North London derby preview: team news, potential Gunners lineup, Mourinho's nickname for Arteta & more

⚕️ Team news

🔴 Arsenal

(via Arsenal FC)

• Nico Pepe misses the game through suspension.
• David Luiz and Thomas Partey face fitness tests before the clash.
• Martinelli has not fully recovered yet and won't feature on Sunday.
• Ozil and Sokratis are not registered for the competition.

🐓 Tottenham

(via The Guardian)

• Reguilon, Vinícius, Lloris, Alderweireld are in doubt for the derby.
• Harry Kane is expected to return after missing the Europa League clash vs LASK through injury.

🔮 Predicted Arsenal lineup

• We don't think Arteta will throw Partey in from the start, even if he recovers by Sunday.
• Not many fans would like to see Willian start but the Brazilian appears to be the manager's favourite—so we expect Mikel will give him a nod again.
• We believe Arteta will opt for a defensive back-three shape and will look to catch Spurs on the counter.
• Leno; Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney; Bellerin, Ceballos, Xhaka, Saka; Willian, Lacazette, Aubameyang

🧮 Stats & trivia

(via BBC, Tribuna)

• The last time the brand new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hosted the north London derby with fans in attendance, Arsenal Ladies beat Spurs Women 2-0. 38,000 people were watching the Gunners' triumph that night.
• Mikel Arteta won 5 North London derbies as a player (2 draws, 2 losses).
• The Gunners are without a win at Tottenham's home ground since March 2014.
• Spurs are unbeaten in 9 league games in a row, the longest run in the Premier League this season.
• Mikel Arteta and Jose Mourinho know each other since the current Gunners boss was a youth prospect at Barcelona—the Portuguese worked there as a coach.
• But when Arteta became assistant manager at Man City, Mourinho started jokingly calling him "Mister", Jose revealed back in July.
• Jose Mourinho has never lost a home game against Arsenal.

📜 Form (Premier League)

🔴 Arsenal: LLWLDL

🐓 Tottenham: DWWWWD

💬 Managers' quotes

🔴 Mikel Arteta

(via Sky Sports)

"They are in good form at the moment, they have been getting really good results and I see a team that is convinced of what they are doing. But we are going to go there to try and win the game."

🐓 Jose Mourinho

(via The Guardian)

"It [the derby] means more when we are not in the position we are now. Because now we are in such a good position it is a little bit different.

"Because we want the points we are not just like: ‘We want to beat Arsenal because to beat Arsenal is the only good thing we can give to our fans.’"

BET ON THE GAME

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