Gooners everywhere are pretty serious about hating Tottenham Hotspur; and vice versa. So every edition of the North London Derby is always a very spirited one. This one will be injury-riddled as well, with Arsenal now having three new concerns in Gabriel Jesus, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber.
In addition to the Gunners contingent of long-term injury concerns.
North London Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Jan. 15, 2025, at 8pm UK at Emirates Stadium
Team News: Tottenham Arsenal
Starting XI Prediction: Arsenal Tottenham
Google Result Probability: Arsenal 70% Draw 17% Tottenham 13%
PL Position, Form Guide: Arsenal 2nd, 40 pts DWWWD Tottenham 12th, 23 pts WLLDL
Speaking of long-term injury concerns, Spurs have plenty of those, and we’ll cover them in the next post.
Gunners Team News
Let’s start with Gabriel Jesus though, as his situation is a very serious one. The Brazilian forward had to be stretchered off in Arsenal’s FA Cup loss to Manchester United on the weekend. Jesus suffered a knee injury, and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was blunt:
“He had to come off on a stretcher with a lot of pain. Touching his knee, it’s not looking good.”
We’re awaiting the reveal of the scan results, but there are reports claiming it’s a torn ACL. It sounds like he’s done for the season, but we’ll await confirmation.
Turning to Calafiori, he also has a knee injury with Arteta stating yesterday: “Riccardo is out injured, so he is not in the 20-man squad at all.”
So he is a doubt, at least, for the North London Derby. Also, Jurrien Timber is also a doubt, due to a tight hamstring.
Finally, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri remain out as long-standing walking wounded.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.