of position, giving one of the players freedom to go forward and also making up for the defensive incapabilities of the more creative midfielder.
So, Arsenal has three good defensive midfielders in their arsenal, funny right? Well, it isn't funny for oppositions. Torreira and Xhaka are great players in a double pivot. Torreira is a great distributor of passes and is good at dictating the pace of the game and holding possession.
Xhaka is a good player defensively but when given freedom to attack he is another type of a threat. He is a great player in terms of shooting from distance which he always offers when in the final third.
The other player at Arsenal's possession is Matteo Guendouzi. Unlike Xhaka, Guendouzi is not a proven sniper from long range. But he is a player who could run like mad for 90 minutes. He has a great work rate and he is good at recovering the ball, winning duels and is a strong passer.
So, who out of the three? Torreira seems an automatic choice. He is the best defensive player among the three, in terms of tackling and interception. He is the true pivot, so he is a must. Among Guendouzi and Xhaka, the major factor would be the number of yellow cards that Xhaka has gathered.
One more card and he is suspended for the next game. It depends on which fixture Emery considers more important.
Guendouzi wouldn't be a bad choice given his work ethic and performance against Manchester City on matchday 1. The only thing missing would be Xhaka's long shots and direct-freekicks.
Maybe, Xhaka should be saved for the game against United who like to park the bus. His long shots would be missed more in that game than in this. Up to Emery, as always.
#1 Pierre Emerick Aubameyang's goals galore
Aubameyang is a proven goalscorer and he is lighting the Premier League up. He is tied with Sergio Aguero for most number of goals with 8. He is the player with the most efficient goals per minute ratio. He edges Aguero out with 118 minutes per goal, the Manchester City man needing 121 minutes per goal.
Primarily a goal-scorer, Aubameyang has a good amount of pace to reach the through balls first and also hit hard on the counter. He is capable of cutting inside and shooting from the edge of the box and also fairly from long range. Importantly, he hardly fluffs a finish which Kane is prone to, which makes Aubameyang a better poacher.
Arsenal's star striker would be hoping to score in the derby and he is certainly no stranger to derbies and scoring in them. He has scored against rivals Schalke while playing for Dortmund. He will surely be on the lookout for goals and has to beat the Spurs defense on the counter, which he could.
This could be the game when Aubameyang gets his recognition.
