NLD! Nervous?

Morning all.

What better way is there to return to domestic football than a North London Derby at The Emirates Stadium? This is the fixture both sets of fans look for when the seasons fixtures are released, this and the one at Totts stadium.

Arsenal have been good at home, Totts good away from home. “Here comes the Arsenal wobble” – I read on Sky Sports. Let’s see eh..

Frank’s post press conference confirmed Solanke, Maddison and Kulusevski are ruled out and Bissouma is unlikely to feature too. Not a long injury list but he has a number of players who are returning from injury for this game.

Arsenal will be without Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Kai Havertz but Mikel Arteta did hint before the last international break that, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyokeres, and Noni Madueke could be in contention for this match. Hopefully, Riccardo Calafiori is fully fit.

Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme:

Frank has flitted between a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, but a desire to see summer signing Xavi Simons in his preferred No.10 role has seen the Dane veer towards the latter recently.

In that framework both full-backs are encouraged to push forward, but the central midfield pairing often sit deep to protect the defenders. However, in 11 matches, they have committed a league-high 14 errors that have led to a shot, and three of those have cost them goals.

A little creativity has been sacrificed under Frank in a bid to increase steeliness out of possession, and put under consistent duress, Spurs’ opponents average just 10.1 passes per defensive action, the second-lowest tally in the division.

When they have the ball, their ratio of long passes has risen from 7.3% to 10.7%, indicating a clear tactical shift. Mohammed Kudus has been in superb form down their right, however only he (15) and Pedro Porro (13) have created more than six chances from open play.

The Arsenal squad were asked to describe todays north London derby in just one word.

My one word? Nervous……

A north London derby is no different to any other fixture in many ways because win, lose or draw, the point system doesn’t change but for the fans, this is one of the biggest games of the season because of what it means in every other way.

We are not only fighting for points but bragging rights too. Mikel Arteta will want to maintain his good run against this lot in front of our own fans and you can bet every player will do all he can to ensure he does. Arteta has assembled a group of players who know that “no shirking is allowed”. Doesn’t matter who we play or who plays, only 100% will do.

The Emirates will be full, 60,000 Arsenal fans in full swing vocally. North London Forever will get the ball rolling and hopefully, both the fans and players will feed off each other to make it an early evening game to remember.

Putting the local rivalry aside, Man City dropped three points yesterday against Newcastle, Liverpool were battered 3-0 by Nottingham Forest at Anfield but Chelsea and Crystal Palace have crept a bit closer to us. Brighton too so we cannot afford to slip up, not at home.

Michael Oliver being appointed for this fixture is not entirely surprising but we cannot let him dictate how this game goes. Everyone at the club should know by now that give him an inch, he’ll take a mile. So give him nothing!

Let’s hope for a great Arsenal performance, fair/consistent officiating and a massive three points added to The Arsenal’s tally.

Catch up in the comments.