Arsenal go into Sunday’s North London Derby with their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread, but they will be encouraged by the team news. The North London club were only able to pull off a draw against Leicester City and are now eight points behind fifth-placed Manchester United.
There are not many games left in the season, so getting a win against Spurs is extremely crucial. Tottenham go into the game on the back of a disappointing draw at Bournemouth.
But maybe they will be fired up by Jose Mourinho clapping back at one of the Arsenal’s official club social media accounts earlier this week.
The Gunners announced the team news ahead of the game and there were some positive updates on the injury front. The biggest positive is that Bernd Leno is progressing well after suffering an injury at Brighton a couple of weeks back.
The other long-term injuries in defense are centre backs Calum Chambers and Pablo Mari. Having a player like Lucas Torreira back in contention will surely be a positive for manager Mikel Arteta. But he might not be able to field the club’s highest paid player, Mesut Ozil, who is being assessed ahead of the derby.
The German does have a history of back issues, so it is better to slowly ease him back into the team. In other big news, Eddie Nketiah won’t be available for the derby owing to the three-match ban after receiving a red card against Leicester. Having Nketiah banned will certainly be a blow for the club as the youngster has proven to be an impressive alternative to Alexandre Lacazette.
The other notable absentee in attack is Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli who has suffered a season-ending injury. But Arteta will have enough faith in his attack to pull off an important win against Jose Mourinho’s men. We will most probably see a continuation of the 3-4-3 formation that has become the go-to for Arteta in the last few games.
Scoring a victory is extremely important for the season as there is still an outside chance for Arsenal to qualify for next season’s Champions League. But this is not going to be an easy game as Spurs have their own European qualification aims to worry about.
Arteta will be happy that Emiliano Martinez has been able to step up and look after the goal in the absence of Bernd Leno. There is enough firepower in this Arsenal squad to get a win and that is what the manager and fans will be hoping for.
North London Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Sat July 11, 8pm BST, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Tottenham Starting XI prediction: go to this link
Arsenal Starting XI prediction: go to this link
Records, Position: Arsenal FC 12-14-8, 50 pts, 8th Tottenham 13-10-11, 49 pts, 9th
Odds: Tottenham +160 Draw +240 Arsenal +170