There’s little to separate Arsenal and Tottenham in the early Premier League table and it could pay to back the two rivals to still be locked together come full-time in Sunday’s north London derby at the Emirates Stadium (14:00 KO).
Both sides are unbeaten after five games, winning four of those assignments with Spurs experiencing an immediate improvement under new boss Ange Postecoglou.
The Aussie faces his biggest test to date this weekend as he looks to end a run of three straight defeats for Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium and he’ll find the home team in a confident mood after a 4-0 midweek win over PSV Eindhoven on their return to the Champions League.
- Tottenham to win or draw double chance
- Over 3.5 goals
- Heung-min Son to score or register an assist
Spurs Can Put A Stop To Emirates Rot
The short trip across north London has largely been a painful experience for Tottenham, who have taken three points from their last 11 visits since they last won at Arsenal in 2010.
Improving on that record is unlikely to be easy with the Gunners having won three out of four at home in all competitions this season, while they were victorious in 14 of 19 in the top flight on their own patch last term.
And Spurs go into the 194th derby without the fixture’s all-time top goalscorer Harry Kane, who netted 14 times against Arsenal before departing for Bayern Munich in the summer.
But Tottenham have coped well in the first few weeks without Kane, scoring at least twice in all five of their games.
And while Arsenal had the distraction of their long-awaited comeback to the Champions League to think about on Wednesday, Spurs have had all week to plot how they can upset the Gunners.
It may be a little early to talk about Tottenham winning this game, but the value appears to lie with the visitors.
Arsenal make little appeal as odds-on favourites for victory, despite their recent record, and Spurs are worth chancing to remain unbeaten under Postecoglou.
SPURS TO WIN DRAW OR DOUBLE CHANCE
Attack The Best Form Of Defence
Whatever the outcome, it seems likely that this fixture will continue to produce net action with ten of the last 15 meetings at the Emirates featuring at least three goals.
With Gabriel Jesus back fit and firing, Arsenal’s attack looked sharp against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday as over 3.5 goals clicked for the third straight home match for Mikel Arteta’s side.
There have also been at least four goals in two of Tottenham’s three away games, and the Lilywhites are a far more positive team since Postecoglou took charge.
There’s no shortage of attacking quality on both sides with summer signing James Maddison having slotted in seamlessly to the Spurs ranks.
With confidence high among both sets of forwards, Tottenham and Arsenal should take a positive approach into this clash against two defences who have managed a combined four clean sheets in ten league games.
Son Thriving As Spurs’ Focal Point
Heung-min Son has been switched to lead the line following Kane’s departure and he has performed admirably in trying to fill the massive shoes left by Spurs’ all-time leading scorer.
The South Korea international has three goals this season, all coming in the same game against Burnley, but should have more having averaged over 2.5 shots per game.
He has yet to register an assist but his recent record against Arsenal suggests he can play some part in a Tottenham goal on Sunday.
Son has recorded eight goal involvements - four goals and four assists - in his last eight games against Arsenal in the Premier League and is a tempting odds-against chance to add to that tally.
HEUNG-MIN SON TO SCORE OR REGISTER ASSIST
