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If there are two players Arsenal don't want to be without then it's Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.

Whatever happens, the one thing you're assured of in the North London derby is goals and Arsenal will need to score goals. That gets cut now without those two playing.

Rice takes the ball up the pitch and Odegaard makes things happen in the final third. I don't think there's anybody that can replace Odegaard. He's a very, very special player and would be the first name on the teamsheet. Arsenal need him in the big moments to pick the right pass.

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I'm trying to pick a midfield three and I can't. They might be good on the ball, but they're not going to get it back when Tottenham have it. That's the worry for me. Jorginho likes to sit there and I don't think Thomas Partey can go and play as a No 8.

Tottenham will be able to go through the lines because Arsenal aren't going to have the players that know the position inside out.

Odegaard doesn't go around and tackle people, but he does close people down. He knows the position and Rice is one of the best at his job.

In my opinion, Mikel Arteta has now got to drop Kai Havertz back into the midfield but then there's no Gabriel Jesus to play as the striker. They will probably end up playing with a false nine - that should be Leandro Trossard with Raheem Sterling on the wing.

Against this Tottenham team, you have to have players who are prepared to run without the ball to get in behind a high line and Sterling does that.

Arsenal's title hopes rest on Spurs and City trips

Arsenal's Premier League season all comes down to the next two games against Tottenham and Man City. They need four points. It's as simple as that.

If they get anything less, then you start to worry because you're playing catch-up against a machine in Man City.

If they draw against Spurs and lose at Man City a week later, they're probably going to be seven points behind and I think that would be it. I know there are 30-odd games left but I just can't see how they make up the seven points.

I was very bullish last year saying Arsenal would definitely win the North London Derby but I'm not so sure this season - and it's a game they can't afford to lose in the title race.

Last season, Arsenal dominated and then all of a sudden they let in a goal and you could only see one result, and that was Tottenham coming back.

I don't think there's a lot wrong with Tottenham at the moment. They have been bang unlucky. They could easily be sitting on nine points and top of the league.

Tottenham dominated Leicester and then should have got a draw against Newcastle at worst. They end up drawing and losing those two games.

With experience, you make sure you don't get beat at Newcastle and at Leicester when it did go 1-1, they didn't look like they were going to score again and that would have been worrying.

But that comes with experience and another year and another year. Look how long it took Man City to win the Champions League.

It's the same with the Premier League, the manager would have come away and gone, you know what, we should have just not lost against Newcastle.

At the time you're thinking if they don't win this game, they've just dropped two points.

There's not a lot in it at the moment with Spurs. They've not been as bad as what people probably think only because of the points they've got. The performances haven't been that bad.

Solanke takes Spurs to next level but what do Arsenal have?

Dominic Solanke is a good signing and takes Tottenham to another level.

What he's got to get used to is if you miss a few good chances then you're under the microscope. With no disrespect, when you're playing for Bournemouth and you miss three chances, there are no headlines about it. He'll have to get used to being at a big club and putting his chances away.

When he starts scoring, I think he could get 20 goals this season whereas Arsenal might be short of a centre forward. I'm not sure they did enough in the transfer window.

Rice is suspended and Odegaard and Mikel Merino are injured, so you'd think Havertz probably drops back into midfield but then Gabriel Jesus is injured - and wouldn't score 20 goals - and they got rid of Eddie Nketiah, so now you're looking at having to play someone else up there.

He could play Trossard or even Sterling but that's a big ask for a winger to play up front at a new club.

You might get away with it for two or three games playing a false nine, but you wouldn't want to go seven, eight, nine games with one.

Our football betting expert Jones Knows is back to provide his insight on every Premier League game and tips up a goals angle in the North London derby.

Tottenham vs Arsenal, Sunday 2pm, live on Sky Sports - PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!

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Due to Arsenal's selection issues in midfield, with no Martin Odegaard or Declan Rice, I can see Mikel Arteta treating this game like a Champions League knockout game away from home in a partisan atmosphere. Getting out of there with a point will be seen as a good result.

It will be low-risk football with the aim of silencing the home crowd at every opportunity, and I'm confident in Arsenal being able to frustrate Spurs based on their spectacular road record. Arsenal have taken 28 points from a possible 30 away from home in 2024 and are yet to trail on the road this year. It's a defence that has conceded just three goals in those 10 games.

Paul Merson: Impossible to fix Arsenal midfield without Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard

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The way to frustrate an Ange Postecoglou side is to defend in numbers and block the overloads out wide as Spurs aren't very streetwise at trying to break down low-block defences. They are becoming a team that posts lots of shots but their expected goals return doesn't quite match up - that points to an issue with creating high-quality chances.

I think Arsenal can send this game down a low-scoring avenue with the 11/8 with Sky Bet on under 2.5 goals representing some great value.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1 | JONES KNOWS' BEST BET: Under 2.5 goals (11/8 with Sky Bet - part of 7/1 weekend treble!)

Wolves vs Newcastle, Sunday 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports - PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!

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The predicted intense midfield battle is where my betting instincts have taken me for this one.

Newcastle's trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and possibly Sandro Tonali are all in-your-face kind of midfielders that make a high volume of fouls.

If you total up their fouls-committed averages from last season, they are making 5.8 fouls per 90 between them. Even this season, Joelinton and Guimaraes have made 18 fouls combined in the Premier League.

I'm expecting similar averages for the trip to Molineux where I like the look of Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina's prices to be fouled up against that fouling frenzy of a Newcastle midfield.

He's drawn 15 fouls in his last 14 starts for Wolves, including two in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend, so the 7/2 with Sky Bet for him to be fouled twice looks a runner.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1

Jones Knows' best bets of the weekend...

Our football betting expert Jones Knows is back to provide his insight on every Premier League game and tips up a goals angle in the North London derby.

Tottenham vs Arsenal, Sunday 2pm, live on Sky Sports - PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!

Stream this game and more with NOW

Due to Arsenal's selection issues in midfield, with no Martin Odegaard or Declan Rice, I can see Mikel Arteta treating this game like a Champions League knockout game away from home in a partisan atmosphere. Getting out of there with a point will be seen as a good result.

It will be low-risk football with the aim of silencing the home crowd at every opportunity, and I'm confident in Arsenal being able to frustrate Spurs based on their spectacular road record. Arsenal have taken 28 points from a possible 30 away from home in 2024 and are yet to trail on the road this year. It's a defence that has conceded just three goals in those 10 games.

Paul Merson: Impossible to fix Arsenal midfield without Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard

Five-phase plan, job title change, Edu bond - How Mikel Arteta changed Arsenal

The way to frustrate an Ange Postecoglou side is to defend in numbers and block the overloads out wide as Spurs aren't very streetwise at trying to break down low-block defences. They are becoming a team that posts lots of shots but their expected goals return doesn't quite match up - that points to an issue with creating high-quality chances.

I think Arsenal can send this game down a low-scoring avenue with the 11/8 with Sky Bet on under 2.5 goals representing some great value.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1 | JONES KNOWS' BEST BET: Under 2.5 goals (11/8 with Sky Bet - part of 7/1 weekend treble!)

Wolves vs Newcastle, Sunday 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports - PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!

Stream this game and more with NOW

The predicted intense midfield battle is where my betting instincts have taken me for this one.

Newcastle's trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and possibly Sandro Tonali are all in-your-face kind of midfielders that make a high volume of fouls.

If you total up their fouls-committed averages from last season, they are making 5.8 fouls per 90 between them. Even this season, Joelinton and Guimaraes have made 18 fouls combined in the Premier League.

I'm expecting similar averages for the trip to Molineux where I like the look of Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina's prices to be fouled up against that fouling frenzy of a Newcastle midfield.

He's drawn 15 fouls in his last 14 starts for Wolves, including two in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend, so the 7/2 with Sky Bet for him to be fouled twice looks a runner.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1

Jones Knows' best bets of the weekend...

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has refused to rule Martin Odegaard out for Sunday's North London derby, while Micky van de Ven is expected to return for Tottenham.

Arteta's comments come as a surprise after Odegaard suffered an ankle injury for Norway during the international break, which the team doctor said would likely take three weeks to heal.

Arteta, who is already without Declan Rice (suspension) and Mikel Merino (injury), insists Odegaard could still be available for the trip Spurs.

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He said: "We need some more tests. Let's see what happens in the next day or so. [It will be Friday] afternoon probably. Let's see the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back. Martin wants to be here every day but we have to wait and see.

"I leave that to the doctor. He's willing and he wants to be present in every game. We need to make sure we know first how good he is or not.

"Players with 48 hours are always available. Let's see what happens."

Gabriel Jesus has missed Arsenal's last two games with a groin injury, but is expected to return if he comes through the training sessions before Sunday's game.

New-signing Riccardo Calafiori, meanwhile, will be assessed over the weekend before a decision is taken on his availability.

Spurs are set to have Van de Ven and Dominic Solanke fit for Sunday's visit of Arsenal after they missed the defeat at Newcastle before the international break.

A late call will be made on Yves Bissouma after he sustained an issue while away with Mali on international duty.

"Micky's good, he's trained all the way through the international break and it was good for him to stay with us to build him back up so he's ready to go," Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou told the official club website.

"Dom's improved as well and trained the back half of this week. We still have two days to go with those guys so hopefully they get through training OK and are available."

On Bissouma, Postecoglou said: "He's got a bit of an issue, but we'll have a look at him over the next couple of days and see how it settles."

Arsenal's next seven games - will this define their season?

September 15: Tottenham (A), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 2pm

September 19: Atalanta (A), Champions League, kick-off 8pm

September 22: Man City (A), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 4.30pm

September 25: Bolton (H), Carabao Cup third round, live on Sky Sports+, kick-off 7.45pm

September 28: Leicester (H), Premier League, kick-off 3pm

October 1: Paris Saint-Germain (H), Champions League, kick-off 8pm

October 5: Southampton (H), Premier League, kick-off 3pm

Arsenal told to wear away kit at Tottenham

The Premier League has ruled that Arsenal must wear their away kit during this weekend's trip to Tottenham, live on Sky Sports, due to a kit clash with Spurs.

The Gunners always wear their traditional home kit of red and white for both north London derby fixtures, but the Premier League and refereeing body PGMOL have ruled that Arsenal's current home strip "features too much white, thus clashing with Tottenham's traditional colours".

Arsenal will therefore wear their black away shirt for this Sunday's match, with the Premier League also ruling that Tottenham must wear their away shirt for January's trip to the Emirates as well.

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Gabriel Magalhaes headed Arsenal to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Tottenham in a fiery North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Arsenal centre-back rose above Cristiano Romero to power home Bukayo Saka's corner midway through the second half as Tottenham's set-piece frailty proved costly again.

The goal came from one of few clear chances in a tense and dogged encounter which featured eight yellow cards, including seven in the first half, equalling a Premier League record.

As it happened: How Arsenal edged to victory

How the teams lined up | Match stats

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Tottenham started the game strongly but couldn't find a breakthrough as David Raya denied Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke sent a looping header just past the post.

Those first-half chances were as close as they came, bar a late, long-range effort from Kulusevski which flew narrowly over, with Arsenal producing an outstanding defensive display, led by scorer Gabriel and his centre-back partner William Saliba.

The victory, their third in a row at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, ensures Mikel Arteta's side remain within two points of champions Manchester City ahead of next Sunday's blockbuster showdown at the Etihad Stadium, which is live on Sky Sports.

Ange Postecoglou's side, meanwhile, are left with only four points from their first four Premier League games of the season, making it Tottenham's worst start to a campaign since the 2015/16 season under Mauricio Pochettino.

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