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Arsenal looking to keep lead at top
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Gunners perfect record in derbies this season
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Kane with a record to protect and 5/1 for first goal
After a crucial North London Derby defined the end of the 2021-22 season for both Tottenham and Arsenal, the latest edition of the game comes against a very different backdrop.
In Spurs' case, little has changed. They are still on the edge of Champions League qualification, as they were in May, while questions remain over the squad's reliance on attacking talents Harry Kane and Son Heung-min and the need for reinforcements.
Arsenal, however, have gone from top four battlers to title contenders. While the two teams were within touching distance at the end of last season, this time the Gunners sit 11 points clear of their neighbours with a game in hand.
Chance for a double
Regardless of the gap between Arsenal and Spurs, league meetings between the two rivals are often close-run things. Mikel Arteta's team won the first meeting back in October, with the help of a red card for Emerson Royal, but nine years have passed since the last time the Gunners did a league double over their old enemy.
On that occasion, both games were settled by a single goal. Arsenal had lost their grip on top spot when Tomáš Rosicky settled the tie at White Hart Lane, but they were still in the title race before eventually slipping to fourth.
The last six meetings have brought three wins apiece, with Spurs' 3-0 win over a 10-man Arsenal in May representing the largest margin of victory. You have to go back more than a decade for the last time Arsenal won by such a margin, with successive 5-2 wins in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
Lords of London
Arsenal's record in London derbies this season is unblemished. The Boxing Day victory at home to West Ham was a sixth win from six against opponents from the capital, while the three away games - at Crystal Palace, Brentford and Chelsea - brought wins to nil.
Spurs' defeat at the Emirates Stadium is their only defeat to another London side, though they were held to draws at Chelsea, West Ham and Brentford. Last time out, though, four second-half goals handed them victory away to Crystal Palace, leaving Fulham as their only remaining London away game.
The trip to Selhurst Park saw Spurs open the scoring in a game for the first time in eight. However, while they have been slow starters this term, no team in the league has more second-half goals than Antonio Conte's squad, with 73% of their overall tally coming in the second period of games.
England stars do battle
When looking at these two teams, it is hard to see past Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka, both in isolation and in North London derbies specifically. Kane is the top scorer in the history of the fixture, while Saka's record against London teams this season and last is second to none.
Since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Saka has four goals and seven assists in all-London clashes. He got the league leaders back on terms in the recent West Ham win, while last season's win against Spurs saw him end the game with a goal and an assist.
Kane's 14 North London Derby goals include seven penalties, and no player has scored more from the spot against one opponent in the Premier League.
He has yet to miss from the spot against Arsenal, with Spurs putting away 12 of their 13 league penalties against their rivals, and if he nets from the spot at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium he would be following Rafael van der Vaart in scoring home and away derby penalties in the same season.
Tottenham v Arsenal prediction
With Saka in apparent discomfort when he left the field in Monday's FA Cup win at Oxford, some Arsenal fans may have been worried. However, it appears the youngster should be fine for the big one on Sunday, and Arteta will hope to see him at his best.
It can be a thankless task anticipating the result of a derby, and this derby in particular. With that in mind, we are tempted by a bet builder focusing on the individuals who tend to thrive in the fixture.
There have been more than 2.5 goals scored in six of the last seven meetings, suggesting this may bring more goalmouth action than other, tenser clashes between rivals. If you fancy a bet builder, we have our eye on more than 2.5 goals, Kane to score and Saka to score or assist, which is available at a touch over 6.353/10.
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