The North London derby headlines this weekend’s slate of Premier League action, as two bitter arch-rivals will clash on Sunday afternoon. Visiting Tottenham Hotspur sit just three points ahead of host Arsenal FC in the current Premier League table, and the fight for Champions League qualifications places will be fierce.
Another big London club, Chelsea, sits sandwiched between the two North London sides doing battle here, and by the end of Sunday we’ll see where we stand, and if some shuffling had occurred.
Let’s take a look at the fitness situation for both sides.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery has five players with fitness concerns. Striker Alexandre Lacazette is a doubt due to a groin injury, but defender Stephan Lichtsteiner has now returned to full training, having recovered from a hamstring problem.
Defenderย Laurent Koscielny (Achilles) is a doubt for this one, while the Gunners have three long term absentees: Defenders Nacho Monreal (hamstring) andย Konstantinos Mavropanos (groin) and forwardย Danny Welbeck (ankle).
Flipping over to the visitors,ย Davinson Sanchez is out due to a hamstring problem. Likewise for midfielder Mousa Dembele, who has an ankle injury.
Defendersย Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier are both back in action, having recovered from groin injuries.
Arsenal FC vs Tottenham Hotspur FYIs
Starting XI Predictions: go to this link
Press Conference videos, quotes: coming Friday
Kickoff: Sunday, December 2nd, 905 EST, 205pm GMT, Emirates Stadium, London
Odds via Odds Checker:ย Arsenalย 13/8ย ย Draw 77/29ย Tottenham Hotspurย 7/4
Prediction:ย Arsenal 2, Tottenham Hotspur 2
As always, feel free to post your own Tottenham and/or Arsenal starting XI prediction, as well your best guess as to what the final score will be.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit onย WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.ย
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.comย and Chicago Now.ย Follow him on Twitterย andย Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.
