The 196th north London derby sees us head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking to record three successive away league wins at our neighbours' home for the first time since September 1988.
We go there brimming with confidence following our 3-2 win in April, and enjoying an excellent run on the road in the league in 2024, which has seen us string together five wins in a row, nine from our 10 away games, keeping eight clean sheets in that time and never falling behind at any point.
All that belief will be added to the usual hunger to enjoy the derby day spoils, as we aim to send our Gooners back to their corner of north London toasting yet another memorable away day.
Spurs’ stop-start start
Tottenham head into the game with a win, a draw and a loss so far this campaign. A 4-0 victory over Everton on matchday two means they’ll be looking to win their opening two home games in a top-flight season for a fourth successive year, but they have lost two of their last four on home soil, including our last victory on their turf.
The new campaign started with a 1-1 draw at Leicester City, but after that Everton success, they headed into the international break having lost 2-1 at Newcastle United, missing £65 million acquisition Dominic Solanke through injury.
A youthful summer recruitment drive has seen Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert added to the ranks, while Timo Werner saw his loan extended for another 12 months. Emerson Royal, Oliver Skipp, Eric Dier, Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Tanguy Ndombele were big-name departures.
What the managers say
Arteta on his favourite NLD memories: "Probably afterwards, especially when you win at home and you celebrate with your supporters and you know how much it means. It’s something special and we have so many huge Arsenal supporters since the day that they were born.
"Looking at our staff, we have some good examples around the first team as well. They come in after the game and you can see the emotion and what it means for them. It’s a privilege to have the power to contribute to making someone really happy."
Postecoglou: "Results come sooner rather than later. We have got to stay consistent in our approach. We dominated all three games. Results haven’t come but if we maintain that over 38 games we’ll be in a good position. We got to keep at it, and stay focused on the important elements of our game.
"We want to be a club that can challenge everyone. To do that, you've got to perform at a certain level, at a consistent basis, the squad's strong enough to do that. I think we're in a good place to push on from last year and improve in all areas. There’s no reason why we can’t [challenge] this year."
Team news
Martin Odegaard picked up an ankle injury in action for Norway during the international break and continues to be assessed, as he hopes to avoid joining Declan Rice (suspended) and Mikel Merino (shoulder) on the sidelines.
The same goes for Riccardo Calafiori who was forced to return early from Italy duty, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney remain out of contention. However Gabriel Jesus could be back after missing the past couple of games with a groin problem.
Raheem Sterling could make his debut – he would be the first player to make his Gunners bow in a north London derby since Isaiah Rankin in December 1997. No Gunner has scored on his debut for the club against Spurs since Alf Kirchen in March 1935.
Solanke and Micky van der Ven missed Spurs’ last match before the break with minor issues and Postecoglou has confirmed they've both returned to training, with the Dutchman closer to a return than the former Bournemouth man.
However Yves Bissouma was also a casualty in international action for Mali as he picked up a groin problem which could see him miss out, while Richarlison will definitely be absent after sustaining an issue in training before the Newcastle game.
Talking tactics
Adrian Clarke: Tottenham's performance levels have been better than their results so far this season. Dominating the ball with an average of 68.9% possession, they have pinned opponents back and created stacks of chances. Nottingham Forest are the only top-flight side to have attempted more shots, and register a greater number on target.
From a tactical perspective we must be wary of Spurs trying to overload Ben White with 2v1s. From his number 10 position James Maddison has been pulling left, and from that flank he has supplied excellent ammunition. On the other side, no one has produced more successful crosses in open play than Spurs' buccaneering right back Pedro Porro.
If we are looking to exploit potential weaknesses there are two potential areas. The first is around set pieces, where goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is not an especially dominant presence. From inswingers into a crowded six-yard box the Italian is uncomfortable.
Postecoglou’s infamous high line is the other strategy that we may target. Kai Havertz’s movement has been tremendous early on this season, while the likes of Saka, Sterling, Martinelli and Trossard all like to run beyond the last defender too. If he features, look out for Jorginho trying to open Tottenham up with a through ball. He’s a master at clipping accurate passes into space against square rearguards.
Facts and stats
Tottenham have lost five of their last seven Premier League meetings with us, more than they had in their previous 16.
We’ve won each of our last five on the road, last having a longer winning run between March and September 2013 (8). We haven’t trailed in any of our last 10 league away games, only Aston Villa (11 between March - November 1998) have gone more successive away games without falling behind in the competition.
Arsenal v Tottenham is the fixture to have seen the most penalties awarded (26), scored (24) and both teams score more often (43) than any other fixture in Premier League history. It’s also the fixture to see the team score first fail to win more often than any other (29).
We have gone 1-0 up in each of the last three north London derbies courtesy of an own goal (Lloris in January 2023, Romero in September 2023 and Hojbjerg in April). No team has ever put through their own net in four consecutive meetings with an opponent in the Premier League before.
Since the start of 2019/20, Spurs have lost just three of their 17 league matches straight after an international break (W9 D5), although one of those defeats did come against us in October 2022. Since then, we are unbeaten in our last seven such matches (W5).
Son Heung-min has scored eight goals against us in all competitions; in the history of the fixture, only Harry Kane (14), Emmanuel Adebayor (10) and Bobby Smith (10) have netted more.
Kai Havertz has 18 goal involvements in his last 17 league appearances (11 goals, 7 assists), scoring and assisting in this exact fixture last term.
Bukayo Saka could become just the fourth player in Premier League history to assist a goal in each of a team’s first four games after Thierry Henry (2004/05), Cesc Fabregas (2014/15) and Kevin De Bruyne (2019/20).
Match officials
It’s a quick reunion with Jarred Gillett, who oversaw our opening-day win against Wolves. That was the fifth time we’ve tasted victory in his seven appointments, while Spurs have won four and lost four under the Aussie’s watch.
Gillett has refereed four matches this term including the Community Shield, brandishing 19 yellows and one red card in four games, and awarding a single penalty.
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistants: Darren Cann, James Mainwaring
Fourth official: Robert Jones
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Assistant VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis
Recent trips to Spurs
We have enjoyed our last couple of trips to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over recent seasons, with a Hojberg own goal and strikes from Saka and Havertz putting our supporters in dreamland at the break. However Cristian Romero and Son pulled goals back to make it a nervy ending but we held on for the points.
Back in January 2023, we notched our first victory at the venue courtesy of a 2-0 success, with a Hugo Lloris own goal and an Odegaard strike setting us on our way to our first league double over our rivals for seven years.
Spurs had enjoyed the upper hand in the previous three encounters at their home, with a 1-1 draw coming in March 2019. They’re a rare occurrence at Tottenham these days - just one of their last 49 league home games has been drawn, and none of the last 22.
Live coverage
Tune into Arsenal.com and the official app from 1.55pm on Sunday for live commentary of the clash, with Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke keeping you right up to date with all the derby day goings-on.
