Arsenal have finished behind Spurs in the Premier League table in each of the last two seasons and although they currently trail their local rivals once again, Unai Emery’s players will smell blood when they rock up to Wembley on Saturday.
The two teams find themselves in contrasting form ahead of this weekend’s mammoth top-four clash.
Spurs slumped to a second successive Premier League defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, while Arsenal made it three wins from their last three with a confident thrashing of Bournemouth at the Emirates.
At one stage, Arsenal looked the front-runners for the top-six wooden spoon, however, a fourth straight win would lift them to within a point of Spurs in third and create a little breathing space between themselves and the chasing pack of Manchester United and Chelsea.
With Liverpool and Manchester City maintaining their places in the top two, Spurs veering dramatically from title contenders to top-four hopefuls, Manchester United continuing their eye-catching ascent under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Chelsea resembling more of a soap opera than a football club of late, Arsenal’s improvement has largely flown under the radar.
There are still question marks over their defence as demonstrated by Lys Mousset’s goal the other night after Matteo Guendouzi had been tackled inside his own penalty area, but in the attacking end of the pitch, they appear to be clicking into gear rather nicely. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have been prolific all season but beyond them, Arsenal have lacked goals and invention from midfield for much of the campaign. The twin performance of Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan against Bournemouth, though, suggested that may start to change.
SRC: Metro Sport UK
