Arsenal have just had 2 consecutive draws against Brentford and Wolves. With that result, the Gunners are still at the top of the table, 5 points ahead of Man City and having played one more match. With a heavily affected mentality, Arsenal will not easily break away in the final stage of the season.
Meanwhile, Tottenham is in the second half of the table. That result forced the board of directors to sack coach Thomas Frank and bring Igor Tudor to replace him. The match against Arsenal was Igor Tudor's debut in his new position.
Force information
Leandro Trossard had to leave the field at the end of the match against Wolves, but coach Arteta said that the midfielder is completely healthy to play, similar to Bukayo Saka, who also had to leave the field in the match at Molineux to take care of his fitness.
Martin Odegaard has been absent in recent matches due to a minor knee injury, while Kai Havertz has muscle problems, and both will be assessed during preparation to see if they can play against Tottenham. Mikel Merino will have to be sidelined for a long time due to a foot injury requiring surgery.
On the home team side, they will not have the service of captain Cristian Romero due to suspension. They have lost all six recent home matches in the Premier League when the Argentine player was absent.
While Dominic Solanke is gradually recovering from illness, Pedro Porro and Richarlison are also about to return from hamstring injuries that have caused them to be out of action for the past month, but they are likely not ready to play against Arsenal. Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur and Mohammed Kudus will definitely be absent due to injuries.
Lucas Bergvall had an ankle surgery last month and is currently out of action, similar to Kevin Danso after breaking his toes. Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are all out of action for a long time due to knee injuries, while Ben Davies has a broken ankle. These players will not be able to play for Tottenham in the upcoming derby.
Notable statistics
Tottenham has not won in their last eight Premier League matches. The last time they had a longer winless streak in the same season was from August to November 2007 (9 matches).
Tottenham have lost all three of their last home games in the Premier League against Arsenal, equal to their number of losses in the previous 23 games. The last time they lost four consecutive games against the Gunners was from 1952 to 1955.
Arsenal have won six of their last seven national championship matches against Tottenham, including 4 recent consecutive wins. The last time Arsenal won five consecutive national championship matches against the city team was from January 1987 to January 1989.
Since their last defeat to Tottenham in the Premier League in May 2022, Arsenal have only lost one of their 21 away London derbies in the Premier League (14 wins, 6 draws), which was against Fulham in December 2023.
10/36 goals of Tottenham in the Premier League were scored by defenders (28%). This is the highest number compared to other teams in the Premier League.
Igor Tudor won his first match leading the team in all of the last five times he led a club, starting from the second time at Hajduk Split in February 2020, and then Verona, Marseille, Lazio and Juventus.
Eberechi Eze has scored six goals in his last four Premier League appearances against Tottenham, including three goals in two home games against Tottenham Hotspur.
Bukayo Saka has contributed to six goals in his last eight Premier League appearances against Tottenham (3 goals, 3 assists). In addition, the midfielder has also scored 1 goal and had 2 assists in his last 3 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur.
Mikel Arteta has won 41 out of 68 London derbies in the Premier League as a coach, thereby having the highest win rate (60.3%) compared to anyone who has coached at least 20 derbies. In general, only Arsene Wenger (106 wins in 194 matches) and Jose Mourinho (42 wins in 70 matches) have won more London derbies than Arteta.
The Tottenham vs Arsenal match will take place at 11:30 PM on February 22.
