Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min claims Arsenal won’t want to play against them right now, ahead of Sunday’s north London derby.
Arsenal are currently preparing for the midweek return of the Champions League, with a game against PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
But Tottenham Hotspur have a midweek completely free of any European distractions, so Son Heung-min has already been talking to the media about Sunday’s derby match.
“[Arsenal] won’t want to face us at this time,” Son claimed. “Everyone is running for each other, everyone is fighting for each other. If someone comes off, you give a hand and everyone is happy to do that.
“That makes us really strong as a team and a group. We’re getting really close. We hope we can be even tighter than this.”
Like Arsenal, Spurs have won four and drawn one of their opening five games league of the season.
But Ange Postecoglou’s side have also been eliminated from the League Cup, giving them nothing to focus on except the Premier League from now until the FA Cup arrives in January.
As a result, Sunday’s game is going to mean more to the visitors than usual.
When Arsenal face PSV in the Champions League, the Spurs players will be sitting at home watching on TV. When Arsenal play Brentford in the League Cup, the Spurs players will be sitting at home once again.
They’ll be desperate to make it count when they’re actually on a football pitch for once this weekend.
As for whether Arsenal will be at all worried about facing Spurs, recent history would suggest that’s not the case.
The Gunners have won all three north London derbies at the Emirates Stadium since Mikel Arteta’s arrival, and they’ll simply be looking to make it four in a row.