Prediction: Tottenham vs Arsenal

With the two sides so close to top 4 positions, this North London derby is likely to be even more intense than the previous ones, and another positive is that both teams go into the match high on spirits. Arsenal appear to be in better form at the moment, but the Gunners will be without Alexis Sanchez, whilst Spurs will be heavily relying on the magnificent Harry Kane.

Tottenham did really well to revive their Champions League hopes following the slow start to the season, with Mauricio Pochettino needing a while to find his strongest line-up as well as the right balance in the side. Team’s uptrend in fortunes coincided with the introduction of Harry Kane into the starting line-up, and the 21-year-old quickly developed into a key member of the squad, together with Christian Eriksen. The back line have remained as shaky as ever, but Spurs started showing serious improvement up front, with the good string of results seeing them climb to within two points of Champions League positions. And while they were eliminated from the FA Cup, Tottenham secured a League Cup final berth with a hard-fought triumph over League One side Sheffield United, and they are now set to battle local rivals Chelsea for the coveted trophy. But, they will first have to negotiate the North London derby against Arsenal, a team that have won each of their last five fixtures. It remains to be seen whether Nabil Bentaleb will be recalled after returning from international duty, and the good news is there are absolutely no selection worries for Mauricio Pochettino at the moment.

As that is usually the case, Arsenal experienced all sorts of problems in the first part of the season, but the team appear to be finally returning to the right track. After summer recruit Alexis Sanchez almost single-handedly won a number of games for the Gunners, his teammates have started to chip in, with Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and fit-again Mesut Ozil all pretty impressive of late. While they did well to secure their place in the FA Cup fifth round, Arsenal seriously improved their league position with three impressive victories in a row, scoring 10 goals in the process and keeping three straight clean sheets. It was the 2-0 triumph over Manchester City at Etihad that hinted the Gunners are finally ready to match England’s top sides and no doubt that win will give players plenty of reasons for optimism ahead of the trip to White Hart Lane. Alexis Sanchez’s injury is seen as a major blow given that the Chilean is almost certain to miss the North London derby, just like Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Debuchy. The good news is that Danny Welbeck has recovered from injury, while Hector Bellerin could again be preferred to Calum Chambers having largely impressed in the 5-0 victory over Aston Villa.

Conclusion

Tottenham have been very dangerous up front of late and having hammered Chelsea 4-2 in the previous high-profile match at White Hart Lane, they can be trusted to make life difficult for Arsenal as well. The Gunners may be missing Alexis Sanchez, but with so many attack-minded players in good form, they have got to be considered favourites in this match.

Verdict: Over 2.5 goals

Best Odds: 7/10

Bookmaker: bet365