Daily Cannon

Tottenham head into the North London derby with a growing injury crisis, with up to 13 players unavailable or doubtful for Sunday’s game against Arsenal.

Arsenal, as you know, have their own problems, with injury ruling out Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, Gabriel, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres.

Spurs’ situation, however, is worse.

They will be without James Maddison (knee), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Dominic Solanke (ankle), Ben Davies (thigh), Radu Dragusin (knee), Yves Bissouma (ankle), Archie Gray (calf), Randal Kolo Muani (jaw) and Kota Takai (thigh).

There are also doubts over Lucas Bergvall (concussion), Mohammed Kudus and Pape Matar Sarr. Cristian Romero is being assessed but is expected to play.

The North London derby arrives with Arsenal eight points ahead of Spurs in the Premier League table, with one more goal scored and five fewer conceded.

Recent history is also in Arsenal’s favour. They have won five of the last six Premier League meetings, drawing the other, and are on their longest winning run in the fixture since the late 1980s.

Tottenham have lost seven of their last nine league games against Arsenal, the same number of defeats they suffered across the previous 25. Their record at the Emirates is even worse. Arsenal have lost just once in their last 32 Premier League home games against Spurs, a 3-2 defeat in 2010, and have scored in all 26 home derbies since.

Arsenal have also scored at least twice in each of the last eight home meetings, their longest home scoring streak against any opponent in the Premier League.

The North London derby rarely follows any script, but on form, availability and with the weight of their recent record, Spurs arrive at the Emirates for the first time under Thomas Frank with far more to overcome than the Gunners.

The pressure, however, is all on Mikel Arteta‘s side who will hope to maintain their four-point lead over Manchester City, who could cut that gap to a single point on Saturday evening when they play Newcastle United.

On Sunday, Michael Oliver returns to referee an Arsenal game for the first time since he farcically sent off Myles Lewis-Skelly in January.

Michael Oliver is set to make his long-awaited return to refereeing Arsenal matches this weekend, taking on the north London derby on Sunday.

The Premier League have confirmed their match appointments for the upcoming round of fixtures following the November international break, and Michael Oliver will referee Arsenal’s north London derby match against Spurs at the Emirates Stadium.

Oliver will be assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, with Michael Salisbury as the fourth official.

Stuart Attwell will be on VAR, with Constantine Hatzidakis as his assistant VAR for the match.

Michael Oliver has significant experience refereeing Arsenal matches, taking on games involving the Gunners on 62 occasions already. The only team he’s refereed more times is Liverpool (67).

Yet after refereeing at least five Arsenal matches in four of the last five seasons, Oliver stopped at just four games in 2024/25, and it’s now been almost 10 months since he last took one of the Gunners’ games.

It’s not hard to figure out why, as Oliver’s last game involved controversially sending off Myles Lewis-Skelly. It was an incorrect decision, and it was subsequently overturned after an appeal, but not before Arsenal fans had made their feelings transparently clear.

With all the scrutiny around Oliver’s mistake, the PGMOL wisely decided not to give him any further Arsenal matches for the remainder of the season, nor the first few months of the new campaign.

Yet they’re now bringing him back for the north London derby, which seems like a risk. The fixture is bound to force Oliver to make big calls, and he may not leave Sunday’s match any more popular with Arsenal fans than he’ll start it.

Amid worrying injury news involving Gabriel Magalhaes, one positive update for Arsenal is that Riccardo Calafiori is expected to be fit by this weekend.

With Gabriel Magalhaes now a major doubt to face Tottenham Hotspur on November 23rd due to injury, there’s additional concern from supporters over whether Riccardo Calafiori will be fit for the match.

Despite being called up by Italy, Calafiori missed both of their games over the break with a hip injury, returning to Arsenal early.

Yet there’s good news on that front, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that the defender will “100%” be ready for the Spurs game. Arsenal have run their own checks and confirmed there’s no serious injury, so the defender should be fit by the time club football returns this weekend.

Even ignoring Gabriel’s injury, there’s understandably increased scrutiny around Calafiori’s fitness following his debut campaign at the club.

The left-back was absent from 24 of Arsenal’s 58 matchday squads in 2024/25, over 40% of the team’s fixtures, and almost all of those absences were fitness-related.

Things have been a lot different this season so far, with Calafiori featuring in all of Arsenal’s 17 matchday squads to start the season, making the starting lineup on 12 occasions.

The Italy international only started 16 club matches in the entirety of the last campaign, so he’s 75% of the way to matching that total already. It would be a shame for injury to strike again after such a positive run.

Though Calafiori was forced to miss Italy’s World Cup qualifiers, it looks like he’ll be fine to return to the pitch now ahead of Arsenal’s matches against Spurs, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea.

Gabriel Magalhaes is reportedly a ‘major doubt’ to play for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, and even that assessment seems a little optimistic.

After Brazil confirmed news of a thigh injury to Gabriel Magalhaes on Sunday, John Cross reported for the Mirror that the defender is a major doubt to feature in the north London derby on November 23rd.

The results of scans have verified the injury setback, and Gabriel won’t travel to France with Brazil for their next friendly match against Tunisia on Tuesday.

Ed Aarons confirms for The Guardian that Gabriel is a doubt for Sunday’s game against Spurs, adding that Arsenal are concerned their centre-back could be absent for ‘a significant spell’.

Arsenal will reportedly take their time to assess the injury, but there are fears Gabriel could be sidelined for more than just the Spurs game.

That seems likely, given the way he pulled up during a defensive transition. When players pull up with a muscle injury, you rarely see them return to action within a week.

With scans showing that Gabriel has indeed suffered a thigh injury, even the most conservative estimates suggest at least 1-3 weeks out of action. If the injury is more serious, it could be a month or two. A comeback within seven days would be extremely surprising.

Arsenal do have options in defence, with Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera both available to step in, and options to use one of the full-backs at centre-back if necessary.

Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber, and Ben White have all played centrally for Arsenal multiple times in the past, and William Saliba has operated at left-centre-back at times.

But ahead of two London derbies against Spurs and Chelsea and a game against the Champions League leaders in Bayern Munich, Arsenal don’t really have a replacement for Gabriel’s set-piece goals and assists.

It’s a bad time to lose the Brazilian, and others will have to step up in a big way.

A dominant defensive display could not mask attacking problems as Arsenal slipped seven points behind Manchester City.

Arsenal’s failure in the final third on Sunday cost them two points. On a day when Spurs offered little and their threat on the break was well controlled by a defence led by Lotte Wubben-Moy, the forwards could not find a single goal and the match finished 0-0.

It meant Arsenal lost two points on leaders Manchester City, matched Chelsea’s draw at Liverpool and gained one point on Manchester United, who lost away to City.

Arsenal have now fallen out of the title picture as they sit seven points behind Manchester City. The best they can realistically hope for is second place, which would guarantee direct qualification for the UEFA Women’s Champions League league phase. Catching Chelsea, however, still requires making up five points and will be extremely difficult.

This takes us back to the same problem that contributed to Jonas Eidevall’s departure, namely attacking teams who defend in a low or medium block. It was surprising that Spurs chose a counter attacking approach rather than the high press that has worked well for them this season.

There were multiple reasons Arsenal did not score. Lize Kop made important saves whenever she was called on. Arsenal created a good number of opportunities and got shots on goal, but the quality of those chances was not always high enough. The final ball was often lacking given the number of entries into the box from wide areas, and the finishing was not at the required level.

All of this ties back to the overall quality of play. If the collective level is not high enough, breaking down an organised defensive structure becomes extremely difficult.

A significant issue is fitness. Some players still do not look at full capacity after injury, such as Olivia Smith and Chloe Kelly. Others appear tired, lacking the sharpness needed to make the difference in the final third.

Renée Slegers confirmed that Olivia Smith is still returning from the injury she picked up with Canada, and said Beth Mead had been overloaded, which explained her substitution at half time.

It would be useful to know the players’ GPS data, although the club will not release it for obvious reasons. A key player like Mariona Caldentey does not look as creative as she was last season. Playing deeper affects her output, but her ability to accelerate play and create appears reduced, and she has looked tired late in games yet has not always been substituted.

I also noticed that Daphne van Domselaar did not seem as explosive as she was last season in terms of diving speed, and her kicking was imprecise at times. Katie McCabe also does not look quite as strong as last season, although she is substituted more often now, with Taylor Hinds a good option to replace her.

The final match of this block is Real Madrid at home in the Champions League before the international break.

Arsenal need three points, after losing two of their first three games, to climb the table. The hope is that they recover physically and mentally in time to take the win.

Arsenal duo Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli are both set to miss this weekend’s game away to Sunderland, but they could be back in time for the north London derby.

James McNicholas reports for The Athletic that Arsenal are hoping to have both Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli back from injury in time for the game against Tottenham Hotspur after the November internationals.

Both players have remained in London this midweek, with Arsenal travelling to Prague for their Champions League match on Tuesday. But the pair are now working towards comebacks after the November internationals.

McNicholas does add that Gyokeres is undergoing further assessment on his muscle injury, so there are no guarantees he’ll return in time for Spurs. But that’s evidently the target right now.

The update could be taken as either a positive or a negative, depending on your perspective.

On the one hand, the fact neither player will be involved in the two remaining matches this week is certainly a bad thing. Mikel Arteta is going to have to call upon Mikel Merino and perhaps Andre Harriman-Annous to play at centre-forward in the meantime.

But on the other hand, given the uncertainty around both injuries, it’s encouraging that there’s even a chance the duo could be back after the international break.

Arsenal are also hoping to have at least one or two of Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, and Noni Madueke back after the internationals, so the squad could start to look a lot stronger at that point if all goes well.

That’s going to be necessary if Arsenal want to keep picking up results, with matches against Spurs, Bayern, and Chelsea in the space of a week between November 23rd and 30th.

Former Liverpool and Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy believes Arsenal are only going to get stronger as the season goes on, with the Gunners currently leading the Premier League table.

The BBC’s Match of the Day 2 programme on Sunday highlighted a few stats surrounding Arsenal’s defensive performance, pointing out that the Gunners are the best in the league for clean sheets, goals conceded, shots faced, shots on target faced, and xG against.

The underlying stats seem to suggest Arsenal’s strong defensive record is no accident, and the Gunners have earned those clean sheets. Reflecting on the statistics, Danny Murphy was impressed.

“These stats are phenomenal really,” Murphy said. “You work on it in training but you need to have a group of players who are on board with it.

“And that means the ones who were disappointed they didn’t play midweek. Or the ones who are coming off the bench at 64, 68 minutes when they need the same intensity. I mean, Martinelli has been a great example of coming off the bench this season and doing lots of good things.

“When you have a foundation like that you can afford not to score that many goals.”

As a former Liverpool and Spurs player, Murphy would obviously prefer one of his old teams to win the Premier League over Mikel Arteta’s side. But the 48-year-old admitted he’s concerned by the fact Arsenal may not even be at their best just yet.

“The other thing for Arsenal as well, the players they’ve got to come back,” Murphy added. “They’ve got players who are going to come back and give more competition for places.

“And when you get more competition, you get a higher level of performance. It’s a tad worrying to be honest!”

It’s true that Arsenal have some big players to come back. Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, and Noni Madueke would make any Premier League squad stronger, including the current league leaders.

At the same time, there will be concerns about the potential for the absentee list to grow after this weekend, with Gabriel Martinelli, Riccardo Calafiori, Declan Rice, and William Saliba all going off injured against Crystal Palace.

The hope is that all of those four cases turn out to be minor injuries, but just as getting the likes of Odegaard and Madueke would make Arsenal stronger, losing starters like Saliba and Calafiori would have the opposite effect.

So whilst Arsenal can be pleased about their league position and excited for the potential injury comebacks over the next month or so, there are also reasons to avoid getting carried away.

Eberechi Eze has admitted he was prepared to move to Tottenham Hotspur this summer, but only up until Arsenal came in for him.

One of the major transfer sagas of the summer surrounded the future of Eberechi Eze. Despite initial reports of interest from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, the midfielder spent a long time waiting for a formal offer to be made.

When that concrete interest eventually arrived, it was from Spurs, with Arsenal’s north London rivals reeling from the loss of James Maddison.

For at least a few days, it looked like Eze really would sign for Tottenham, but negotiations dragged on a bit. Then Arsenal entered the race and quickly wrapped up a deal.

Speaking at an event this week, Eze admitted that he was considering the Spurs move, but only until the Gunners officially entered the race.

“I was prepared to go to Tottenham, but from the moment Arsenal came, it was always going to be them,” Eze said (via The Athletic). “My first (senior) Arsenal game was special. It almost didn’t feel real because it’s something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.

“Playing for Arsenal from eight to 13, it’s been in the back of my mind wanting to go back. It felt like the realisation of a dream.”

Eze has made a solid start to life at Arsenal, scoring once and assisting three times in his first 10 appearances. More importantly, the Gunners have won all but two of those matches to sit top of the Premier League with a 100% record in the Champions League.

There will be inevitable comparisons with Xavi Simons, who was Spurs’ second choice after failing to sign Eze. But the Dutch international has just one assist and no goals in his first nine matches for Tottenham, who are sixth in the league with just one win from three in Europe.

The Eze summer transfer saga will certainly add an extra element of spice to the north London derby next month.

A photo of Tottenham Hotspur star Djed Spence has emerged showing the player celebrating Arsenal’s 2015 FA Cup win over Aston Villa.

A photo shared on social media on Monday showed Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence as a teenager, celebrating Arsenal’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa.

Spence can be seen draped in an Arsenal scarf standing on the pitch at the Emirates Stadium, where the club were holding a fan screening of the final.

The future Premier League defender would have been 14 at the time, and he was clearly a follower of the Gunners, with rumours suggesting he was watching the game with his father. Now a starter for Tottenham Hotspur, there are evidently some divided loyalties in the Spence family.

Spence certainly wouldn’t be the first Spurs player to have supported Arsenal in the past.

There was that famous picture of Harry Kane celebrating the Gunners’ Premier League title win in 2004, and Matt Doherty’s transfer to Spurs was announced by the club with a clip of the player deleting pro-Arsenal tweets from his Twitter account.

Much as Spurs fans would hate to admit it, Arsenal have been the dominant force in north London throughout most of their players’ lives. None of the current squad had been born the last time Spurs won the league in 1961, nor when they last won the FA Cup in 1991.

If a young Harry Kane wanted to see a title-winning team from north London, it was Arsenal. And if a young Djed Spence wanted to see a local FA Cup-winning team, that was Arsenal too.

Maybe in another 10 years we’ll have some professional players who were boyhood Spurs fans and can recall the glory of winning the Europa League over one of the worst Manchester United sides in living memory, but not just yet.

A photo of Tottenham Hotspur star Djed Spence has emerged showing the player celebrating Arsenal’s 2015 FA Cup win over Aston Villa.

A photo shared on social media on Monday showed Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence as a teenager, celebrating Arsenal’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa.

Spence can be seen draped in an Arsenal scarf standing on the pitch at the Emirates Stadium, where the club were holding a fan screening of the final.

The future Premier League defender would have been 14 at the time, and he was clearly a follower of the Gunners, with rumours suggesting he was watching the game with his father. Now a starter for Tottenham Hotspur, there are evidently some divided loyalties in the Spence family.

Spence certainly wouldn’t be the first Spurs player to have supported Arsenal in the past.

There was that famous picture of Harry Kane celebrating the Gunners’ Premier League title win in 2004, and Matt Doherty’s transfer to Spurs was announced by the club with a clip of the player deleting pro-Arsenal tweets from his Twitter account.

Much as Spurs fans would hate to admit it, Arsenal have been the dominant force in north London throughout most of their players’ lives. None of the current squad had been born the last time Spurs won the league in 1961, nor when they last won the FA Cup in 1991.

If a young Harry Kane wanted to see a title-winning team from north London, it was Arsenal. And if a young Djed Spence wanted to see a local FA Cup-winning team, that was Arsenal too.

Maybe in another 10 years we’ll have some professional players who were boyhood Spurs fans and can recall the glory of winning the Europa League over one of the worst Manchester United sides in living memory, but not just yet.