Derby day for leader Arsenal, who host their best enemy, Tottenham (8th), at the Emirates (kick-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.). Held in check at Sunderland before the break (2-2), the Gunners want to restart the machine and above all take advantage of Manchester City’s defeat at Newcastle yesterday to take 6 points ahead of Chelsea, new 2nd in the Premier League. Be careful, however, with Spurs, authors of an almost perfect away record in the league (4 wins and 1 draw) and eager to overthrow their host for this 198th North London Derby.
Only one change in Mikel Arteta’s XI: the Spanish technician must deal with the injury of Gabriel, injured a few days ago during Brazil-Senegal and absent for several weeks. Piero Hincapié will be responsible for forming the hinge alongside William Saliba. For the rest, we continue with the same players lined up at Sunderland 15 days ago. Thomas Frank has chosen to change his usual set-up to present what should be a 3 central defense, made up of Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven. In front of them, we should see Mohammed Kudus and Wilson Odobert evolving a notch higher than João Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur, but let’s see what the Danish coach has in store to block the Gunners’ attempts.
The official compositions:
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Raya – Timber, Saliba, Hincapié, Calafiori – Zubimendi, Rice – Saka (cap.), Eze, Trossard – Merino.
Tottenham (5-2-2-1): Vicario – Spence, Romero (cap.), Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie – Palhinha, Bentancur – Kudus, Odobert – Richarlison.
