The New York Times

Imagine a world in which Djed Spence had run onto Dejan Kulusevski’s pass and shot straight at Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson.

Tottenham would only have had two minutes of normal time left to find an equaliser. The home crowd would have been ferocious. Spurs would have had to leave even more space for Coventry to counter-attack into. The home team had missed enough chances to kill the game after Brandon Thomas-Asante put them 1-0 up just past the hour. They could easily have made it 2-0 or more.

Imagine the mood in the away end if Spurs had lost this Carabao Cup tie. Those fans had been on edge all evening, booing at half-time, after watching yet another half with plenty of possession but no goal threat. They had booed again when coach Ange Postecoglou took off Lucas Bergvall for James Maddison, just before Coventry’s goal. If Spurs had been knocked out — while playing this poorly — they would have been apoplectic.

That anger would have been about this performance, which up until Spence’s goal was one of the worst of the Postecoglou era.

The first half had been all toothless possession — Spurs passing it about but going nowhere. The players looked awkward in the build-up, unable to move the ball forward, not even getting into the positions to possibly create chances. And then the second half was even worse: the visitors were sloppy in possession, and every turnover looked like it might lead to a Coventry goal.

Postecoglou defended the performance afterwards, saying that it was “a bit harsh” to call it “flat”. Spurs fans — especially if it had stayed 1-0 — would have said the opposite. To many eyes, last night was the worst under Postecoglou in his 14 months, and in fact the worst for years. At times it felt like the bad old days of Antonio Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo or Jose Mourinho, the players looking frozen on the ball, unwilling to take a risk or make a run. Postecoglou was meant to banish those kinds of performances to the past.

The fans’ anger would not just have been about last night then, but about the sense that Spurs have lost momentum.

You may disagree about exactly when that happened: the Chelsea game last November? The 4-0 away win against Aston Villa in March? But at some point, something was lost that has not been re-discovered. The difference in mood between now and this time last year is palpable. The fierce unity of the fanbase behind the manager has eroded. There are believers, there are sceptics, and plenty in between. Had Spurs lost this tie, it would only have got worse.

But above all, had Spurs lost, there would have been fury at Postecoglou’s selections.

Last season, in their first Carabao Cup game under him, he made nine changes for a trip to fellow Premier League side Fulham, and Spurs lost on penalties. Against Coventry of the Championship, Postecoglou made eight changes.

While some of those were necessary — giving first starts to summer signings Bergvall and Archie Gray — some were not. What new information could he hope to learn about Fraser Forster or Timo Werner or even Ben Davies? Spurs’ struggles suggested they had not started with a strong enough team to win the game. It was the big-name substitutes — Kulusevski, Maddison and Brennan Johnson — who turned the tide.

Postecoglou is not the first Tottenham manager to try to rotate his way through the cups, but this approach never ended well for his predecessors either.

Eighteen months ago, Conte picked a weakened team at Sheffield United, also a second-tier side at the time, in the FA Cup’s last 16. Spurs lost 1-0 and Conte’s standing with the fans never recovered. Four games later, he was gone. Another cup exit from a weakened team as the club continues to wait for a first major trophy since 2008 would have damaged Postecoglou’s own standing.

Imagine the scorn he would have faced in light of his comments on Sunday about winning a trophy in his second season with every club he’s managed.

“I’m happy to be judged against that standard because that’s my standard,” Postecoglou said again on Tuesday. “I have no problems with people using that as a yardstick.” But if Spurs had gone out here, people would have said that he was already down to two realistic chances of a trophy this season — the FA Cup and the Europa League. This is not how you want your prospects to be framed in mid-September. The pressure on Tottenham in those two competitions would have been immense.

Now, it does not take much of a leap to imagine any of these complaints or discussions if Spurs had gone out last night. They very nearly lost the game. They arguably deserved to lose it. From the moment Thomas-Asante scored, if not before, all of this was on everyone’s lips.

But of course in the real world, Spurs did not lose. Spence’s shot went in, then so did Johnson’s. Five minutes after being a goal down, they were 2-1 up. And the mood at the end was very different from the above: a mixture of relief, glee and amazement that Tottenham had rescued everything after playing so badly.

They are safely into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup, ties to be played October 29-30, meaning they can focus on the league and Europa League for the next few weeks. The players were warmly received by the away end and Postecoglou walked over to applaud them too. And when he later spoke of the “relentlessness” his team had shown in rescuing the result, something they had lacked so far this season, you could see what he meant.

The next question for Tottenham is which of these narratives will win out.

Is it the struggles of the first 87 minutes, the problems in possession, the obvious lack of confidence through the team? If so, and if visitors Brentford pose Spurs problems on Saturday that they cannot solve, then the grumbles of the fans that were silenced at the end here will come back.

But if they can bottle some of that character shown in the final minutes against Coventry, the magic of Kulusevski, the bravery of Spence, maybe even a reinvigorated Johnson, and take it into all four competitions, then perhaps this could be a turning point after all.

GO DEEPER

A clip from Arsenal's win over Spurs went viral. The only problem? It was faked

(Top photo: David Rogers/Getty Images)

What do a fake goal-animation video and the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle have in common?

More than you might think.

In the 64th minute of Arsenal’s trip to bitter local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Gabriel sent the pocket of away fans into delirium. His header, from another well-worked Arsenal corner routine, was the decisive moment in an otherwise tense north London derby.

The goal was greeted by mass celebrations on and offline. Amid the delight on social media, one supporter dropped a readily prepared graphic, almost immediately after the ball hit the net, which quickly went viral.

It showed Arsenal’s Premier League ‘goal’ animation, on a broadcasters’ score graphic, shooting Tottenham’s cockerel, as featured on their club badge, with a 19th-century style artillery gun – the Arsenal equivalent, with their crest’s cannon. It left the cockerel burnt, and the word ‘GOAL’ and the phrase ‘NL (North London) is red’ appeared.

It was well-timed. Such goal animations are a new thing this year. The Premier League have introduced them this season for every club.

But unsurprisingly, and sorry to spoil anyone’s fun with some Grinch-like fact-checking, this viral animation was not official.

It did, though, appear to trick many, including Arsenal great Ian Wright, who reposted it on Instagram that evening. As an Arsenal fan and ex-player, it must be hard to resist another pop at Spurs, whether genuine or not.

The animation seemingly first appeared on account @AFC_Ryyy on X and was picked up by several aggregators, chalking up thousands of interactions and views. The original post accrued 1.8 million views within 48 hours.

It made for an interesting case study of what can and can’t go viral.

In this day and age, information and misinformation, be they distorted words or images associated with sportspeople or wider news topics, are becoming more complex and persuasive. Wading through that mud of authenticity is a key part of the sphere of sports engagement online.

This piece of work in particular seemed to have the magic viral touch. So what is behind that? The Athletic sought some expert insight.

“I think about social media in the context of kind of a much larger time scale,” explains Aaron Dinin, PhD, a senior lecturing fellow of the faculty in the entrepreneurship programme at Duke University in the U.S. state of North Carolina.

“Most people think social media is some sort of new, world-changing thing that’s just happened. But the truth is it’s part of a much longer evolution of content, that’s been going on for thousands of years. You can trace a direct line from an ancient Greek epic to Mr Beast and current social media content.

“If you go back to ancient Greek rhetoric, Aristotle taught us these things called Ethos, Pathos and Logos. They are the core elements of persuasiveness. Ethos is credibility, Pathos is emotion and Logos is logic. But there was actually a fourth mode of rhetoric that Aristotle talked about that’s kind of become lost over time because there’s no good direct translation for it. The word is Kairos. Kairos means timing, but not timing in terms of how long something takes — timing in terms of when something happens.

“A huge part of success on social media is timing.”

“What’s happened is you got something that has great timing. If someone put this animation out, honestly, even a few hours later, it wouldn’t have been as effective. One of the most important things that makes something go viral on social media is relevance to the current cultural moment.

“Then it is how the algorithms take over. They judge what to share based on how people are engaging with a piece of content. So if this thing comes out and it’s got good timing, you’re going to get immediate likes, shares, reposts whatever, and that’s just going to feed the beast.”

The quality of the video also gives it an illusion of truth. When it is then picked up by more and more accounts with large followings, the authenticity aspect grows.

Separating truth from fiction on social media in this day and age can be like sifting between sugar and sand — or defending set pieces from a Tottenham perspective. Both information and visual imagery can be manipulated with increasing ease after impressive advances in artificial intelligence.

“To do something like this even five or six years ago would have taken just so much longer and more effort than it does now,” says Dinin. “This is the history of all technology. It’s something we’re really struggling with in the world right now.

“If you just zoom out a little on our historical moment, it’s only been a very short amount of time that we can easily send a moving image from one person to another. It used to be a really expensive thing to do. If you saw a video, a clip or a moving image, you would assume someone put a lot of money into it. So there’s no way that this would be cheap or inexpensive or lying to you.

“Now we’ve got this ability to send videos so easily and so quickly, the cost has gone down significantly, but our brains don’t adjust that fast. We don’t evolve that fast as a species.

“So what happens is we’re still in this kind of weird historical moment where we as humans put a lot of stock, a lot of faith, in video content. And that is very easy to trick us.”

This, of course, is much less harmful than the more serious types of fake news, although there is a copyright infringement aspect.

So what is the actual story of these new animations? Well, they were unveiled ahead of the new season by the Premier League and are tailored to each of the 20 clubs. The aim, for the Premier League, was to come up with a creative approach that fans would find authentic and entertaining.

Each team have an emblem or icon that is associated with them.

Arsenal’s one does include use of their cannon when the ball hits the opposition net, but in the official version it fires out the word ‘goal’, rather than obliterating a Spurs cockerel. Tottenham for their part, see the letter ‘o’ in ‘goal’ replaced by the football that is part of their badge. Other examples include a seagull flying across the animation when Brighton score (they are known as the Seagulls), and a fox tail swishing for a Leicester goal (Leicester are nicknamed the Foxes).

The designs were created by Premier League Productions, with the initial process to introduce them beginning back in the spring. The company worked with a design agency and went through 10 rounds of briefings and revisions before signing off on the designs at the end of July.

They are used on the Premier League’s international broadcast feeds, with the aim of offering partners around the world something innovative. They will be visible throughout the season.

To be clear, though, there are just 20 animations, and no game-tailored editions. Not yet, anyway…

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou has said a muscular injury sustained by Tottenham Hotspur’s Wilson Odobert in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup victory at Coventry City could be “fairly significant”.

Odobert has been involved in each of Tottenham’s last three Premier League matches and was handed his third start of the season at Coventry, where late goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson saw Postecoglou’s side survive a potential cup upset and book a place in the fourth round.

“Hard to say,” Postecoglou said after the match when asked about Odobert’s injury. “Wilson looks fairly significant so we’ll just wait and see.”

Spurs had another late injury scare when Timo Werner was substituted off in the 74th minute, replaced by Dejan Kulusevski, after the Germany international went to ground in apparent discomfort.

“Timo, again not really sure if it was just fatigue,” Postecoglou said. “A bit unfortunate both of those, they play in a similar position. We hope it’s nothing too significant.”

Tottenham return to action on Saturday with a home match against Brentford in the Premier League.

(Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

Four points from four matches represent a disappointing start to the 2024-25 Premier League campaign for Tottenham Hotspur, especially considering how impressively they started last season.

The problem with a high defensive line is often considered in basic terms: if your defence is high up the pitch, they leave space in behind that can be exploited. The team were missing Yves Bissouma against Arsenal but it was clearly an issue for the crucial goal in Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle in the previous game, too.

But in Micky van de Ven, Tottenham have the speediest defender in the league, and he’s generally capable of covering that space. The issue, therefore, often isn’t the space in behind the defence: it’s the space in front after the back four have retreated.

Here’s one example from Sunday, 30 seconds into the second half. Tottenham are trying to press high up, with right-back Pedro Porro moving forward in advance of holding midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur to join the four attacking midfielders and the centre-forward Dominic Solanke in the opposition half. Jurrien Timber plays the ball over his head, and Arsenal go on the attack.

And this is the result — an odd situation where it’s suddenly Arsenal’s four attackers against four Spurs players and everyone else is completely out of the game. Therefore, the issue isn’t that Arsenal might go in behind suddenly, but more that they could work the ball backwards and have space in front of the defence.

Eventually, the move ended up in this situation, with Gabriel Martinelli firing the ball across goal towards Bukayo Saka, although Guglielmo Vicario intercepted and the flag was up for offside anyway. Tottenham’s players had got themselves back into the right-back zone, but look at the huge amount of space on the edge of the penalty box…

That foreshadowed a later move.

It came from a situation when Tottenham pushed lots of men forward into the opposition box, but Arsenal cleared and found Kai Havertz about to run in behind. OK, no problem for Tottenham — the defender here is Van de Ven and he won’t be outrun.

But, if anything (Clive), Van de Ven is actually too fast — because Havertz knows he has no chance of beating him. Therefore he made the intelligent decision to turn backwards, which you suspect he might not have done against any other Premier League defender.

He then played a backwards pass to Martinelli and this is Spurs’ real problem: the space in front of the retreating defensive line.

Martinelli had space to play the ball sideways — and again, albeit with Martinelli on the floor, Arsenal had their four attackers against four Spurs defenders. Spurs have covered the space in behind well, but it’s the space in front that is more of a concern.

Arsenal could have worked this situation better. Eventually, Spurs got men back and Arsenal are forced to settle for a corner. But that corner brought the only goal.

This does appear to be a constant issue. Here’s an early chance for Newcastle in their 2-1 win over Tottenham.

It comes from a simple Nick Pope kick downfield, which Anthony Gordon does well to control. Again, any other Premier League centre-back would be worried by the speed of Alexander Isak here, but Van de Ven has it covered.

Yet again the problem is the space in front. Despite the fact Tottenham were using two holding midfielders in the first half of this game, Gordon has space and freedom to come inside and play in Harvey Barnes, who also has space to do his usual thing: cutting inside and curling towards the far top corner. This effort whistled just wide.

For a good example of the speed and determination Spurs need from their attackers, they can look to Martinelli.

Ten minutes after the goal, when Solanke won the ball from Leandro Trossard, Martinelli was wide-left, seemingly out of the game, and could be reasonably expected to throw his arms up in the air because of this needless turnover.

Instead, Martinelli sprinted back to close down Dejan Kulusevski in the centre circle, fouling him in the process…

But Kulusevski had offloaded the ball and referee Jarred Gillett played advantage. Although Martinelli was on the floor, he got up, sprinted back again and then made a crucial challenge in the left-back position…

He promptly got up and tried, in vain, to keep the ball in.

Spurs’ problem isn’t entirely about work rate. It’s also about organisation; if the forwards press, get bypassed and are out of the game, they will struggle to recover their positions.

But that type of determination to sprint back into a position close to the back four is often lacking from Spurs’ attacking players, perhaps with the exception of Kulusevski.

It’s all very well and good having Van de Van’s recovery speed — but if others aren’t able to recover their positions, too, then opposition chances are merely delayed, rather than prevented.

The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox.

Hello! You’re never too young to fight for your club — especially on derby day.

On the way:

🔴 Arsenal’s bragging rights

🧑‍⚖️ Man City vs EPL begins

🤩 The U.S. celebrity clash

👀 Miss of the season (so far)

Stuck in a corner: Postecoglou’s Spurs lose to Arsenal after same set-piece failing

Ange Postecoglou is one of those people who won’t be told that black is white, even when it appears reporters questioning him might indeed be onto something.

Back in May, he was brushing off criticism of Tottenham Hotspur’s inability to properly defend set pieces, a discussion brought on by two goals from corners costing Spurs a derby against Arsenal. Fast forward to September, and here he is again.

It was only one goal this time — a Gabriel header in the 64th minute — but that finish was all Arsenal needed yesterday. It was also the product of a tried-and-tested means of examining Spurs: hang a corner in the airspace of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and let the good times roll. Not by accident did Ben White decide to get into Vicario’s head the last time these clubs met.

Spurs conceded 16 goals from dead-ball deliveries in the 2023-24 season. Postecoglou was adamant he didn’t require a specialist set-piece coach (something Arsenal have in Nicolas Jover) but it’s a recurring theme, and he insisted that Tottenham “work on them all the time”. Corners give Vicario the guise of a man tip-toeing on thin ice.

Once Spurs were breached, the game was Arsenal’s. There was no way through their defence, and David Raya’s clean sheet would have held had Spurs kept the possession counter climbing until sundown. Once again, north London is red.

Getting shirty

Postecoglou was slightly tetchy with Sky Sports’ interviewer after full time. He’ll know Spurs missed a trick.

Mikel Arteta was down on numbers with Declan Rice suspended and Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino injured. It’s a measure of his coaching and Arsenal’s self-assurance that their 4-4-2 defensive shape held up as rigidly as it did.

Saying they wanted it more would be cheap, but without doubt they wanted it. Their (heavily outnumbered) mascot was squaring up to his counterparts in the tunnel beforehand. Arteta’s players were all in during a first-half scuffle. Leandro Trossard had a hole torn in his shirt. En masse, they got into the trenches.

Arteta is an elite manager, and while it didn’t take a masterclass like yesterday’s to justify the contract extension he signed last week, he’s fundamental to everything Arsenal are doing.

The discipline required to keep Spurs out was ideal practice for Manchester City away this Sunday. Arsenal could have gone there five points behind. Instead, the gap is two. Under pressure and depleted, yesterday’s result goes down as a huge hold of serve.

Here comes Haaland…

The key for Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium — do what nobody else is capable of doing and face down Erling Haaland.

The 24-year-old scored with his first shot of the season. So far, he has nine goals from 20 attempts. He bagged another two against Brentford on Saturday and was the width of a post from a third hat-trick in a row, a feat last recorded in England’s top flight in 1946.

The only thing as predictable as him is the Premier League table. Liverpool’s defeat to Nottingham Forest — a first under Arne Slot — means we’re four fixtures in and already, it’s City and Arsenal, positions one and two. After the last two seasons, we’re about to complete the trilogy.

News round-up: Manchester City’s case over financial charges begins

(Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

The most hotly-anticipated legal case in Premier League history — the 100-plus financial charges levied against Manchester City — is scheduled to start today. After so much talking, it’s down to business — and we’ve explained it all for you.

The weekend saw some high-profile injuries. Bukayo Saka limped out of Arsenal’s win at Spurs, Alexander Isak hurt an eye in Newcastle United’s 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Dani Olmo tweaked a hamstring as Barcelona maintained their perfect La Liga record by beating Girona 4-1.

The U.K. government has long been planning to create an independent football regulator to oversee the English game. UEFA is warning that England could be barred from Euro 2028 — a tournament they are co-hosting — if that happens. Hmm.

Speaking of Euro 2028, Casement Park in Belfast was due to be staging matches during the tournament. That won’t happen now — because cash needed to redevelop the ground isn’t available.

After leaving Juventus, Adrien Rabiot was minus a club at the end of the transfer window. Two weeks on, he’s joined Marseille on a free.

Conor Gallagher got his first Atletico Madrid goal last night. That’s him up and running.

Brady vs Reynolds 🥊

In the blue corner, Birmingham City. In the red corner, Wrexham. That’s your match-up for tonight; a League One tussle like very few others.

Both clubs are indicative of the extent to which football has become a celebrity playground. Tom Brady is on the scene at Birmingham. Wrexham are squeezing everything out of the Hollywood connections of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Will Ferrell tipped up at a Leeds United game on Saturday. They all want a piece of the action.

McElhenney described Birmingham versus Wrexham as “an absolute banger” — something never normally said about third-tier fare. He’s right. It’s got a prime-time slot on Sky Sports in the U.K. It’s live on CBS in the United States, the result of CBS muscling in on EFL broadcast rights. Be as cynical as you like about the celebrity influx but the brush with showbiz is opening new frontiers.

📺 League One: Birmingham City vs Wrexham, 3pm ET/8pm UK — CBS, Fubo/Sky Sports

Quiz answer

Did you get the four players who have turned out for Arsenal and Spurs in the Premier League? They were: Emmanuel Adebayor, Sol Campbell, David Bentley and William Gallas.

Inevitable Messi

Does Lionel Messi ever tire of his trade? The reason I ask is that it’s all well and good being the greatest of all time but there’s got to be a point at which easy is too easy.

Messi, you’ll recall, was injured in the Copa America final and left the field in tears. That was two months ago. He made his comeback for Inter Miami on Saturday — and marked it by scoring twice (including this nifty finish, above), assisting another goal and cantering through a 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union.

In total, he’s played 13 times this season. He’s got 28 goal contributions. Inter are cruising towards the Supporters’ Shield and let’s be real, the MLS Cup is theirs to lose provided Messi stays fit. Injury is the only thing capable of holding him back, and even that is dealt with like a minor inconvenience.

Around The Athletic FC

The scoreline at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday was Bournemouth 0 Chelsea 1. But the real point of note was the stack of 14 yellow cards — the most in a Premier League match ever. That doesn’t include the cards shown to both managers either.

Nottingham Forest’s win over Liverpool was their first at Anfield for 55 years. Paul Taylor has written about their superb, out-of-possession composure which made it happen.

I liked Tim Spiers’ latest piece on club nicknames because it mentions the famous Heart of Midlothian. And between the Lepers and the Rat-Stabbers, I was reminded that South America has the best monikers anywhere.

Aston Villa aren’t winning on the PR front at present. How did some of their season-ticket holders turn up at Villa Park to find they had no seats?

The top line from Mauricio Pochettino’s first press conference as USMNT head coach was cast in some quarters as him saying the U.S. can win the 2026 World Cup. He didn’t say that — he just wants his players to think like that.

Most clicked in Monday’s TAFC: Player X, the footballer accused of sexual offences who can’t be named.

Catch a match

La Liga: Rayo Vallecano vs Osasuna, 3pm/8pm — ESPN+/Premier Sports.

Serie A: Parma vs Udinese, 12.30pm/5.30pm — Paramount+/OneFootball; Lazio vs Hellas Verona, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+, CBS/OneFootball

And finally… an expected goal

If you’ve got that Monday feeling, be glad you’re not Derby County’s Ebou Adams. This was his chance in the 97th minute of Derby’s 1-0 win over Cardiff City — having done all the hard work and chased down a long punt forward after a corner.

Our friends from Opta Stats say the expected goals (xG) value of the opportunity was 0.75. In layman’s terms, that’s deep inside the territory of ‘no excuses’. He’ll have enjoyed reporting back in for training this morning.

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou’s fiery interview with Sky Sports reporter Emma Saunders after Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday gave us an insight into his long-term ambitions.

When Saunders suggested Postecoglou “normally” wins trophies in his second season at a club, he could not resist correcting her. “I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year,” he said.

At his last three clubs, excluding Melbourne Victory (he left after a year to coach Australia), Postecoglou has not just won a trophy in his second year but the league title. He achieved that with Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic. There is data which backs up that they improve across several different metrics.

Postecoglou’s tense exchange with Saunders came after Spurs lost at home to Arsenal for the third year in a row (the first loss being under Antonio Conte), leaving them with four points from as many games. Last Friday, Postecoglou spoke in his pre-match press conference about how this fixture would be a good way to measure his side’s progress.

“But it’s not just about winning,” he said. “You can win a game like this and walk away knowing they played us off the park in reality. I’ve always said to go out there against the best and perform, that’s the best measure. Then hopefully you will win the game as well. If we go out on Sunday, dominate this game, create more chances, really nullify them, then I think irrespective of the result the players will walk off thinking, ‘OK, next time we’ll have another crack at it’. That’s where the real belief comes from.

“They’re a good measure for us not just in winning the game but can we play our football against them?”

That is exactly what Tottenham did and there was nothing disastrous about the performance. It was much better than the last time these two teams met in May when they were losing 3-0 at half-time. Yet it is clear they still have a long way to go to bridge the gap to the best teams in the division and to win a trophy.

Spurs had 63.7 per cent possession against Arsenal but only recorded an xG (expected goals) total of 0.7. At the moment, they are struggling to create quality scoring opportunities despite dominating the ball. It is the same issue which caused them to drop points against Newcastle United and Leicester City.

This was only Dominic Solanke’s second appearance since he joined Tottenham from Bournemouth for a club-record fee of £65million ($85m) at the beginning of August. The 27-year-old demonstrated his quality by dropping into space and linking up play. It confused William Saliba and Gabriel, who did not seem to know whether to follow him or who was responsible if they did.

But Saliba’s tackle on Solanke in the first half is a great example of the “lack of conviction” Postecoglou spoke about in his press conference afterwards — something which will hold them back from winning silverware. James Maddison intercepted Ben White’s pass and Solanke found himself completely free near the edge of the box. Instead of shooting, he tried to shimmy past Saliba. A great opportunity to score had been wasted.

Solanke works hard out of possession and in the 49th minute, he stole the ball from Jorginho to initiate a counter-attack. Brennan Johnson was in space on the right wing but his cross into the box was at an awkward height for Solanke. You hope that these problems will be resolved when everybody becomes more familiar with one another.

Last season, Arsenal had the best defensive record in the top flight. They are not easy for any side to create chances against. With Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice missing, Mikel Arteta’s side defended deeper than usual. Arteta’s comments that “in some moments we had to suffer” and that they won “ugly” should be taken as a compliment.

It is not as if Spurs’ opponents possessed a huge threat either. Arsenal only managed an xG of 0.7 themselves, which is the lowest they have recorded since a 0-0 draw with Manchester City in March. Compared to their chaotic display in the last north London derby, Tottenham’s defence looked much more compact.

It was frustrating to concede from another set piece though and it will only increase fears that they have not addressed this issue from last season, when only Luton Town (19), Sheffield United (19) and Nottingham Forest (23) had a worse record (16). This was the first time they have conceded from a corner or a free kick in the 2024-25 campaign and they do seem like a more organised unit.

Nick Montgomery, who was appointed as an assistant coach in the summer, can often be seen on the edge of the technical area during set pieces dishing out instructions to players. Gabriel’s header was not due to any structural failure but a lapse of concentration from Cristian Romero, who lost track of the Brazilian centre-back.

This fixture normally guarantees drama — the last time there was a 0-0 draw in this contest was in February 2009 — but this was a tight, tense affair. The rhythm was constantly disrupted as there was a series of flashpoints between both teams, usually involving Jurrien Timber. In the first 45 minutes, it even felt like Arsenal were deliberately taking a long time with goal kicks and free kicks in their own half to slow play down. And these are challenges Tottenham’s players need to learn to overcome.

Arteta has been in charge of Arsenal for nearly five years. This is only the beginning of Postecoglou’s second season and the rate of turnover in the squad has been dizzying. Tottenham’s squad is younger than their rivals for the first time in seven years. This group needs the opportunity to grow together and this result will be an important part of that process.

Postecoglou might be confident his team can achieve something significant this year — but this result was a reminder there is more work to be done.

(Top photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

A depleted Arsenal side recorded a vital win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

The first half contained the level of intensity — if not the white vs red shirts — you expect from this fixture, with referee Jarred Gillett handing out seven yellow cards (five for the home side) in the opening 45 minutes, equalling the Premier League record for a first half (less than a day after Bournemouth vs Chelsea produced a total of 14 bookings).

The best chance of a goalless opening fell to Gabriel Martinelli, but he shot straight at Guglielmo Vicario. It was a comfortable moment for a goalkeeper who spent much of the half looking decidedly uncertain at set pieces.

And that set-piece susceptibility came back to haunt Spurs midway through the second half: an unchallenged Gabriel headed home from four yards to put Arsenal 1-0 up. Mikel Arteta’s side then stood firm against Spurs’ pressure as the clock ran down to seal a massive three points, and a third successive win at their arch-rivals’ home.

Here, our writers analyse some of the key moments from the game.

A huge win for Arsenal

Travelling to take on Manchester City next Sunday already four points behind would have placed a huge amount of pressure on them to avoid defeat. Arsenal’s squad know all too well that seven points is a mile back when chasing Pep Guardiola’s team.

That’s why this victory — with their entire first-choice midfield missing and the stakes already ratcheting up — was so vital for Arteta’s men. It keeps Arsenal within touching distance and kickstarts their season after the disappointment of the 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.

The resilience they showed when soaking up Tottenham pressure, the work rate that both wingers put into their defensive responsibilities and the adaptability Jorginho and Thomas Partey displayed to make up for their ageing legs are intangibles that will add belief to this team.

Jordan Campbell

A wasted opportunity for Tottenham?

With Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice unavailable, Spurs had an opportunity to beat Arsenal for the first time since May 2022. There were some encouraging signs in the first half as Dominic Solanke linked up with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski nicely. Solanke kept dropping off Gabriel and William Saliba who did not know whether to follow him and who was responsible if so.

As can be seen from the graphic below, Spurs dominated possession and territory.

They lost their momentum midway through the first half, however, and never truly looked like reclaiming it. Arsenal’s stubborn 4-4-2 shape was difficult to break down in the second half and there were multiple occasions when Maddison had no other option but to hit a hopeful cross into the box.

This was a better performance compared to the last time these two teams met, when Arsenal were leading 3-0 at half-time. It will sting that Arsenal scored from another set piece but that was more down to Cristian Romero switching off (and Vicario failing to impose himself) than any structural failure.

Tottenham have improved under Postecoglou but this leaves them with four points from as many games. They have lost to Newcastle and Arsenal, two teams they want to compete with towards the top of the table and for Champions League qualification.

This felt like another harsh lesson that hopefully Postecoglou’s young side will learn from.

Jay Harris

Another lapse of concentration from Romero?

Reports in this morning’s newspapers suggested that Real Madrid had sent a scout to the north London derby to assess whether Tottenham’s Romero or Arsenal’s William would be a worthwhile transfer target. Based on this game — and, in truth, based on the last year — Romero comes off worse, and worse in comparison to Micky van de Ven too.

Romero is the type of centre-back who catches the eye. He is aggressive. He is committed. He gets the crowd going. He puts in crunching tackles. He runs through brick walls — even if the brick wall isn’t actually in his way. But he’s also not a particularly great defender. The Argentinian is a World Cup winner, granted — but it’s worth remembering that so was Leeds United flop Roque Junior.

Romero was both outwitted and then (more embarrassingly) wound up by Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in a game Tottenham clearly should have won but drew 1-1. He’s been very heavily involved in the opposition box in a 4-0 win over Everton — the kind of meat-and-potatoes opposition that suits him — including heading in the third goal.

In the 2-1 loss to Newcastle, he was partly responsible for the first goal and for the second, when he simply didn’t bother running back as Alexander Isak sprinted in behind. He ended up 30 yards behind the Newcastle goalscorer. Here, his defending against Gabriel — always Arsenal’s main threat at set pieces — was hopeless. He was the wrong side, got outmuscled and seemed to be aware of neither man nor ball.

Van de Ven’s recovery pace is rightly considered a key part of Tottenham’s gameplan, but it’s partly so important because he’s playing alongside a defender who doesn’t seem to know how to defend. If Madrid are genuinely interested, Spurs should be delighted.

Michael Cox

A predictably… intense match

There is always going to be tension when these teams meet, and Jurrien Timber always seemed to be at the heart of it on Sunday.

In the first 15 minutes, he had a flare-up with Brennan Johnson that ended with them both in a heap on the floor — but that was nothing compared to what happened just after the half an hour mark.

The Netherlands international tackled Dejan Kulusevski while he was on the floor and then won the loose ball from Pedro Porro. Tottenham’s right-back went down in pain but Timber carried on, burst into the box and won a corner. Romero recklessly wiped out his own team-mate Kulusevski in his desperation to take down Timber and gain revenge for Porro.

Vicario then rushed over to Timber and squared up with him. Despite Vicario’s size advantage, Timber did not back down and grabbed the goalkeeper by the scruff of his shirt.

Players from both teams then rushed over to try to defuse the situation, which ended with Vicario and Timber being booked. There were lots of other little skirmishes, too, including when Van de Ven fouled Leandro Trossard, who howled in pain.

As usual, the north London derby delivered on drama.

Jay Harris

Arsenal’s defensive organisation was spot-on

Defending against Postecoglou’s Tottenham in a low block isn’t the easiest of tasks. The wide combinations between the winger, full-back and No 8 make it a tedious task, and the dynamism of their movement and rotations only makes it harder.

In the first half of this north London derby, Arsenal’s defensive organisation limited that threat. Defending out of a 4-4-2 with Partey and Jorginho behind Kai Havertz and Trossard, one of Arsenal’s wingers would drop to form a situational back five towards the side where Tottenham are trying to attack while the other would tuck in next to the double pivot to minimise the space.

Meanwhile, Saliba and Gabriel were alert to switch markers with Arsenal’s double pivot when Solanke dropped deeper and Tottenham were searching for runners in behind the defence. In addition, Partey and Jorginho dropped to fill in the gaps in the defensive line.

Arsenal needed David Raya only once in open play in the first half when Tottenham combined down the left and played a cutback to Dejan Kulusevski, but transitional moments looked dangerous.

In the second half, it was expected that Tottenham would increase the pressure, especially after Gabriel put Arsenal in the lead, but more blocks and Raya being in position to save more shots earned Arsenal a deserved victory.

Ahmed Walid

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

The Tottenham manager spoke at length when asked about his team’s record at set-pieces. “For some reason people think I don’t care about set-pieces and it is a narrative you can keep going with for ages and ages. I understand that,” he said.

“We work on them all the time like any other team we know they are a threat. For the most part we handled them really well but we switched off for one and we paid the price. You learn from that and move on. It is what it is. It is my burden to carry and I’m happy to do it.

“There’s a bigger picture that’s at play here that is much more important than the finer details of us getting to where we want to. For us the way forward is to try to turn the football we are playing now into something meaningful.

What did Mikel Arteta say?

The Arsenal manager was delighted with the maturity his side showed in Sunday’s game.

“After the international break, we had a few blows,” Arteta said to BBC Sport. “How the team reacted was magnificent. It showed a lot of maturity from the team.

“When they (Spurs) get into the final third, it’s very difficult because they have a structure. We were missing vital players and we had to react to that. I’m very pleased.

‘We had to adjust and use different players and qualities. I was hoping they would do something with the ball and we did it. Sometimes better than others. They are a really good side.

“When we have to defend in deeper areas, we did it really well. There are things to improve but we have another victory here and it’s huge. I know how our supporters will feel about this so enjoy it.”

What next for Tottenham?

Wednesday, September 18: Coventry City (A), Carabao Cup, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

What next for Arsenal?

Thursday, September 19: Atalanta (A), Champions League, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

Recommended reading

Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 return: What to look out for in top five leagues

Tottenham vs Arsenal and why north London supremacy is all a matter of timing

(Top photo: Getty Images)

Predictably, Mikel Arteta was not happy with the decision to send off Declan Rice. Predictably, Brighton's Fabian Fabian Hurzeler said it was the correct call.

One thing everyone could agree on was that it massively swung the game, and Arsenal cannot afford to cede control of many more matches this season.

The Athletic's Amy Lawrence wrote on the lessons they must learn from a head-scratching afternoon at the Emirates Stadium — give it a read below.

Arsenal 1-1 Brighton

Having won both of their opening two matches, Arsenal welcomed Brighton to the Emirates Stadium in their last game.

A brilliant lob from Kai Havertz gave the hosts the lead in the first half, but their hopes of victory soon unravelled in the second half.

Within four minutes of the restart, Declan Rice was shown his second yellow card in a controversial incident with Joel Veltman. The England midfielder was adjudged to have delayed a Brighton free-kick by nudging the ball away and it left Arsenal a man down for the rest of the match.

Unsurprisingly, Brighton took advantage of the extra-man advantage and were soon level through Joao Pedro. The visitors continued to push for a winning goal and probably should have found one, but Mikel Arteta's side were able to hang on for a point to maintain their unbeaten start.

Tottenham Hotspur have taken 48 shots in their first three games of the Premier League season, according to Opta — more than any other team apart from Nottingham Forest (53).

They rank one behind Forest for shots on target with 20, and are joint-second for efforts outside the box (18) behind Crystal Palace’s 19.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have produced three good performances in those matches by dominating possession and boldly playing out from the back, yet have only four points from the nine available.

Before the international break, The Athletic broke down their struggles in front of goal against Newcastle — check it out below.

Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham

Tottenham were dealt their first Premier League defeat of the season in their last match before the international break. And it was a loss they really should have avoided.

After Harvey Barnes opened the scoring for Newcastle with the game approaching half-time, a rather comical Dan Burn own goal made it 1-1 before the hour mark.

From there, Spurs dominated the game and had countless opportunities to take the lead.

But they didn't take any of them and were punished on the break with Alexander Isak finishing off a clinical counter attack to win his side the game in the 78th minute.

This has caused quite the stir over the last days and, in my opinion, rightly so.

Arsenal will wear their away kit for a north London derby for the first time since 1986. The Premier League has ruled that their home kit includes too much white and is not different enough from Tottenham's home shirt.

So instead, Arteta's side will line up in their black away kit for today's game rather than their traditional red-and-white.

As soon as Odegaard limped out of Norway's 2-1 win against Austria, panic set in throughout the Arsenal fanbase.

They already knew they were going into a north London derby without Rice and Merino, losing Odegaard was just the cherry on top of a very unpleasant cake.

The Athletic's best Arsenal brains whirred into gear and it was Art De Roche's job to look at what midfielders Arteta was left with — you can find his piece below.

Despite claiming that "players with 48 hours are always available" in his pre-match press conference, Arteta will not be able to call on Odegaard for today's game.

"We need to see the extent of the injury and he quickly we can get him back", said Arteta. "He's super positive about everything. We know Martin, he wants to be there every single day but we have to wait and see."

He was then asked whether Merino has improving after he fractured his shoulder in his first training session.

"(He's) better. It's a slow process because it's a bone and it takes a while to heal," he said. "He's progressing well, he's already doing some stuff.

"He's working extremely hard and we're using this time to make sure he understands the things he has questions about, so that he's ready to go when he's back."

The last couple of weeks have been a nightmare for Arsenal on the team news front.

Declan Rice's red card in the 1-1 draw against Brighton means he is suspended and will not feature today.

And his absence of one of several for Arsenal; they are without captain Martin Odegaard, who sustained an ankle injury while on international duty, and new signing Mikel Merino because of a shoulder injury.

Another of their summer signings, Riccardo Calafiori, picked up an injury while representing his country but he could be involved today.

Elsewhere, defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is still out, while Arteta is hoping to have Gabriel Jesus available for selection.

After his initial injury round-up, Postecoglou was pressed on the issue facing Bissouma.

"It’s hard to say at the moment, it’s a tweak in his groin," said the Tottenham manager on Friday.

"The initial report is it’s not serious which means there is a chance for Sunday, which tells me it’s nothing significant.

"If he doesn’t make Sunday, then I’ll assume he’ll be right for after that. At the same time, he’s just come off a long flight, you never feel great anyway, we’ll see how he trains tomorrow (Saturday) and that will give the best indication."

There have been a few injury issues for Tottenham to contend with since the start of the season.

But the international break has done Ange Postecoglou's side the world of good. Both Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke have used the break to get back on the training pitch and they should both be in contention for today's game.

And Solanke's potential inclusion is important, with fellow forwards Richarlison and Will Lankshear still recovering from their injuries.

Midfielder Yves Bissouma picked up a groin problem while on international duty, so he is a doubt.

Home. That was the fourth word Mikel Arteta officially uttered as Arsenal manager. In his maiden press conference, in December 2019, with his smooth hair and youthful face, in a red polo shirt that looked fresh out of the packet, with everything in front of him — some things he expected and others he could not possibly imagine — the first expression that came to mind suggested he was at his happy place. “I feel back home,” he said.

As an opening sentence, it struck a chord because it was maybe a little unexpected to realise how much Arsenal had got under the skin of a player who represented six clubs in four different countries during his career. Although his time as a player was recalled fondly enough, it was not the easiest chunk of time in the club’s history.

There he was, Arsenal’s new head coach, ready to take the plunge into his first job at the sharp end. He was 37 and despite his high-calibre experiences as an ambitious assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he had never, at that point, managed a single game. He was parachuted into a high-profile job made particularly demanding because the squad was not in a good place. Even today it seems a little mad — although the best ideas usually are.

Read more below

There was some big news for Arsenal supporters on Thursday morning.

Mikel Arteta committed his long-term future to Arsenal by agreeing a new contract, which will secure him to the Emirates Stadium until 2027.

Arteta’s previous deal was scheduled to expire at the end of this season — but both parties have moved to eliminate any uncertainty, with a three-year extension now in place.

The development will come as a significant boost to Arsenal ahead of today's north London derby. Arteta has been central to the club’s rise since he replaced Unai Emery as head coach in late 2019 and changed title to manager the following year.

Read more below.

Good morning and welcome along to The Athletic's live coverage of the season's first north London derby.

Tottenham vs Arsenal remains one of the great fixtures in world football and this one looks set to be a belter!

Arsenal arrive at the home of their greatest enemy without a few of their key players, while Tottenham come into this one on the back of a faltering start to their Premier League campaign.

Loads of time to go until kick-off in the capital, so stick with us for all the build-up.

Games between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal rarely disappoint.

There has not been a goalless draw in the north London derby for 15 years and last season’s two matches produced nine goals.

Arsenal have won on their past two trips to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and, already — slightly ridiculously, given we are three games into the season — there is a sense they need another one to stay in touch with a Manchester City team who have won their past 14 consecutive Premier League matches.

With plenty at stake for both teams, The Athletic’s Tottenham reporter Jay Harris, Arsenal writer Jordan Campbell and senior data analyst Mark Carey consider the key talking points going into Sunday’s match.

Is this a good time for Tottenham to face Arsenal?

Harris: Spurs will be smelling blood when they look at the number of key players unavailable to Mikel Arteta. Ange Postecoglou has also been dealing with injury issues, but if Dominic Solanke and Micky van de Ven are fully fit, he can field his strongest XI.

When these two sides faced each other in April, Ben Davies — deputising for the injured Destiny Udogie — could not keep up with Bukayo Saka. Udogie is fit again after spending the summer recovering from thigh surgery and his battle with Saka should be more even. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored an own goal in that game but has since left for Marseille and Postecoglou has a wider variety of options in central midfield.

The biggest concern for Tottenham is that they can still look vulnerable at the back. Cristian Romero has made a couple of costly errors, which is somewhat understandable when you consider he only spent a couple of weeks on holiday after winning the Copa America with Argentina before returning for pre-season. Romero could have done with a rest during the international break but he played twice for Argentina. Tottenham fans will be hoping the extra game time has boosted his sharpness and that it does not leave him feeling knackered.

Carey: It is a cliche but it’s true — all rules go out of the window in derby games. The quick turnaround after the international break might mean that the contest is a little lower in intensity, but this one is difficult to predict.

For Arsenal, it is not just the blow of — as seems very likely — losing Martin Odegaard’s quality to injury but also how much it affects them tactically. Arsenal’s captain is a key component of their right-sided rotations with Ben White and Saka — a trio who have been so consistent for the past 18 months. They have plenty of quality elsewhere across the pitch, but add in Declan Rice’s suspension and Arsenal fans’ concerns become understandable.

Spurs have not made the blistering start of last season but have played well. On another day, they would have comfortably dispatched Leicester City and Newcastle United with the chances they generated and we all know that the football xG gods have a way of balancing things out across a season.

Might we see Spurs create fewer chances but score two scruffy goals? You wouldn’t bet against it.

GO DEEPER

Three games in is too early to trust the Premier League table... or is it?

Campbell: Considering Arsenal’s missing players, yes, they are weaker, but that need to capitalise brings its own pressure for Spurs.

Arteta signing a new three-year contract, however, should re-energise Arsenal and balance out any pessimism.

It is a statement of intent that says Arsenal are not content with being challengers. They want more and a win at Spurs would be the perfect way to show they are not going anywhere.

Want all the latest Arsenal news, analysis and additional insight from James McNicholas, Amy Lawrence, David Ornstein, Art de Roche, Jordan Campbell and more? Join our new Arsenal WhatsApp channel

Are we in for another exciting derby?

Harris: This fixture always produces drama. Postecoglou’s philosophy is all about dominating the ball and pressuring the other team high up the pitch. When it works, as in their 4-0 victory over Everton last month, Tottenham do not let their opponents breathe and they score goals for fun.

The style of play comes with a lot of risk. Spurs push so many players forward that they leave themselves vulnerable to counter-attacks. Saka’s goal in Arsenal’s 3-2 victory at the end of last season is a prime example of this. As can be seen below, Spurs dominated possession and territory but Arsenal took their chances.

Harry Kane is no longer at Spurs but Son Heung-min remains a threat. The speed of Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert will cause problems for Arsenal’s full-backs, too. Solanke will make his home debut if he recovers from an ankle injury and scoring would be the perfect way to mark it.

Campbell: Arsenal were relentlessly efficient in the 3-2 win last season, making the most of their dominance from dead-ball situations.

But in last season’s first meeting, the enduring issue of playing well but spurning big chances prevented them from killing off the game early. Gabriel Jesus was most guilty and with the Brazilian potentially filling in for Kai Havertz up front, the question of whether Arsenal have enough killer instinct hangs over them.

Transitions will be key again for both teams and a first start for Raheem Sterling could help Arsenal add that extra incisiveness. Goals seem inevitable but do not be surprised to see Arteta employ a slightly more restrained, counter-attacking approach to compensate for the absence of Rice and Odegaard.

How might Arsenal’s midfield injuries affect things?

Campbell: Arsenal will probably be without what Arteta intended to be his first-choice midfield this season, with Mikel Merino and Odegaard both injured and Rice suspended.

The sale of Emile Smith Rowe and the loan exit of Fabio Vieira means Arsenal cannot replicate the balance they would usually have.

Havertz dropping into midfield, with Jesus taking his place up front, is a natural solution to the left-sided central-midfielder gap, but Jorginho and Thomas Partey are the only other senior conventional midfielders available. Partey being pushed forward slightly to allow the Italian to play at No 6 is one option, as is tweaking the shape to employ a double pivot, but both players can leave Arsenal lacking mobility and creativity.

Dropping Leandro Trossard back to play alongside Havertz would be an aggressive move but would risk leaving Arsenal too open. Shifting either Oleksandr Zinchenko or Jurrien Timber forward into midfield could help Arteta maximise continuity in their build-up play.

The closest thing to a like-for-like Odegaard replacement is 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri. It would be his first senior start but he could help Arsenal maintain their balance. Using an inexperienced teenager would also be the strongest rebuttal Arteta could serve to those sceptical of his willingness to trust academy players.

GO DEEPER

How do Arsenal adapt if they are missing Odegaard and other first-choice midfielders?

Harris: James Maddison is the only midfielder to have started all of Tottenham’s games this season. The 27-year-old has been accompanied by a rotating cast of Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr or Dejan Kulusevski, depending on the quality of the opposition.

In the second half of their 2-1 defeat by Newcastle, Spurs seemed to strike the right balance with a combination of Bissouma, Maddison and Kulusevski. The former protected the back four, Maddison dropped into pockets of space and sprayed passes across the pitch while Kulusevski drove forward with the ball into threatening positions. It would be a bold call by Postecoglou to start this trio against Arsenal but it might be exactly what is required to take advantage of Rice, Merino and Odegaard’s absences. If Postecoglou wants to be a little more cautious, expect to see Sarr slot in alongside Maddison and Bissouma.

Carey: There were only three games in which Odegaard did not start in the Premier League last season. Two of those were against relegated teams — Burnley and Sheffield United — making Arsenal’s match at Newcastle a decent example of how they set up in the Norwegian’s absence.

Looking at their passing network (below), it is encouraging to see that those right-sided triangles remained and Saka was not dragged deeper. On that day, Havertz was tasked with playing in the right-sided central-midfield role but, this weekend, he is more likely to play to the left or up front.

Having Zinchenko or Timber as ball-playing inside full-backs will add strength to the midfield, so you would expect to see greater numbers in central areas compared with the above graphic, where Jorginho was tasked with locking things down almost single-handedly.

Whoever plays, expect to see the same principles of play with Arsenal and a focus on wide rotations to stretch Spurs’ back line.

Would a win be more significant for Postecoglou or Arteta?

Harris: Postecoglou’s second season in charge of Tottenham has started underwhelmingly. They dominated for large spells against Leicester and Newcastle but failed to win. They tore Everton apart and demonstrated how devastating they can be when everything clicks, but Arsenal will be their toughest test yet.

Tottenham have lost to Arsenal at home for two successive seasons. They only earned one point against them last year and the last time they beat Arsenal was in May 2022 when Antonio Conte was still in charge. If Postecoglou can guide them to victory on Sunday, it would kick their season into gear and be a huge statement of intent.

If Spurs lose, they will have only taken four points out of a possible 12 and the arguments about Postecoglou’s entertaining but divisive style of play will become much louder.

Campbell: This was always going to be the start of a huge week, with a north London derby, a Champions League opener and a visit to Manchester City crammed into eight days.

But the 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion means the pressure on beating Spurs is already ramping up.

Arteta and his Arsenal players can lean on recent triumphs. They have become a team that thrives in big matches. After beating Spurs in May 2022, they went on a 17-game unbeaten streak in London derbies. Against the so-called ‘Big Six’ last season, they took 22 points from 30, becoming only the fourth team to go unbeaten against their rivals in a single season.

A win would not be as significant to Arteta as he has re-established the upper hand in the fixture over the past two seasons but in the context of chasing City, this already feels like a must-win.

What are the key tactical battles?

Harris: Watching Udogie take on Saka will be exciting and Solanke has the difficult task of escaping William Saliba’s clutches.

The key match-up, however, could be Bissouma against Havertz. The Germany international is expected to drop into midfield and, if fit, Bissouma will have the responsibility of tracking his dangerous runs into the box. Bissouma has produced two solid performances after missing the opening game of the season through suspension but can he step up against elite opposition? If Bissouma is not fit enough to play, that task could fall to Bentancur. The Uruguayan is available to start, three days after being charged by the FA over comments he made about team-mate Son.

Keep an eye on Maddison and whoever is tasked with marking him, too. Jorginho and Partey are far less mobile than Rice and Merino, which means Maddison might get that crucial extra second he needs to play a killer pass.

Campbell: It was the pressing of both teams that dominated the first fixture last season and the set-piece superiority of Arsenal that proved decisive in the second game.

Both of those aspects could prove key again, especially if Arsenal field a less dynamic midfield three. Jorginho was caught dithering on the ball in the 2-2 draw as both teams aggressively pressed the first line of build-up (as can be seen from their above-average ‘high press’ scores in The Athletic’s match dashboard below).

Postecoglou will hope his team are better equipped to deal with that challenge, having had a year to get used to his methods. When Pedro Porro and Udogie drift into the centre, Arsenal’s midfield will need to ensure there is no space for Maddison and Bissouma to dictate play.

Carey: One of Arsenal’s key strengths last season was their suffocating, relentless high press.

Their title challenge was built on rock-solid defensive foundations, and that was not exclusively because of their classy centre-backs — it was from their co-ordinated attackers not letting the opposition play out comfortably.

Sure, we are in a new season now but it is worth keeping an eye out for this part of the game when Spurs have the ball in their own third. If both sides show similar character traits from last season, there could be a key tactical battle at one particular end of the field.

How to watch Tottenham vs Arsenal

Sunday, September 15, 2pm BST/9am ET. Watch live on Sky Sports in the UK or USA Network in the United States.

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Dominic Solanke’s journey to becoming Tottenham Hotspur’s £65million ($85.1m) club-record signing has not been conventional.

When he was scoring goals for fun as a teenager in Chelsea’s academy, training alongside Didier Drogba and Diego Costa with the first team, it was assumed he would make a smooth transition into becoming one of the best strikers in the Premier League.

It took a lot longer than was expected. Solanke made one appearance for his boyhood club and a promising move to Liverpool did not work out either.

The centre-forward rebuilt his career with Bournemouth and arrived at Spurs as Harry Kane’s replacement this summer. Ange Postecoglou will hope he plays a leading role in his revolution.

Missing a glorious chance on his debut away to Leicester City and suffering an ankle injury that ruled him out of their next two games was not the ideal start to his Spurs career.

The good news is that Postecoglou confirmed on Friday afternoon that he has trained this week and has a chance of being fit enough to face Arsenal on Sunday. Solanke will become an instant hit with Tottenham’s supporters if he scores in a win against their north London rivals — it would be the perfect way to celebrate turning 27 on Saturday.

Solanke joined Chelsea’s academy as an under-8. He was chauffeured from his home on the outskirts of Basingstoke to training by Adi Viveash, who held a variety of roles in Chelsea’s youth-team setup for nearly a decade, including as head coach of the under-18’s and then the under-21s.

Solanke won the FA Youth Cup twice with Chelsea and scored in the 2015 UEFA Youth League final when they beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 in Switzerland. He was named their academy player of the season in 2014-15 after he scored 41 goals.

“Arsene Wenger saw him in an FA Youth Cup semi-final,” Viveash, who left his role as Coventry City assistant manager in July, told The Athletic this year. “Dom was 16, the second leg was at the Emirates, and Wenger said to me that he hadn’t seen anybody play like that — able to play in (a combination of) the two positions (No 9 and No 10) at a young age and have that football intelligence.

“Him and Tammy (Abraham) scored a ridiculous amount of goals coming through at youth level — it was like a competition — and then, for whatever reason, Dom’s career didn’t go in the path that I certainly thought it would. If there was anyone I would have put my hat on (hitting the top), it was him.”

Solanke’s time at Chelsea overlapped with Jose Mourinho’s second spell in charge. Mourinho spoke highly of Solanke and gave him his debut in a Champions League game against Maribor in October 2014. It was his only appearance. He spent the 2015-16 season on loan with Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem and was frozen out of Chelsea’s plans when he returned due to a contract dispute. In an interview with The Athletic in February, Solanke said his appearance against Maribor felt like a “token”.

“There wasn’t really anyone breaking through to the first team,” he said. “I don’t think there had been anyone who had gone through and stayed there since John Terry. There were some great young players and we were all trying to be the one, but we knew it was going to be difficult because Chelsea could just sign whoever they wanted.”

Solanke’s eye-catching performances for England’s youth teams underlined his talent. He helped them win the Under-17 European Championship in 2014 and was the joint-top scorer at the tournament alongside Jari Schuurman of the Netherlands. He scored twice in a group-stage game against Turkey to help England come from behind to win 4-1, found the back of the net in a 2-0 victory over Portugal in the semi-finals, and gave his side the lead in the final against the Netherlands, which they won on penalties.

John Peacock was in charge of England’s Under-17s and remembers Solanke was “always smiling” and “took on board everything that was asked of him”.

“There was a lot of noise around him because of his ability to score goals and be part of a successful academy team at Chelsea,” Peacock says. “He had a good support network around him. He was a quiet and unassuming character.

“We had an extremely difficult group (at the Euros) and Dominic, like the rest of the team, had to come up with really good performances to qualify for the knockout stage. His technical work and decision-making were of a high level. He is persistent and never lets defenders rest.

“When he was at the finals, he had to do his GSCE exams. He took that in his stride and came away with a lot of A*s. The day before or after we won the final, he had another exam. That shows you the concentration and desire he has to succeed at whatever he does.”

Peacock left his role with the Football Association shortly after that tournament but returned three years later on a short-term contract as an advisor to help the under-20s at the World Cup in South Korea in 2017. Paul Simpson was the head coach and led a team which included Solanke, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman — who finished second with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations this year — Fikayo Tomori and Lewis Cook to a 1-0 victory over Venezuela in the final. Solanke was the player of the tournament.

“The big goal for me would be Mexico in the quarter-finals,” Peacock says. “Lewis Cook played a fantastic through ball and Dominic slotted it away. It wasn’t an easy chance to take.”

In that summer, Solanke left Chelsea to join Liverpool. A few months later, Gareth Southgate called him up to England’s senior squad for the first time. The forward made his debut in a 0-0 draw with Brazil at Wembley when he replaced Jamie Vardy. It looked like his career was back on track.

Eighteen months later, he left Anfield with one goal in 27 games — with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino as competition — and has not played for England since.

Solanke’s £19million move to Bournemouth in January 2019 was a fresh start. Joshua King and Callum Wilson were the first-choice strikers under Eddie Howe, so Solanke, who was 21, was mainly restricted to coming off the bench.

“He was pleased to find himself somewhere he would be loved,” Steve Cook, who was a senior member of Bournemouth’s squad, tells The Athletic. “He was so good at such a young age, there were massive expectations and that can weigh heavily. He played for two giant clubs where it was going to be difficult to get minutes. He came ready to work and with a lot to prove.”

Things did not go according to plan. Solanke suffered from a few niggling injuries and finished the 2018-19 campaign without a goal. His struggles continued the following season. “We didn’t speak about the lack of goals,” Junior Stanislas, a team-mate on the south coast, says. “His quality was evident in training. His hold-up play, skills and willingness to run in behind — he was someone you always wanted on your team. He brought so much more than goals.”

Solanke found the back of the net for the first time in a 4-1 victory over Leicester in July 2020. It was his 39th appearance for Bournemouth and 60th in the top flight. He only had to wait 20 minutes for his next — a stylish finish with the outside of his right boot that nutmegged Kasper Schmeichel. That result left Howe’s side three points from safety with three games remaining.

“His first goal was massive,” Steve Cook says. “It was a game we had to win, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to stay up. It wasn’t the prettiest of goals and it crept across the line. I don’t think Dom showed he was struggling, he just cracked on. Everyone was delighted for him.”

Stanislas, who is now an academy coach at Bournemouth, believes dropping down into the Championship was “a blessing in disguise” for Solanke. Wilson moved to Newcastle United, while King joined Everton midway through the 2020-21 season. This left Solanke as the main striker under head coach Jason Tindall.

Solanke scored 15 times in the second tier, playing with “freedom” upfront alongside Stanislas and Arnaut Danjuma, but it was a turbulent year in the dugout. Tindall was sacked and replaced by Jonathan Woodgate at the beginning of 2021 before Scott Parker took over in June. Solanke produced the most productive season of his career under Parker, with 29 goals and seven assists in 46 appearances to fire Bournemouth to promotion.

“There were changes with personnel, so there were fresh ideas and you had a young, hungry squad,” Stanislas says. “Dom was confident and you knew you had a goalscorer that you could rely on.

“He is a willing runner, someone who can go in behind, take the pressure off, stretch the line and get you up the pitch. He is just as comfortable coming to feet and he brings others into play. Someone who can do both is difficult to defend against.”

The confidence was flowing and nothing summed up Solanke’s evolution like the 1-1 draw with promotion rivals Fulham. Bournemouth were losing 1-0 when he stepped up to take a penalty in stoppage time. “It was two teams right at the top of the league and it was a big moment,” Stanislas says. “He scored late on and when you’re playing against rivals you have to pick up points. It was a big goal.”

Cook had joined Nottingham Forest and came up against Solanke after Bournemouth’s draw with Fulham. “He has got everything,” the 33-year-old defender, who now plays for Queens Park Rangers, says.

“He has mixed with some top strikers and taken bits from all of them. He can drop into the No 10 position and roam. You never know whether to follow him or stay. When he is confident, his finishing is fantastic. It was a great challenge and difficult coming up against him in training. What stands out is his willingness to learn.”

Solanke produced a modest return of six goals and seven assists during Bournemouth’s first year back in the top flight. He played a direct part in all of the goals in a 3-2 victory over Spurs in April 2023. The forward pressed Pedro Porro and Davinson Sanchez in the build-up to Bournemouth’s first, scored the second and set up Dango Ouattara’s winner.

Solanke’s work rate is one of the reasons Postecoglou was keen to sign him. Nine of the 10 players who covered the most distance in the top flight last season were central midfielders. Solanke was the exception as he ranked eighth by covering 396.9 kilometres.

Andoni Iraola’s appointment as Bournemouth’s head coach helped Solanke hit a new level. He finished with 19 goals in 38 appearances, including a hat-trick against Forest. Iraola said in December that he was becoming “a complete No 9”.

The bigger clubs were on his radar again.

“I don’t think you can ever say someone will be a top performer, but I always felt Dominic would have a good career,” Peacock says. “There are going to be knockbacks and it is about overcoming them. Through resilience and hard work, he has another great challenge in front of him at Tottenham.”

That part of his character is one of the reasons Postecoglou was attracted to him.

“I got a real sense he had a burning desire to take his football to another level and challenge himself at a big club,” Postecoglou said on signing Solanke. “We have got him at a good time. He has had to work his way back up, which is a good thing.”

It is a daunting task replacing Kane, Spurs’ all-time top scorer, but Solanke, according to his former team-mates and coaches, will take the challenge head-on. If he can match or surpass the amount of goals he scored last season, he will not have to wait too much longer for a second England cap.

(Top photo: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)