Elite club football is returning to all Europe in style – with the North London derby. Arsenal and Tottenham will open the ninth round of the Premier League at 1:30 p.m. this Saturday with a match that has not had such weight in results in the last few years. Arsenal is the leader, Tottenham has a point less, same as Manchester City, and both of them will have a great motive to emphasize their candidacy for the title with a triumph.
After a fantastic start to the season in the Premiership, this Saturday Arsenal is facing a big challenge at their stadium, as city rivals Tottenham is visiting. Mikel Arteta’s side holds the top spot in the table and has won all their games except the one against Manchester United, but they are yet to prove their quality in the upcoming fixtures. The first such challenge is the north London derby, in which the home fans will be hoping that Gabriel Jesus, the Brazilian signing from Manchester City, will shine, a player who has been really impressive this summer.
Due to the importance of the game, Spurs coach Antonio Conte remained tight-lipped when it came to personnel issues. English journalists reminded the Italian that Tottenham had more absent players than Arsenal during the international break.
And Tottenham, who look respectable under coach Antonio Conte, in his second season on the Spurs bench, had a great start to the season. Spurs are at the very top of the table, right next to Arsenal and Manchester City, and with this match, they have a chance to beat their angry rival, who they lost to the last two times at the same stadium. Tottenham now has two more great players in its ranks, the Brazilian Richarlison who arrived in the summer from Everton, as well as our own Ivan Perišić who decided to test his skills in the English Championship. Add to that Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son as one of the best-attacking duos in the world and it becomes clear that this team really has a lot of potential going forward.
Until the international break, Arsenal had won six championships, more than any other team in the Premier League, and the only defeat they suffered recently was against Manchester United.
I don’t remember the last time I watched boring football in a match between these two teams. We can certainly expect goals, because the 0-0 result was last seen in February 2009. In the last few seasons, somehow it happened that Tottenham won more often, but mostly when they were playing at the home field. When it comes to the Emirates, the visitors have just one win in the past 10 years. I believe the show is guaranteed.
In any case, a fierce derby between two teams that don’t really like each other awaits us at the Emirates Stadium, in which tactical decisions and concentration will decide the final winner…
