Preview: Arsenal v Tottenham

If the result of the north London derby dictates your mood, the tone for this Sunday will be set pretty early.
Local pride and joy will be at stake from noon, a kick-off time that we’ve shared with Tottenham just once before in the Premier League.
That game was one of north London’s most ludicrous spectacles, a 5-4 win at White Hart Lane in 2004 which ebbed and flowed and defied footballing logic.

A goal every 10 minutes is all well and good but, frankly, Arsenal fans would take any sort of win this Sunday, and they’d put up with anything except a defeat.

That’s basically the mantra for these games: win if you can, just don’t lose.

Arsène Wenger understands that as well as anyone, and he thinks it explains why the team that scores first in the derby has failed to win 23 times - a Premier League record.

“Maybe subconsciously sometimes when the team comes back to draw, both teams subconsciously say ‘OK at least it is a result we can live with’,” the boss told Arsenal.com.

“But we play at home on Sunday, and we want to win the game. It is an important fixture, yes, but for us overall in the situation we are in it’s a big game that we need to win and we will absolutely focus on that.

“We are in a strong position in the league and we want to strengthen this position. It’s a derby and before a derby you need to prepare mentally as well to be at your best, to fight no matter what happens and as well to be effective. That means mastering every situation we face on the day. You prepare mentally for that.”

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