Published: September 24, 2021 2:48 pm
Last Updated: September 24, 2021 9:38 pm
Arsenal vs Tottenham
Arsenal and Tottenham are set to play out the first North London Derby of the season this weekend.
The Lilywhites will face off with the Gunners at the Emirates stadium at 4:30 pm UK time on Sunday, September 26th.
The two sides head into the clash in contrasting form. Spurs started the season brightly but have lost their last two league ties, whilst Arsenal had a torrid start to 2021/22, but have now won two Premier League outings on the bounce.
As a result, a win for Mikel Arteta’s side on Sunday would see them draw level on points with Spurs, despite having endured their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign.
This is something all associated with Tottenham are no doubt desperate to avoid. But with derby days always full of surprises and Arsenal likely the more confident side heading into the game, Nuno Espirito Santo and co. will need to pull out all the stops to ensure that they take home all three points.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo during the pre-season friendly match at the JobServe Community Stadium, Colchester. Picture date: Wednesday July 21, 2021. (Photo by Nigel French/PA Images via Getty Images)
Here are three ways in which Tottenham could line up against Arsenal
4-3-3
Tottenham’s most used formation under Nuno Espirito Santo has been the 4-3-3.
Of course, Spurs did have great success with this setup on the opening weekend of the campaign, culminating in them beating champions Manchester City 1-0.
However, it was then used in a similar way versus Chelsea last weekend, of course leading to the north Londoners losing 3-0.
But it is worth noting that Spurs’ side against Chelsea was somewhat makeshift, with Nuno opting to start Giovani Lo Celso as one of his front three due to injury issues.
This did not work out, of course, but perhaps the system could become effective once again now that some key players have returned, including Japhet Tanganga.
Old school Nuno
Tottenham have never really used a back-five system to great effect in recent years. However, Nuno Espirito Santo has enjoyed most of his success in England with such a system.
And though they do not use it much, Tottenham do actually have the perfect players for such a setup.
At the back, Sergio Reguilon is not the best defensively. However, he is excellent going forward and could stand to benefit from a back-five, much like his Spanish counterpart, Marcos Alonso, does at Chelsea.
At right-wing-back, meanwhile, Tottenham have Matt Doherty, who originally earned his move to Spurs on the back of some starring displays for Nuno at Wolves, also as a wing-back.
Japhet Tanganga could move inside to centre-back to partner two of Eric Dier, Cristian Romero and Davinson Sanchez, with the 2nd of that trio also well versed in such a system due to his time with Atalanta.
4-2-3-1
The final way in which Tottenham could line up against Arsenal is a 4-2-3-1.
This system is not that much different to their 4-3-3. However, Nuno could deploy it in order to get more out of Dele Alli.
Alli has featured regularly under the Lilywhites’ new boss, but his form has continued to be pretty poor.
However, if Alli is allowed more freedom as a no.10, instead of in his current no.8 role, then perhaps we could see the Englishman rekindle his best form and, crucially, add that creative spark that has been sorely lacking from Spurs’ ranks this season.
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This article was edited by
Conor Laird.
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Chelsea FC | 5 | 11 | 13 |
| 2 | Liverpool FC | 5 | 11 | 13 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 5 | 9 | 13 |
| 4 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | Everton FC | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | -3 | 9 |
| 8 | West Ham United | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| 9 | Brentford FC | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 11 | Watford FC | 5 | -2 | 6 |
| 12 | Leicester City | 5 | -3 | 6 |
| 13 | Arsenal FC | 5 | -7 | 6 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 5 | -3 | 5 |
| 15 | Southampton FC | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5 | -3 | 3 |
| 17 | Leeds United | 5 | -7 | 3 |
| 18 | Newcastle United | 5 | -7 | 2 |
| 19 | Burnley FC | 5 | -6 | 1 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 5 | -12 | 0 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 4 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 4 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 4 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 3 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 3 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 3 |
| Lukaku, Romelu | Chelsea FC | 3 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 3 |
| Gray, Demarai | Everton FC | 3 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 3 |
| Sarr, Ismaila | Watford FC | 3 |
| Greenwood, Mason | Manchester United | 3 |
| Ings, Danny | Aston Villa | 2 |
| Saint-Maximin, Allan | Newcastle United | 2 |
| Toney, Ivan | Brentford FC | 2 |
| Fornals, Pablo | West Ham United | 2 |
| Torres, Ferran | Manchester City | 2 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 2 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 2 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 0 | 3 |
| Cooper, Liam | Leeds United | 0 | 3 |
| Etebo, Oghenekaro | Watford FC | 0 | 3 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 2 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 2 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 2 |
| Richarlison | Everton FC | 0 | 2 |
| Duffy, Shane | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 2 |
| Norgaard, Christian | Brentford FC | 0 | 2 |
| Mings, Tyrone | Aston Villa | 0 | 2 |
| Rodri | Manchester City | 0 | 2 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 2 |
| Struijk, Pascal | Leeds United | 1 | 1 |
| Tanganga, Japhet | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 1 |
| Barnes, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 2 |
| Ward, Joel | Crystal Palace | 0 | 2 |
| Moreno, Rodrigo | Leeds United | 0 | 2 |
| Schar, Fabian | Newcastle United | 0 | 2 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 2 |
| Stephens, Jack | Southampton FC | 0 | 2 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 7 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 3 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 3 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 3 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 3 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 2 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 2 |
| Ings, Danny | Aston Villa | 2 |
| Saint-Maximin, Allan | Newcastle United | 2 |
| Townsend, Andros | Everton FC | 2 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 2 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 2 |
| Gross, Pascal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 2 |
| Pereira, Ricardo | Leicester City | 2 |
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 2 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 1 |
| Toney, Ivan | Brentford FC | 1 |
| Fornals, Pablo | West Ham United | 1 |
| Torres, Ferran | Manchester City | 1 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 1 |
