Preview of the North London Derby a Tottenham Perspective
By Aaron Coe
Tottenham travels across north London to the Emirates to take on Arsenal Sunday afternoon in the 132nd meeting between the two clubs. While Arsenal still has a sizable lead in the overall match-up with 54 wins compared to just 38 for Tottenham and 39 draws, the Lilywhites are unbeaten in their last five matches against the Gunners, last falling in February 2018 at the Emirates.
Unbeaten runs – Spurs have won three and drawn two in the five streak – mean little when you are talking about a rivalry match-up. Particularly when the two sides are in such different positions in the table as Tottenham and Arsenal currently find themselves.
Tottenham has Everything to Lose
The top four is something that Tottenham will only get if they play lights out the rest of the way. Given Arsenal are a further seven points adrift of Tottenham and five teams stand between Arsenal and fourth-place Chelsea, the Gunners have very little chance of reaching the top four.
Whereas Arsenal only has a 3% chance of reaching the top four according to fivethirtyeight.com Tottenham has a 27% chance of reaching the promised land through the league. Given that the Spurs have a realistic shot and the Gunners basically have 10 hail mary’s they need to complete the game means much more to Tottenham in terms of positioning than it possibly can to Arsenal. As has been the case for several weeks now, every game Tottenham is playing from here on out is a final. If they drop any points, let alone lose the 1 in 4 chances of making the top four will quickly evaporate.
One could argue Arsenal has a shot and every game is a final for them just like Tottenham. However, realistically the Gunners are playing more for pride and maybe an outside shot at Europa League than the top four at this point. That said, it is again a derby and not just a derby but the North London Derby so table position is not that significant. So how exactly are the teams playing, who can we look for to shine, and what can we expect in the 132nd North London Derby?