Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Emirates StadiumAttendance60,039.
Sunday 6 November 2016 13:43, UK
Arsenal will be hoping to maintain their strong home record against Tottenham in the season's first north London derby on Sunday.
The Gunners have lost just one of the last 26 meetings with Spurs at home in all competitions, winning 15 of those games.
Tottenham's only win at Arsenal in the last 23 years came in November 2010 when Younes Kaboul netted a late winner in a 3-2 victory.
Arsenal are currently in stunning form, winning 11 of their last 12 matches in all competitions while Tottenham are enduring a tough run of results.
Mauricio Pochettino's men have failed to win any of their last six matches in all competitions, but are only three points off top spot in the Premier League.
Despite the winless run, this is Tottenham's best ever start to a Premier League season and they are the only team in the league that are unbeaten (five wins, five draws).
Team news
Hector Bellerin is expected to return for Arsenal after he limped out of training on Monday with a minor knock.
The Spanish full-back was not part of the Champions League squad that travelled to Bulgaria to play Ludogorets on Tuesday.
Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal are also close to full fitness after injuries but will face late fitness tests ahead of the match. Kieran Gibbs suffered a shoulder injury in midweek and will also be assessed.
Pochettino has confirmed that Toby Alderweireld is out of the derby, but Harry Kane will be in the Tottenham squad.
Mousa Dembele and Erik Lamela are both rated doubtful while Moussa Sissoko will also be unavailable as he serves the final game of his suspension.
Eric Dier is likely to continue at centre-back alongside Jan Vertonghen.
Opta stats
Arsenal are winless in their last four Premier League north London derbies (D3 L1) - they've never gone five without a win against Tottenham in the league under Arsene Wenger.
Pochettino is undefeated as a manager in his four Premier League north London derbies. No Spurs manager has ever gone unbeaten in their first five league games against Arsenal in top-flight history.
The team scoring first has failed to win this fixture on 23 occasions, the highest number in Premier League history (15 draws, eight defeats).
The Gunners have scored at least once in 42 of their last 43 meetings with Tottenham in all competitions.
Arsenal have lost just one of their last 20 Premier League games (W12 D7 L1).
Tottenham are without defeat in their first 10 league games of a season for the first time since 1990/91. They eventually finished 10th that season.
Arsenal have averaged 1.59 points per game in November during Wenger's reign at the club; their worst performing month in the Premier League under the Frenchman.
Merson's prediction
If Tottenham play like they did in the Champions League in midweek then you can't see anything but an Arsenal win. It was probably their worst-ever performance under Pochettino. If Arsenal watched that they'll be thinking they've just got to turn up and get the three points, but of course it doesn't work like that.
That being said, though, I'm still going to go for the Gunners to win this game. If they're at it straight away then I don't see Tottenham being able to live with them. Form does go out the window for a game like this but six games without a win is a lot for Spurs and their confidence doesn't look great.
Paul predicts: 3-1 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Arsenal are 10/11 with Sky Bet to win Sunday's north London derby while Spurs can be backed at 3/1 for the away win. Both meetings between these teams ended up in stalemate last season and the draw is a 5/2 shot.
Charlie Nicholas was purring about Mesut Ozil's performance in midweek and the Soccer Saturday pundit fancies Ozil to score first in a 2-1 victory, which can be backed at 33/1. Ozil to score anytime is 9/4.
