A significant North London Derby awaits us this Thursday, with Arsenal just one win away from Champions League qualification. The pressure will be felt by both sides as they look to gain the bragging rights one more time before the season concludes.
The Gunners head into the match full of confidence following four consecutive wins, however, a poor away record against their fierce rivals looms over them. Meanwhile, Tottenham are unbeaten in their last three matches and will no doubt be eager to not only get payback over the reverse fixture but also prevent an Arsenal party on their own turf.
A big talking point heading into this one is how Mikel Arteta should set his team up. Does he concentrate on the four-point gap and go defensive? Or should the Spaniard treat it like any other match and go there to get all three points?
Thankfully for the Arsenal boss, our football.london writers have had their say on what they think he should do to hopefully make his job slightly easier.
Chris Davison - Arsenal Fan Brands Writer
This one is fairly simple for me, we go there to win. Yes, it won't be an easy contest at all and we will absolutely need to be switched on throughout, but that doesn't mean we need to change our approach too much. A win is needed to secure Champions League football, I don't think there's a bigger motivation than that. Arteta said it after the Leeds game, "It can be another layer of motivation for us to really go for it."
A major part of it will be finding the right balance between the attacking and defensive phases. We know we have enough quality to hurt them going forwards, we saw that earlier in the season, but they can cause problems on the counter as they proved against Liverpool at the weekend.
I don't want us to just go there and invite the pressure, it's asking for trouble. What I want to see is us putting just as much pressure on them because they will crumble, it has happened so many times. If we can control the tempo early on, play our own game and get that first goal, that can go a long way. It's going to be a match full of passion and emotion, it will ultimately come down to who keeps their heads the most.
HAVE YOUR SAY! How do you think Arteta should line-up? Leave a comment to join the debate
Kaya Kaynak - Arsenal Writer
I'm feeling weirdly relaxed going into this Thursday's North London Derby. Maybe the anxiety hasn't kicked in for me yet.
The way I see it is that Arsenal essentially have nothing to lose but everything to gain. Win, lose or draw they will still have the upper hand in the race for the top four going into the final two games of the season, something that any Gunners fan would have bitten your hand off four back in August.
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With that in mind, why not go for it. Arsenal have been well coached into becoming a side that plays an impressive 4-3-3 under Mikel Arteta, and unless they play that way against the big sides, then all this progress has kind of been pointless. They played their game against City and nearly won, they did the same against Liverpool and held their own for a decent amount of time, so why change things now?
Spurs have threats on the counter, but no matter how Arsenal play they'll still be there. I'm not advocating completely ditching defence to go out and get the three points, but as far as I'm concerned the Gunners have nothing to fear right now. They have the chance to do something historic at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and they would kick themselves if they didn't at least try to take it.
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne - Arsenal Writer
I can see Mikel Arteta adopting a conservative approach in the North London Derby. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if he decides to mirror Antonio Conte and go with a back five in a low block looking to deny Son Heung-min any space in behind - hopefully making it difficult for Harry Kane to cause damage.
However, I have never been a fan of playing for a draw and Arsenal's lack of clean sheets over the past six weeks fills me with very little confidence that we can go to Tottenham with the game plan being to shut them out. Of course, if it's level with 10-15 minutes left on the clock, then it's a completely different story.
But Spurs have to win in order to keep their top-four hopes alive. The pressure is firmly on them that should play into our hands. If we go with the intention of winning and get an early goal, then there would be no reason to take our foot off the pedal.
The incentive for this group of Arsenal players is to seal a top-four spot ahead of schedule and what better way to do it than at the ground of our biggest rivals.
Bailey Keogh - Arsenal Fan Brands Writer
Arsenal must approach the game against Tottenham with a defensive mentality. We are not chasing four points, as we have it in our hands. This means we will not need to hunt for a goal that would leave the team defensively vulnerable.
Arteta used a more defensive system against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this season, and the Gunners thrived as they came out 4-2 winners. The same mentality should be followed for another tough trip to Tottenham.
The linkup between Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min is most dangerous when Spurs have a counter attack, as seen in the games against Manchester City and Liverpool as both players have been on the scoresheet against them this season.
The fact that a draw would also be a good result for Arsenal further highlights the need to maintain the defensive solidarity and not give Spurs any easy chances. The Gunners must hold what they have and utilise a more defensive system for the north London Derby on Thursday.
What are your thoughts going into Thursday? Leave a comment below to join the debate
