Arsenal v Tottenham preview: Gunners aim to continue fine run in 184th north London derby

Arsenal will be hoping to maintain their strong home record against Tottenham in the season's first north London derby on Sunday.

The Gunners have lost just one of the last 26 meetings with Spurs at home in all competitions, winning 15 of those games.

Tottenham's only win at Arsenal in the last 23 years came in November 2010 when Younes Kaboul netted a late winner in a 3-2 victory.

Arsenal are currently in stunning form, winning 11 of their last 12 matches in all competitions while Tottenham are enduring a tough run of results.

Mauricio Pochettino's men have failed to win any of their last six matches in all competitions, but are only three points off top spot in the Premier League.

Despite the winless run, this is Tottenham's best ever start to a Premier League season and they are the only team in the league that are unbeaten (five wins, five draws).

Team news

Hector Bellerin is expected to return for Arsenal after he limped out of training on Monday with a minor knock.

The Spanish full-back was not part of the Champions League squad that travelled to Bulgaria to play Ludogorets on Tuesday.

Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal are also close to full fitness after injuries but will face late fitness tests ahead of the match. Kieran Gibbs suffered a shoulder injury in midweek and will also be assessed.

Pochettino has confirmed that Toby Alderweireld is out of the derby, but Harry Kane will be in the Tottenham squad.

Mousa Dembele and Erik Lamela are both rated doubtful while Moussa Sissoko will also be unavailable as he serves the final game of his suspension.

Eric Dier is likely to continue at centre-back alongside Jan Vertonghen.

Opta stats

Arsenal are winless in their last four Premier League north London derbies (D3 L1) - they've never gone five without a win against Tottenham in the league under Arsene Wenger.

Pochettino is undefeated as a manager in his four Premier League north London derbies. No Spurs manager has ever gone unbeaten in their first five league games against Arsenal in top-flight history.

The team scoring first has failed to win this fixture on 23 occasions, the highest number in Premier League history (15 draws, eight defeats).

The Gunners have scored at least once in 42 of their last 43 meetings with Tottenham in all competitions.

Arsenal have lost just one of their last 20 Premier League games (W12 D7 L1).

Tottenham are without defeat in their first 10 league games of a season for the first time since 1990/91. They eventually finished 10th that season.

Arsenal have averaged 1.59 points per game in November during Wenger's reign at the club; their worst performing month in the Premier League under the Frenchman.

Merson's prediction

If Tottenham play like they did in the Champions League in midweek then you can't see anything but an Arsenal win. It was probably their worst-ever performance under Pochettino. If Arsenal watched that they'll be thinking they've just got to turn up and get the three points, but of course it doesn't work like that.

That being said, though, I'm still going to go for the Gunners to win this game. If they're at it straight away then I don't see Tottenham being able to live with them. Form does go out the window for a game like this but six games without a win is a lot for Spurs and their confidence doesn't look great.

Arsenal vs Tottenham: Preview and Prediction

Arsenal vs Tottenham
England Premier League.
Date: Sunday, 6th November 2016,
Kick-off at 12:00 UK.
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London.

The world of football will be seeing the 42nd North London Derby of the 21st century on Sunday when the two harsh neighbours – Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur lock horns at the Emirates Stadium. They will be looking straight into each other eye for what will definitely be the most anticipated game in Europe this weekend. This is one of the most important showdown for every Arsenal and Spurs faithful. Season in, season out, the North London fans have pride to fight for.

The gunners extended their unbeaten run to 15 games in all competition on Tuesday after staging a sumptuous comeback during mid-week Champions League clash to defeat Ludogorets in Bulgaria. Back in the
English Premier League, Arsenal have picked up 7 wins and 2 draws since their matchday 1 defeat to Liverpool. They sit second on the league table with 23 points, same points as Manchester City and Liverpool

Tottenham remain unbeaten in the Premier League after 10 games this season. However, they are coming on the back of a horrific run. They were held to consecutive draws in the last three league fixtures. They are currently 5th in the league table, but only 3 points separate them from Arsenal. Spurs are coming on the back of a disappointing 1-0 loss against Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen.

Key Fact

Arsenal is currently on a 15 games unbeaten run, and have lost just one of their first 5 home games at home. The gunners scored 8 goals in the last 3 games played at the Emirate stadium, dropping point once in 7 consecutive home games in all competition.

Tottenham currently maintain 10 league games unbeaten run, a perfectly balanced result of 5 wins 5 draw in their first 10 league of the season. Spurs will playing their 6th away games of the season, having won 2 and drew 3 of their first 5.

Arsenal vs Tottenham: Head-to-Head Statistics

Both sides shared the spoils when they met during the 2015/2016 season..

However, Arsenal won 5 of the last 10 north London, compared to Spurs 2. In addition, Spurs last victory at the Emirate stadium happened during 2010/2011, a 5 goals north London thriller that saw spurs coming from 2-0 deficit to win the game with 3-2 score line.

Tottenham Hotspur have managed to beat Arsenal only once in the last 8 meetings in all competitions.

The two meetings of the 2015/16 Premier League season has ended in draws. A total of 6 goals was scored over two legs; 1-1 at the Emirates and 2-2 at the White Hart Lane.

Spurs have managed back-to-back draws in their last two visits to the Emirates. But Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 6 home games against Spurs in all competitions, with 4 wins in a row behind the 2 draws.

This will be the 166th London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham. The Gunners lead the overall head-to-head with 68 wins as against Spur’s 51 wins, while 46 matches end in draws.

Arsenal vs Tottenham: Prediction

The form guide heavily favours Arsene Wenger’s team to grab a crucial win in the first London derby against Tottenham in the 2016/17 season. They do have a lot of players missing through injuries, but it is something that Wenger deals with every season.

Spurs have a serious goal-scoring crisis. They haven’t won in the last 6 matches in all competitions and managed only 3 goals during the period. They will be handed a mini boost as Harry Kane is expected to return from his injury. As things stand Arsenal look set to grab a very important victory against one of their fiercest rivals.