More than the pride of North London at stake as Arsenal welcome Spurs

Arsenal host the North London derby on Sunday afternoon, where Spurs look to stop The Gunners making it 19 games unbeaten and continue their impressive start to the campaign.

A fixture that has been hotly contested for decades has been given a new lease of life in recent years as the gap between the two sides has narrowed, even the question of which North London club is the best has been asked in recent years.

The form of both sides has been solid and there is a feel-good factor around Arsenal which has been missing for seasons on end. Unai Emery has taken over from Arsene Wenger and given Arsenal a new direction, grit and determination which is resonating with the fans off the pitch. Couple that with an unbeaten run of 18 games and the Arsenal fans firmly believe they are on the way back to their former glory.

Tottenham have won their last five games in all competitions and Mauricio Pochettino will be thankful they have negotiated a tough week so far. A comprehensive 3-1 win over Chelsea last weekend was followed by a hard fought 1-0 win over Inter Milan to keep Champions League hopes alive.

Arsenal have no new injury news. Danny Welbeck, Nacho Monreal and Konstantino Mavropanos are still out with injuries, although Alexandre Lacazette will be in for a return to action in the Premier League after missing last weekend’s 2-1 win at Bournemouth.

Pochettino, meanwhile, has several injury concerns which have depleted an already small squad. Erik Lamela picked up a knock against Inter which makes him doubtful for the derby, whilst Davinson Sanchez, Moussa Dembele, Victor Wanyama and Kieran Trippier remain out with problems.

Spurs will hope to rectify a poor record at The Emirates having won just once in the last 25 league games there, the last coming in 2010 in a 3-2 victory. Harry Kane has managed six goals in his last seven games against their fierce rivals, he will be hoping to add another to that on Sunday.

Emery will want to exact revenge on Pochettino for their last meeting as managers, the Spurs boss guided his Espanyol side to a 4-0 win over Valencia in La Liga in 2012.

These derbies are always fuelled by the pride of North London at stake as well as the race for the Champions League qualification spots. Both sides come into the game on good form, but defensively both have been fragile, that is where the game will be won and lost this time around.