International break is always boring and tedious, but this one hit a little harder because it came so close after a weekend in which matches were cancelled, due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. And thus, we’re in a month with even less meaningful club football than we expected.
And that means this weekend’s action will be even more anticipated than usual, and it just so happens that one of the two headliner fixtures, the North London Derby, is the very first match of the weekend.
Arsenal vs Tottenham FYIs
Kick Off: Oct 1, 2022, at 12.30 pm UK at Emirates Stadium
After Extra Time Pod: Spotify Apple
Team News: Tottenham
Starting XI Prediction: Arsenal Tottenham
Google Result Probability: Arsenal 46% Draw 26% Tottenham 28%
PL Position, Form Guide: Arsenal 1st, 18pts WWL-W Tottenham 3rd, 17pts WDW-W
Time for an Arsenal early team news update.
This comes via football.london who report that:
“Arsenal have received positive news on Kieran Tierney’s fitness ahead of the North London Derby with Tottenham on Saturday and remain hopeful that Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu could all be available for the game.”
As we covered earlier this week, Partey pulled out of Ghana’s game with Brazil due to what had been labeled a knock, but it appears that the issue was just precautionary. He’s expected to train on Wednesday, according to various reports.
As for Tierney, the official site posted a couple days ago, when the defender returned to the club: “as a precaution after being substituted due to sustaining a head injury whilst playing for Scotland in their UEFA Nations League fixture against the Republic of Ireland.”
Regarding Zinchenko, he did not join up with Ukraine this international period after having suffered a calf issue ahead of the Gunners’ last match ahead of the break.
Finally, in regards to Tomiyasu, he returned from international duty ahead of schedule, but not due to injury.
He played the full 90 minutes in Japan’s embarrassing and routing the USMNT this past Friday.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.