Spurs host their fierce rivals Arsenal in the North London Derby on Sunday as fans are welcomed back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time in nine months.
Jose Mourinho’s side find themselves top of the league after 10 games having lost just once all season, while the Gunners have endured their worst-ever start to a Premier League season and sit 14th in the table.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Mikel Arteta labelled Sunday’s derby as the “perfect game to get a lift”. A victory could kickstart Arsenal’s season and bring much needed confidence back into the squad, however recent history shows they haven’t won a league game at Tottenham since 2014.
A win for Spurs, meanwhile, would give their title credentials a huge boost and send out a big statement of intent to the rest of the league. In his pre-match press conference Jose Mourinho said North London Derbies are “nothing to do with form,” so he’ll be ensuring his players show no signs of complacency on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho has said he expects Harry Kane to be fit after missing Spurs’ Europa League game on Thursday, but there are doubts over the availability of Hugo Lloris for Sunday’s derby. Erik Lamela is out with a calf injury.
Arsenal have been boosted by Thomas Partey’s return to training, however it’s still touch and go on whether he’ll be fit enough to start the game. Nicolas Pepe will serve the second game of his three-match ban, while Gabriel Martinelli remains sidelined as he works his way back to full fitness after a lengthy knee injury.
