Tottenham vs Arsenal - as it happened: Dele Alli and Harry Kane hand Spurs well-deserved victory
Re-live all the action from White Hart Lane
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Both Tottenham and Arsenal ground out 1-0 victories midweek. Spurs overcame a spirited Crystal Palace side to remain four points behind leaders Chelsea thanks to a superb strike from Christian Eriksen. Arsenal kept up their chase of the top-four with a laboured victory over Leicester after a Robert Huth own goal gifted them the three-points. Nacho Monreal’s speculative effort deflected off the German, leaving Arsenal five points adrift of fourth placed Manchester City with a game in hand.
Tottenham bounced back from the disappointment of a 4-2 FA Cup semi-final defeat to title rivals Chelsea against Palace, and will be determined to claim another home victory against old adversaries Arsenal. Spurs have only dropped four points in the league at home this season and will be glad that remaining fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester United are at fortress White Hart Lane.
Arsenal have been rejuvenated in recent weeks since their 3-0 defeat to Palace, winning three consecutive fixtures, including a dogged victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final. They remain firm outsiders to claim the final Champions League spot, but will see this fixture as an ideal opportunity to ramp up the pressure on the Manchester duo while derailing Spurs’ title push. Should Arsène Wenger’s men fail to claim all three points, they will surely be too far adrift, and will have to turn all their attention to winning their third FA Cup in four years.
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What time does it start?
Tottenham vs Arsenal kicks off at 16:30 on Sunday 30th April.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports 1 from 16:15. Highlights will be shown at 23:00 on Sky Sports 1.
Tottenham v Arsenal: The best north London derbies
Show all 11It’s a big game for…
Theo Walcott. After another disappointing display as a central striker against Leicester, the 28-year-old, supposedly in the prime of his career, has failed to cement a starting birth. Should he be granted another opportunity, he has no bigger stage to prove his worth.
Best stat…
Wenger has never finished below Tottenham in the Premier League in 20 years in charge. The last time Spurs finished above Arsenal was in 1995.
Remember when…
Tomas Rosicky’s second-minute strike from an acute angle proved to be the decisive goal at White Hart Lane during the 2013/14 campaign. Tottenham lost on three separate occasions to Arsenal that season, including a 2-0 loss in the third round of the FA Cup.
Player to watch…
Christian Eriksen. The Dane produced the assist of the season during Spurs’ FA Cup defeat last Sunday and followed it up with a precious goal from 25 yards against Palace when it looked like the match (and his team’s title aspirations) might fizzle out. Eriksen has produced 12 assists this season and will be a key figure if Tottenham are to overcome Arsenal.
Past three-meetings…
Arsenal 1 Tottenham 1, Premier League, November 2016
Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2, Premier League, March 2016
Arsenal 1 Tottenham 1, Premier League, November 2015
Form guide…
Tottenham: WWWWLW
Arsenal: DWLWWW
Odds…
Tottenham to win: 5/6
Arsenal to win: 31/10
Draw: 29/10
(Odds provided by 888 Sport)
Good afternoon and welcome to the Independent's coverage of today's north London derby as Tottenham and Arsenal go head to head at White Hart Lane.
It's all to play for this afternoon with Spurs continuing to give chase to league leaders Chelsea while the Gunners eye a top-four finish.
More than that, with Tottenham on course to finish above their fierce rivals for the first time in more than 20 years, there's sure to be an added sense of intensity and fire to today's clash.
We'll be bringing you all the build-up, updates and goals so make sure to stay tuned!
Team news to follow.
And for the traditionalists....
Tottenham: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Wanyama; Son, Eriksen; Dele; Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Walker, Wimmer, Dembele, Sissoko, Nkoudou, Janssen.
Arsenal: Cech; Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Gibbs; Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud.
Subs: Ospina, Bellerin, Coquelin, Holding, Iwobi, Walcott, Welbeck.
No Walker or Dembele in the starting line-up for Tottenham, with Dier pushed into the centre of midfield by the looks of it.
As for the visitors, Arsenal have once again gone with three at the back, but the Ox and Ramsey are back in the starting XI with Coquelin and Walcott demoted to the bench.
The pressure will surely have been turned up a notch following the result at Goodison Park. Chelsea fired three past Everton to once again move seven points clear at the top of the table and take another step closer to the title.
Tottenham certainly head into this game as the in-form side but with the pressure of the title race to take into account, alongside the added intensity that comes with a north London derby, who knows which way today's clash will go.
Quite some stat, this...
This is Arsene Wenger's 50th north London derby in all competitions. He has faced 11 different Tottenham managers and lost only seven of the previous 49 meetings.
Not that this is something which fazes the Frenchman.
“I’m not in a position where the sentiment comes in too much," he said ahead of the match.
“Your colleague tells me that I’m playing my 50th, there were some special ones in there.
“Maybe one day, yes, I will write a book just about the derbies!”
Wenger also said before the game that finishing above Tottenham is important for the club's "pride" and "continuity". Read more about it here:
Pochettino, however, knows that his men are moving onto bigger and better things than simply finishing above their north London rivals. More here:
Right folks, not long to go now! The players are out on the pitch. We're moments away from kick-off.
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