Son shines ever brighter in Notth London derby
2,000 fans will finally be allowed back into the ground to bear witness to a North London derby that pits leaders (at the time of writing) Tottenham Hotspur against 14th-placed Arsenal after 10 games played. Few pundits would've predicted such a contrast in their fortunes in the first third of the domestic season, and fewer still would've predicted José Mourinho steering the white and navy blue section of the capital to the summit. Mikael Arteta cannot be faulted for his efforts in the Europa League; the Gunners, like Spurs, have already qualified for the knockout rounds with a match to spare. However, the bread and butter of the Premier League is a different matter altogether, and there's a porousness in the spine of the likely XI that the potent combination of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son will ruthlessly exploit. Read our preview here:
Sing a Son of sixpence
Surprisingly a starter in the 3-3 ding-dong at LASK on Thursday, South Korean superstar Son took his goal tally for Spurs this season across all competitions to 11, and that was without his usual partner in crime to assist him. Allying his pace and anticipation with being able to use both feet to coolly finish after his trademark breaking run through the middle of the opposition backline, it's difficult to foresee Arsenal stopping him at least making it a dozen in 2020/2021 for his club. Kane will be back with his exceptional range of passing for a striker to pick out his movement on the counter, and the very positive approach play from the full-backs can make it five in attack. Tanguy Ndombele has improved threefold during the term, and his tackling and adeptness at coming from deep helps his side create overloads in the middle of the pitch. Hugo Lloris will be back between the sticks in place of Joe Hart, who made at least two costly errors in Linz.
Xhaka can't
There's little doubt that the squad at Arteta's disposal have made short work of progressing in Europe, but his the core of his first choice roster have not being able to translate that in the league. Indeed, they've actually lost more than they've won, which is almost unheard of at this stage of the competition for the Gunners in 30 years. Some critics have claimed that a good number of the players just don't have the quality to go toe-to-toe with the elite in England. or at least not consistently. Granit Xhaka faced down many of his own fans towards the latter weeks of last year, but has again struggled to be a difference maker in the double pivot alongside Dani Ceballos. Both appear very susceptible to being overrun on the break, and Xhaka in particular doesn't progress the ball vertically frequently enough to help out Thomas Partey.
Mind the gap
13 places and eight points separate the teams before the encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. What was once a derby fiercely contested but usually won by the side in red has swung the other way in recent campaigns, and whilst it wouldn't constitute a shock necessarily if Arsenal did triumph, they'll need to find a way to overcome their rivals where Chelsea failed to. 888sport are offering odds of 2.63 for Son to score *anytime* in the 90 minutes.
