The injury crisis that raised questions over Arsenal’s hopes of winning the English Premier League in matchday 11 has only deepened ahead of their 12th league fixture.
A staggering eight first-team players missed last Saturday’s 3-0 win over Swansea City, with Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck, Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky, David Ospina, and Jack Wilshere all on the sidelines.
To make things worse, with the Gunners awaiting a visit from city rivals Tottenham in the highly-anticipated north London derby, Arsene Wenger’s crew are without young Spanish full-back Hector Bellerin, with Laurent Koscielny a doubt.
“I am very concerned, honestly, because we are only in November and to have so many players out, knowing we go into the Christmas period soon, I am concerned,” admitted a very worried Wenger. “At the moment, we have too many players out.”
Hector Bellerin wins Young Catalan Player of the Year award. Here are Arsenal's stats without the Spaniard:Games:...
Posted by LiveSoccerTV.com on Saturday, November 7, 2015
Form
Arsenal head into Sunday’s Spurs clash on the back of their 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich, their biggest ever defeat in Europe. However, the FA Cup holders’ form in England tells a different tale.
A five-game winning streak has seen Arsenal move to the top of the standings, joint on points with Manchester City, but ranked second due to goal difference.
Spurs have fared well in the Premier League themselves. Despite sitting in sixth, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have not tasted defeat since their opening day loss to Man United, and trail Sanchez and Co. by only five points.
Head-to-head
Nonetheless, it is the Gunners who have the upper hand in north London derbies.
In 163 clashes, Arsenal have come out on top 68 times, compared to Tottenham’s 51. Furthermore, with the game being played at the Emirates, Wenger’s crew are undefeated in 19 of their 20 home clashes with Spurs.
In addition, Olivier Giroud boasts the best minutes-to-goal ratio this season at 88.7, having scored 5 in his last seven games, with two goals in Arsenal's last three derbies.
Best minutes-to-goal ratio in the 2015/16 Premier League (2+ goals): O. Giroud (88.7) J. Vardy (89.33) S. Aguero (90.8) C. Wilson (107.2)
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 8, 2015
Key players
Harry Kane will be a player to keep an eye on for the Gunners back four. The English striker has netted 5 goals in his last three games. This is after his explosive debut season in which he scored 31 goals, including the winner in the 2-1 victory over Arsenal at White Hart Lane.
Over to the home side, and though Alexis Sanchez is always a handful for defenders to handle, Mesut Ozil will be key for Le Prof. With 9 assists, the most by any player this season, the German will be at the center of every attack.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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