North London Derbies are ones to mark on your calendar each year as must-watch games of football. Always feisty, always entertaining and always packed with talking points. This Sunday was no different. Coming into the weekend, Arsenal hadn’t lost in this fixture in six meetings between the two clubs, their last defeat dating back to May 2022, a run that only added to the anticipation around another high-stakes matchup. Spurs, meanwhile, were approaching their first North London Derby under new boss Thomas Frank. With their supporters fully aware that securing a result away at The Emirates could provide the spark needed to truly ignite their season.
The Tactical Battle
Arsenal set up in their usual 4-3-3, whilst Spurs came into the game with a more defensive approach in a 5-2-3, a shape we’ve seen used by many teams against the likes of Arsenal and Man City, given its flexibility to enable a high press but also to drop deeper into a 5-4-1 shape. It was a clear contrast in intentions, with Arsenal sticking to their familiar structure and Spurs adopting a system designed to adjust quickly between pressing higher and reinforcing their defensive line, creating an intriguing tactical battle from the outset…
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