Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur both will be eyeing a safe spot in top 4 when they shake hands in the second North London derby to be played at Wembley. While resilient Spurs will be looking to make their way back from 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, Arsenal will be vying a continuity of their momentum after 5-1 win against Bournemouth.
Both the managers will scratch their head in finding the best XI, and it seems likely that Unai Emery may go with 4-2-3-1 formation lead by the French striker, Lacazette.
Predicted Line-up for Arsenal
Goalkeeper
The deadly trio of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli have been extremely hard to be stopped at home. It will be Bernd Leno between the woodworks to disappoint the three. Although, he failed to achieve a clean sheet against Bournemouth he will still be Emery’s wall.
Defence
The centre line of defence will fall upon the shoulders of experienced duo, Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos which Unai Emery seems reluctant to change considering their performance in the last game and also inevitable importance of this game.
On the left side of defence will stand the trustable Sead Kolasinac who has by far proven the mettle shouldered upon him. The player is capable of creating threat running through the left-flank and is also capable of stopping the incoming threat from opposition’s right. The right-back position is expected to fall upon Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The onus will surely fall in these four defenders to stop the charge of Kane and Son.
Midfield
In the midfield, the duo of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira will surely feature in starting XI with the trio of Aubameyang, Ozil and Mkhitariyan to play ahead of them. No doubt, Guendouzi has been eye-catching and determined enough to fight his place back but he is most likely to play the role of Emery’s dangerous substitute.
The in-form Mkhitariyan is likely to get a start owing to his two world-class performances against Southampton and Bournemouth, respectively. And Mesut’s Ozil’s undeniable performance against Bournemouth gives him an edge to feature from the start.
Attack
The attacking third will likely be burdened to Lacazette who has a knack for scoring goals against top Premier League clubs. Maybe the striker was not given a start in the mid-week game to feature in North London Derby. The centre-forward did score a goal against the Cherries and would want to encore the same in what is expected to be a heated battle, like the reverse fixture.
