The 199th north London derby sees us head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (4.30pm), looking to get back to winning ways and continue our recent dominance of this fixture.
We have won six of our last seven league games against Spurs, including the last three at the home of our arch-rivals, we’ll want to keep that form going to once again give all Gooners the local bragging rights, and also collect a big three points before we head into our final 10 league games of the season.
After back-to-back draws on the road, we’re making the short trip to our neighbours, who are under new management following Igor Tudor’s short-term arrival after Thomas Frank was sacked last week, with Spurs hovering dangerously above the drop zone. The former Croatia midfielder was most recently at Juventus, where he was dismissed in October after a poor start to the Serie A season.
No home comforts
After a 17th-place finish last term cost Ange Postecoglou his job despite lifting the Europa League, Frank’s tenure ended last week after a meek 2-1 loss against Newcastle United, which leaves them 16th, five points above the drop zone and with two league wins from their last 17.
The last time they collected three points was at Crystal Palace in December, meaning Spurs are the only side without a Premier League win so far in 2026. They have drawn four and lost four of their last eight games, and since their opening day win against Burnley, the Lilywhites have won just one of their 12 league matches on home soil.
Since the turn of the year, West Ham United and Newcastle have become the latest teams to leave with victories while Sunderland earned a point. However Spurs did come from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Manchester City in front of their own fans at the start of the month, and finished fourth in the Champions League table to book a last 16 spot.
What the managers say
Arteta: "We have a long season. Chapter 27 says, okay, we draw against Wolves in this manner. What I’m very interested in is the next one, it’s what we are made of. Ok, what do we do about this and how we write our own destiny from here and going forward, and that’s it. You have to react to that because life moves on, the result has to stay, unfortunate as it was.
"[The derby] is the one we have after and it’s the one we cannot wait to play. If we could play today, I think we’d all love to play today, to get that feeling that we have in our tummies and use it in the right way and we have to show that on Sunday." - every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference
Tudor: "I understand the importance of this game, this is a north London derby. Everybody expects the three points from us. We are aware of this, but what was my goal in these first sessions is that we became a team, that we became a team in the right meaning of the word, the team who want to suffer when it needs to suffer. To fight, to run, to have the right mentality.
"This is the start. I was working on a lot of things, not everything because football is not only about that. It’s about having a clear idea of what we want to do, with the ball, without the ball, when we’re pressed or when we’re low. So we work a lot, but the start is always about mentality. That’s because the people come before the football player."
Team news
Leandro Trossard came off late on against Wolves but Arteta has said he's fine to feature, as is Bukayo Saka who also had to be withdrawn at Molineux as he manages his fitness.
Martin Odegaard has missed the past couple of matches with a small knee issue, while Kai Havertz has a muscle problem, and they will be assessed in the build-up to see if they can feature. Mikel Merino is out longer-term with a foot injury that required surgery.
As well as a full treatment room, Spurs will be without captain Cristian Romero through suspension. They have lost each of their last six home Premier League games that the Argentinian has missed.
While Dominic Solanke should recover from illness, Pedro Porro and Richarlison are closing in on returns from hamstring injuries that have sidelined them for the past month, but are unlikely to be ready. Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur and Mohammed Kudus are definitely out with the same ailment.
Lucas Bergvall required ankle surgery last month and is out, as is Kevin Danso after snapping a toe ligament. Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are all out long-term with knee injuries, while Ben Davies has a broken ankle.
TALKING TACTICS
Adrian Clarke: Tudor has always had a very clear philosophy. His teams are aggressive on and off the ball, so when we have possession at the back, it’s highly likely Spurs will adopt a hostile man-to-man press. Creating chances through high turnovers is one of his key strategies, but this will represent a big change for Tottenham who currently rank 19th for shots from high turnovers.
The key man in this regard could be attacking midfielder Xavi Simons. The young Belgian has won possession inside the final third 18 times this season, the joint most of any top-flight player. With a couple of assists to his name in 2026, he is also in good form creatively.
Tudor’s stock formation is 3-4-2-1, using a back three in 95% of games in his last three roles. With injuries causing selection issues, that could mean we see Joao Palhinha alongside Radu Dragusin and Micky van de Ven if he goes with his favoured shape. It should be noted that in that formation under Thomas Frank, Spurs did struggle.
On the ball, Tudor’s teams are renowned for their chaos. He encourages players to readily rotate positions, with centre-backs pushing forward, midfielders pulling wide, and wing-backs often popping up behind the striker. This can create confusion for opponents, and the speedy Van de Ven might be a threat in forward areas.
Facts and stats
Tottenham are winless in their last eight Premier League games. They last had a longer run within the same campaign between August and November 2007 (9).
Tottenham have lost their last three league home games against us, as many as they had in their previous 23. They last lost four in a row against us between 1952 and 1955.
We have won six of our last seven league games against Spurs, including each of the last four. We last won five league games in a row against them between January 1987 and January 1989.
Since our last league defeat against Spurs in May 2022, we have lost just one of their 21 away London derby matches in the Premier League (W14 D6), at Fulham in December 2023.
Tottenham have scored more Premier League goals via defenders both overall (10) and as a percentage of their total goals (28%) than any other side this season.
Igor Tudor has won his first match in charge in each of his last five spells at a club, starting with his second spell at Hajduk Split in February 2020, and with Verona, Marseille, Lazio and Juventus since.
Eberechi Eze has scored six goals in his last four Premier League appearances against Spurs, including three in two at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Bukayo Saka has had a hand in six goals across his last eight Premier League appearances against Tottenham (3 goals, 3 assists), either scoring (1) or assisting (2) in each of his last three visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Mikel Arteta has won 41 of his 68 Premier League London derbies as manager, the best win
rate (60.3%) of anyone to take charge of at least 20. Overall, only Arsene Wenger (106 from 194 games) and José Mourinho (42/70) have won more London derbies.
Match officials
This will be the 13th time that Peter Bankes has refereed one of our games, with the last coming earlier in the month when he handled our Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win against Chelsea. He was also the man in the middle for our 2-1 loss at Aston Villa in December. We have won nine times under his watch, but have never received a penalty nor a red card. No ref has shown more reds than his three in the top-flight this term.
It will be the third time the Merseysider has presided over a Spurs game this term, with them beating Manchester City in August and drawing at Burnley last month.
Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistants: Eddie Smart, Blake Antrobus
Fourth official: Sam Barrott
VAR: Darren England
Assistant VAR: Tim Wood
Recent away derbies
We have returned triumphant from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on our last three visits, and we go looking for a fourth straight success at the home of our neighbours for the first time in 71 years.
Last season saw Gabriel power home a header to grab a 1-0 win for The Arsenal, while the campaign before saw us race into a 3-0 before the break thanks to a Pierre-Emile Hojberg own goal and strikes from Saka and Havertz putting our supporters in dreamland. Romero and Heung-min Son pulled goals back to make it a nervy ending, but we held on for the points.
Back in January 2023, we notched our first victory at the venue courtesy of a 2-0 success, with a Hugo Lloris own goal and an Odegaard strike setting us on our way to our first league double over our rivals for seven years.
Live coverage
Tune into Arsenal.com and the official app from 4.25pm on Sunday for live commentary of the clash, with Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke keeping you right up to date with all the derby day goings-on.