Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon, in arguably the biggest match of the Premier League season so far. The North London derby is without doubt the biggest game in both of these clubs calendars, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal (1-0-1) produced a stunning run of form at the end of last season to pip their north London neighbours to Champions League qualification by a single point, but have suffered a disappointing summer. Arsenal dare not lose this one.
After a undesirable home defeat to Aston Villa, the wrong result here would no doubt lead to meltdowns. Wins over Fulham and Fenerbahce helped improve the loss but, a perilously tough Champions League draw has set the Gunners up for a tricky campaign after a disappointing summer transfer window. However, the last two north London derbies at the Emirates have both ended 5-2 to Arsenal, and Wenger is expecting more goals this time around.
"The two teams go into the match with an offensive mind, with a desire to win," said Wenger. "Once you have scored first of course it opens the game up. We will again go into the game with that mind. "It is two good teams against each other, on top of that it is a derby and on top of that there is a lot of passion there, so there is always uncertainty around these games.
You want to focus on your football, the way you want to play and that is the best way of dealing with it." Tottenham Hotspur (2-0-0) have won both of their league games 1-0 this season, both from penalties by newcomer Roberto Soldado, and progressed to the Europa League group stage with an 8-0 aggregate win over Dinamo Tiblisi on Thursday.
Andre Villas-Boas' side have enjoyed an extremely active transfer window, breaking the club's transfer record three times and brought in a host of new young players as the biggest spenders in the Premier League. Even without last season's Premier League Player of the Season Gareth Bale - whose status is still unresolved as the transfer window nears its close - Villas-Boas believes that Tottenham are stronger this year. "Gareth was a player who was great to have last season, he had a great impact," said Villas-Boas. "Our idea is to be stronger than the year before.
If we conclude certain targets that we are looking for, we can be that team. If we conclude other targets, maybe we are not that team. "We have a very strong team all the same. If Bale leaves, it will give the team an opportunity to step up their game, step up the responsibility, and we have seen that in the past couple of games. I have told you that we will continue re-strengthening the squad so we are looking at different positions to make us stronger," he added. "In the next couple of days we will have further news and I think we will see further additions at Tottenham."
Arsenal have injury doubts over Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Aaron Ramsey (groin), while Lukas Podolski (hamstring), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee), Mikel Arteta (hip), Thomas Vermaelen (back) and Abou Diaby (knee) are out. Tottenham have doubts over the fitness of Aaron Lennon (ankle).
These teams have met seven teams over the last three seasons, with an average of over five goals scored in those matches. Spurs' 3-2 win at Arsenal in 2010 is their only win in 22 visits to Arsenal dating back to 1993. It is a game both sets of supporters expect their teams to win, which only adds to the intense atmosphere of games.
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