Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur in the first North London derby of the season, and the first since Arsene Wenger left the club over the summer.
The Gunners have returned to form this week with a couple of victories over AFC Bournemouth and FC Vorskla, but now it’s about keeping that same momentum in a couple of big games, with both Tottenham and Manchester United matches this week.
Unai Emery will name a much-changed side to the one that started on Thursday, which was the entire point of taking youth stars and second-string players to Ukraine. Hopefully, the team he picks on Sunday will be well-rested and raring to go.
Let’s have a look at who we expect to make the starting XI:
Goalkeeper and Defence
Bernd Leno didn’t travel to Ukraine, and it looks like he’s going to continue his run in the team in the Premier League. Petr Cech performed well enough against FC Vorskla, but he wasn’t really tested, and he didn’t do anything that would make you think he has to come in for this one.
Hector Bellerin will play right-back and Sead Kolasinac will play left-back, assuming Emery goes with a back-four. If he goes with wing-backs, the same pair will play there instead.
We predict Emery will stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation on Sunday though. The belief is that he switched to three-at-the-back to counter Bournemouth’s strike partnership, but Tottenham play with just one centre-forward in general.
As a result, Sokratis Papastathopoulos will partner Shkodran Mustafi in central defence. In a three-back system, Rob Holding would take up the third position, and he was substituted early against Vorskla, so he should be ready. That was more likely just to keep him available for the bench though.
Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the Full Starting XI
Midfield
Just as with the defenders, the midfield should be pretty obvious from Unai Emery’s selection on Thursday. With Guendouzi, Elneny and Ramsey all playing a role from the start against Vorskla, Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Özil should come in for this one.
Ramsey did perform well against Vorskla, and he might be pushing himself back into contention for league starts again. However, at this stage, he’s going to struggle to break up the Xhaka-Torreira pairing, and he still can’t match Özil’s level of creativity.
As a result, he’s more likely to come into the front three, where Arsenal are having more trouble finding balance.
Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the Full Starting XI
Forwards
Alexandre Lacazette’s injury problems make it seem pretty likely he’ll miss out on the starting XI for this one. After missing both games this week completely, it’d be safer to introduce him from the bench.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got himself back on top of the Premier League scoring charts with his goal last weekend, and he’ll be in the starting lineup against on Sunday looking for another.
Alongside him, Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are the only real options, unless Aaron Ramsey displaces one of them. The pair both started against Bournemouth, and neither of them played any minutes against Vorskla, so they were presumably being saved for this match.
Click ‘Next’ for the Full Starting XI
Full Predicted Starting XI
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Arsenal vs Tottenham Betting Tips
Tottenham have failed to keep a clean sheet against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on every single occasion since it opened. Bet on Arsenal to score first with 138.com at 10/11.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the Premier League’s top scorer, and he’s scored four goals in five appearances against Tottenham. Bet on Aubameyang to score first with 138.com at 9/2.
Since the 5-2 victory in 2012, the scores in North London derbies have generally remained low, with only one match in the last 13 seeing more than three goals. Bet on under 3.5 goals with 138.com at 8/15.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham (9/1 with 138.com).