In previous years, the North London derby has been a fixture that means everything to those whom it concerns, but north of the M25 and south of the river Thames, not so much. However, this season’s North London derby could be the most important yet.
There is no doubt that in the last few years our arch enemies, Spurs have ascended to a power under Pochettino that they have not reached in countless years passed. As such, the job for Arsene Wenger’s men has become drastically more complicated.
Regardless, Arsenal have made a strong start to the season, in fact, the Gunners haven’t lost a game since they faced Liverpool in the season opener. This form has come as no surprise, the signing of Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez in the summer filled in the blanks of Arsene Wenger’s big and complicated puzzle. Since arriving at the Emirates, Xhaka in particular has made a huge impact. His passion and sense of awareness on the pitch has added a completely new dimension to an Arsenal side that finished second in the Premier League last season. While the signing of Lucas Perez has given us the alternative to Olivier Giroud that sometimes we have lacked in the past. Mustafi perhaps has had the biggest impact of all. Alongside Koscielny, Bellerin and Monreal, Mustafi has been an integral part of a defence, which arguably, has been the best in the Premier League thus far.
However, some of the stand out performers have come in perhaps unexpected places so far this season. Theo Walcott, whom to some was a surprise selection by Arsene Wenger at the beginning of the season, is the Gunners’ top goalscorer at this stage, tied on eight goals with Alexis Sanchez. While Alexis is not a surprise goalscorer, he has scored his goals from a completely different position. The Chilean has been played in a ‘number 9’ position so far this season. Which was a questionable decision by Wenger to say the least, but the boss has proved once again why he has been, ‘the boss’ for the last twenty years. Alexis has scored eight goals already this season and he looks more dangerous than ever.
This new style of play by Arsenal is something that I feel can trouble Spurs. In the past Arsenal have tended to play with an out-and-out striker, a ‘number 9’ if you will. This new front three that Wenger has been playing with so far this campaign will hold a completely new challenge for the Spurs back line. It is a style very similar to Barcelona in a sense, where the three attacking players can all interchange and confuse defenders with their versatility. Sanchez himself will also provide a unique challenge for Tottenham’s central defenders, as he is not your typical striker, he will drop off in to midfield to collect the ball and use Mesut Ozil to help him work the ball up the field.
On the subject of Mesut Ozil, the German has proven so far this season why he should be regarded as one of the world’s very best. Yet again he has provided assist after assist for his colleagues, while also scoring seven goals of his own in all competitions. There is absolutely no doubt that Ozil will be an incredibly important player for Arsenal come Sunday and the North London Derby, and with the form he’s in, he could prove unstoppable.
The game could be decided by a solid defensive display from the Gunners. Something which we have lacked on previous occasions. There is no doubt in my mind that the defence that Arsene Wenger has put together this season, with the signing of Shkodran Mustafi, is the strongest defence that Arsenal has fielded in a number of years. The ability to produce a mistake free defensive performance is something that you see from teams that win trophies, and when I watch this new Arsenal back four, I see the potential for a successful season. In terms of Sunday’s game, the combination of some good recent defensive performances from Arsenal, and a lack of form since the beginning of the Euro’s shown by Harry Kane, I think Spurs may struggle to find a way past the Gunners at the Emirates.
In terms of team selection for the game. I think that Wenger will stick with Alexis Sanchez as his lone striker as I believe that he provides something different, that defences struggle to adapt to. He also has the ability to drop in to positions that will make him incredibly difficult to mark and therefore make himself more space and opportunities. I like the idea of Olivier Giroud being an option from the bench in this kind of game. We saw in the game against Sunderland, the kind of devastating impact the Frenchman can have when coming from the bench. Scoring with his first two touches. I think the reason for this comes back to how the defence would have had to adapt to defend against Sanchez. The introduction of Giroud would then have caused another shake up, which clearly the Sunderland defence could not deal with. The return of Granit Xhaka could prove key come Sunday. The passion that the Switzerland captain shows on the pitch is something that I feel Wenger will look to draw upon when he selects his team to take on Spurs. In other news, I think Arsenal will line up with Iwobi and Walcott as our two wide players, an unchanged back four and of course our ever reliable Petr Cech between the sticks.
