Gareth Bale vs Carl Jenkinson
The Welshman has been in dazzling form, scoring eight goals in the last six games for Spurs, Arsenal will have some task in hand to contain the flashy winger. Even though Bale is expected to continue being positioned behind the striker, he is expected to drift out wide to the left where he is much more threatening.
With Bacary Sagna out of the tie with a knee injury, youngster Carl Jenkinson is expected to deputize at right back. The young full back has a fair amount of pace and is a fine tackler of the ball, but he will have to be at his best to stop Bale who is in the form of his life at the moment. Jenkinson will have to muffle his attacking ventures as much as possible and be more defensively disciplined in order to stop the electrifying Gareth Bale.
Scott Parker vs Santi Cazorla
The little Spanish master guided Arsenal to victory against Aston Villa last weekend, scoring the opener as well as the winner. Cazorla is expected to start on the left, but has the tendency to switch to the middle from time to time also dropping deep to collect the ball. He is excellent on the ball, can easily dribble past people, make defense splitting passes and is on his best scoring run this season.
Scott Parker will be the man who will have to mark the flamboyant Spanish international. With Cazorla given a floating role, he has a tendency to roam around all over the pitch, Parker will be responsible to close him down and not allow any breathing space. Keeping Cazorla out of the game will limit any form of creativity from the Gunners, with the Spanish being at the heart of every Arsenal move.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto vs Theo Walcott
Spurs will need to introduce Assou Ekotto back into the squad for this tie, since only he among all of Tottenham’s left back options can deal with the pace of Theo Walcott. Kyle Naughton occupied the left back berth in the last North London Derby and was terrorised by the pace of Walcott. The Englishman has electrifying pace and tends to make darting runs ahead on the right flank, with the passing abilities of Cazorla, Wilshere and Arteta you can expect that to happen very frequently.
Assou Ekotto will have to position himself a little deep in the defence line, to prevent the Arsenal man from using his pace.
Walcott has not scored in his last four matches for Arsenal, but his record in the North London derby has been excellent. He has scored three goals in the last two derbies, both of which ended 5-2 and Tottenham will really have to restrain the former Southampton product to gain anything from the game.
Jan Vertonghen vs Olivier Giroud
The French striker has had minimal luck in the last few games, having not scored in the last four matches, nor has he made many threatening attempts in front of the goal. Despite that Giroud has had 26 headed attempts on goal this season and this is where he is very dangerous. Vertonghen will have to win the aerial battles to stop the Arsenal front man from scoring. With the aerial threat he possesses, you can expect Arsenal to put a lot of crosses in the box and Vertonghen will have to be aware of the Frenchman’s sharp movement in the box.
Adebayor vs Mertesacker
Adebayor has a knack of haunting his old employees, having scored thrice against Arsenal since leaving them in the 2008/2009 season for Manchester City. However it was his aggressive tackle on Cazorla in the last North London derby, which earned him a straight red and put his side to deficit in the first half only.
The Togo international will have to keep his calm and ignore any abuse from the visiting Arsenal fans who are expected to express their hatred towards Adebayor in top volume.
Mertesacker’s fine start to the season has been tarnished with a couple of jittery performances, in the last few weeks. Mertesacker has good organisational skills and is a very good reader of the game, he will need to return to his best for this game against a man who will be desperate to hurt his former employees.
Whereas in the past it was just a battle for bragging rights as the top team in North London, the battle is much fierce now with both the sides fighting for the third spot. Tottenham have only lost one of their last seven home games against their bitter rivals in the Premier League and are unbeaten in the last 11 games, in the league. However you can never underestimate Arsenal and their potential to surprise you in the biggest games, having demolished their arch-rivals in the last two meetings they will be hoping for a similar fate.
So will the Gunners record a hat-trick of wins against their arch nemesis or will Spurs earn their vengeance this time?
