Oh hey, we have a North London Derby at the Emirates tomorrow. Exciting, right? Maybe “terrifying” is the better word. Both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal played extra time in their weekend FA Cup ties, with Spurs managing a 3-0 win over Tamworth and Arsenal crashing out with a penalty shootout loss to 10-man Manchester United.
Usually you can throw out past performance when Spurs and Arsenal play each other due to the state of the rivalry, but injuries might be the biggest thing that will impact this match. Spurs’ injury concerns are many and well-documented, especially in defense, but Arsenal now have a couple of significant injuries on the offensive side of the equation after Gabriel Jesus blew out his knee in the United match — both he and Bukayo Saka will miss the NLD.
Spurs have bad news and good news of their own on the injury front. Ange Postecoglou noted in his pre-match press conference that Timo Werner sustained a hamstring injury against Tamworth, which might go a ways to explain his woeful performance in that match, and is ruled out for Wednesday. However, Richarlison is set for a return after a couple weeks of training upon his return from his own hamstring injury.
“[Playing on the artificial pitch was] not too bad. It takes a fair bit out of the players so we have done some extra recovery and we won’t train until this afternoon to give the boys a chance to recover because the pitch takes a bit out of you. The only one who picked up an injury is Timo [Werner]. He picked up a hamstring injury and we are waiting on the results of that scan. Everyone else, apart from being sore, pulled through okay. In terms of incoming, Richarlison is available.
“Well you have got no choice [but to play this match], that’s the fixture. You’ve got to accept it. We have been in this situation for quite a while now and obviously hopefully there will be some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of players coming back and like I said Richy. It was good for Mikey to get an hour on the weekend or whenever it was. I have lost track of days.”
Richarlison’s return is timely, considering the injury to Werner. Spurs have been slow-walking his return to the side after he injured his hamstring in his first match back from another injury spell earlier this season. Ange’s comments suggested we might see Richy on Wednesday, though perhaps as a reserve initially.
“Just got to get [Richy] back, he has had obviously an unfortunate season for us. Last season he played, even this season when he played for us and did his hamstring (while providing an assist), it’s not just his fighting and scrapping, he has quality as well. Just having an extra attacking player – with him and Mikey available now – makes such a difference in what we can do during games, between games, in terms of the way we play. We have taken our time with him this time for sure. He has kind of been harassing me for the last 10 days to be involved but we have been disciplined with that and he has looked really good in training. He looks ready to go so really happy to get him back involved.”
Mikey Moore also made his return to the squad against Tamworth, starting the match and putting in his first 60+ minutes since returning from a long spell out with a virus. Ange said that Moore also will add a different attacking dimension to Spurs’ offense and it’s good to have him back with the team.
“Yeah, look he has worked hard at training and you could see at the weekend he needed some game-time. He started off pretty slowly but by the second half I thought he grew into the game. We used him significantly in the first half of the year and he made a real impact, particularly in Europe I thought he did really well and we expect him to (again). That’s why we kept him with us and why he is part of the first-team set-up. It’s good to get him back because he is a player we know can make an impact in games.”
Antonin Kinsky has hit the ground running at Spurs, with two starts and two clean sheets, but playing away at Arsenal in a North London Derby is an entirely different kettle of fish. That said, Postecoglou said he’s been pleased with the way Kinsky has started at the club, considering the circumstances.
“They’ve all been big games for him for different reasons. Obviously the Liverpool game goes without saying but it was a hell of a challenge for him up at Tamworth, too, especially with the way they play and their ability to put pressure on goalkeepers. I thought he handled it so well and helped us nullify a big threat from them. He’s handled everything really well. I haven’t spent any extra time with him. Birchy [Rob Burch, GK coach] obviously has and part of the process — because it has been a bit of a whirlwind — is making sure he’s settled, especially off the field. He’s moving to a different country so to manage everything around him is equally important. So far he’s been really good at embracing the challenge we’ve thrown at him and I’m sure he’s looking forward to tomorrow as well.”
Lucas Bergvall was another player who came out of the Tamworth match with a solid performance, continuing his recent spell of improved play. Postecoglou confirmed that Bergvall has settled well after moving from Sweden this summer, and has impressed him and the staff with his improvement.
“Yeah, look, he’s definitely growing, which is not unusual. He’s 18, coming from a different country and league. It was always going to take him time to adapt, just to training more than anything else. But we’ve seen in recent weeks he’s really making an impact now and I think he feels more comfortable and confident in himself. There’s so much more to come from him with his age and where he is experience-wise. It’s been a big year for him, moving to a new country and a big league and a big club. Even playing for the senior national team with Sweden as an 18-year-old. All these things are pretty significant moments and you look at how young people handle them and he’s handled it all really, really well. He’s kept his head down, kept working, waited for his opportunity and he’s doing well.”
The North London Derby will kick off tomorrow at 3 pm ET / 8 pm UK. The match is televised on TNT Sports 1 in the UK, and streamed on Peacock in the USA.