Five things Tottenham can expect from Arsenal on Sunday

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LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 08: Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal gets past Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp of Tottenham Hotspur Hotspur during the Pre-season friendly between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on August 08, 2021, in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

Under Mikel Arteta Arsenal uses a variety of formations and players, however, there are several things Tottenham can anticipate with the Gunners ahead of Sunday’s North London Derby. Here are five things Spurs can expect when they travel to the Emirates.

Point 1: Arsenal is going to look to get on top early

Much like Tottenham Hotspur tries to jump out of the box and start games strong, so too does Arsenal. As the home team with a likely hyped-up derby crowd, Tottenham should fully anticipate a huge push from Arsenal early.

After a shaky start to their season, Arsenal has seemingly righted their ship with three straight wins in all competitions and three successive clean sheets. The fans at the Emirates are wanting to believe in their team, thus an early lead could really help put the Gunners over the top.

Alternatively, if Tottenham can leverage that aggressiveness and hit Arsenal with a quick counter or two, we have seen the Gunners defence is quite susceptible. Even if Spurs cannot find a counter and an early goal against the anticipated pressure from Arsenal, simply getting through those opening 10-15 minutes level will be very important.

Point 2: Spurs center-backs are going to be busy

Arsenal is not a team that plays a lot of long balls but they do like to move the ball up the pitch quickly and attempt a lot of through balls to Pierre -Emerick Aubameyang. Aubameyang is your classic number nine who likes to hang on the shoulder of the last defender and use his speed and quickness to beat the defender to the ball and get in on goal.

Although his only goal this season – and the Gunners only from open play in the league – was a tap-in from a scrum against Norwich, Aubameyang is still getting his shots and chances.

If the pairing for Tottenham is Cristian Romero and Eric Dier, as it was against Chelsea, it could leave Dier exposed if he is one-on-one with Aubameyang. We know Romero likes to Rome and jump the ball, trusting in his ability to recover, it should be an interesting game of cat and mouse and Auba looks for space between the backs.