In this article…
Arsenal v Tottenham
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Date: Sunday 24th September
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Competition: Premier League
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Kick off: 14:00
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Watch live: Sky Sports Main Event
The North London Derby has been played in the league since 1909, but there will scarcely have been one where both teams, and both sets of fans, are as happy with life as they are now. Both clubs are equal on 13 points, with four wins and one draw, both two points behind the 100% record of reigning champions Manchester City. Tottenham sit above Arsenal by a goal difference of three goals, but whilst this is part of the reason why the fans will be feeling positive, there is more to it than that.
For Spurs fans, the whole culture of the club appears to have been turned around by the appointment of Ange Postecoglou. The Australian will not have been the first choice of many Spurs supporters, but what some fans failed to grasp about Postecoglou is his ability to imprint his humanity onto any team he is involved with. This Tottenham team is able to play the high-pressing, quick style that fans enjoy so much because of the mentality that Postecoglou has bestowed upon the squad. The epitome of Postecoglou as a man was shown once more this week at a club event, where he granted extra time for a young man to ask a final question. An act like this may not help the team on Sunday, but it builds the culture of the club.
Mikel Arteta also has the full backing of everyone at Arsenal. He has built his own culture over a number of years now and had to go through the trenches to do so. His philosophy of control, commitment, and bravery, has turned the tanker and now Arsenal are looking capable of backing up their excellent season in 2022/23. Perhaps the final ingredient for them is to add one or two more players of world-class talent either in defence or in the forward areas.
The North London Derby is perennially entertaining. It has been an ever-present of Premier League football and this particular derby is a mouth-watering prospect, including for bettors.
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Arsenal v Tottenham Cheat Sheet
Here’s our Arsenal v Tottenham Cheat Sheet based on the predicted lineups/available players for the game. These stats directly correlate with the markets that can be found on the bet builder tab at Paddy Power.
In a nutshell, this Cheat Sheet is your go-to source for all the essential stats a punter could dream of. So, gear up, and let the numbers guide your bet builder selections.
Next, we’ll be breaking down some of the key stats where we think the value lies. If you’re having a bet, consider signing up for Paddy Power. If you use the link below and bet £1, then you can back a goal to be scored in Arsenal v Tottenham at 30/1.
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Arsenal stats: High possession, high control, and high corners
The way that Mikel Arteta has his Arsenal side set up is very impressive indeed. The aim of the game plan appears to be to control as much of the match as possible.
The stats bear out that plan. The average possession is one of the highest in the league so far, and this has helped them to produce a really high corner count, the highest in the league as things stand. Interestingly, though not a betting option unfortunately, all of Arsenal’s corners that have been taken have been inswingers, the only team in the league to have taken their corners all the same way, according to Opta data.
Despite the level of control and territory that Arsenal manage to attain, there does seem to be a little bit of a problem turning that into shots and clear-cut chances. The Gunners sit mid table for shots taken and xG created.
Tottenham stats: Dynamic style leads to great attacking output
It was discussed above about Postecoglou’s philosophy and how that allows Tottenham to play with more attacking verve.
This is certainly shown in the stats. The Australian has not only overhauled the mood across the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but has integrated a natural attacking style of play, a far cry from the previous methodology implemented by Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho respectively.
🎯Arsenal offensive stats: Variety of attackers a strength of the Gunners
Whilst Arsenal aren’t hitting the heights in attack, what they do have is a variety of threats on the pitch.
Eddie Nketiah has had the highest number of minutes in the central forward role whilst Gabriel Jesus has been fully recovering from injury, but only two shots on target from 12 taken shows how he has struggled to find space in the box to get his efforts away cleanly, though both efforts on target did result in goals. This has meant that the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka have become more important. Martinelli is highly skillful but has probably been unfortunate with his start from a goalscoring perspective, the Brazilian is primed to notch soon.
It is Saka who has probably been Arsenal’s chief threat so far this season. He has the highest xG in the squad, though that does include one penalty, but his penetrative, quick, and skillful running with the ball causes all kinds of problems, and he has that trademark dip inside and curling shot into the far corner, which, though predictable, is very hard to stop.
Martin Odegaard is another key threat in the final third. The Dane has a good knack for finding space in and around the box, he can break into the centre of the box as well as hang back and shoot from a distance. Declan Rice is no stranger to big goals either as he showed with a last-minute winner against Manchester United. Kai Havertz is yet to find his true role in this side, but it is well known the type of quality that the German can bring. It has been mentioned that Nketiah has struggled for shots on target so far this season, Gabriel Martinelli is yet to strike a goal, as are Kai Havertz and Fabio Vieira.
The most trustworthy and secure player for the Gunners in front of goal has been their captain Martin Odegaard. The Dane has hit 15 shots so far, with seven on target. This has come from an average distance of over 21 yards, so the xG isn’t particularly strong, but it does show that Odegaard is happy to have a go from range when a defence is sat deep and not allowing space in behind for the front line. Declan Rice is also averaging over a shot per game as things stand and could be a decent price due to his perception of being a defensive-minded midfielder.
🎯 Tottenham offensive stats: High shot volume to continue?
Tottenham come into this match full of confidence and with some consistency in their attacking unit. There are no clubs in the Premier League who are as impressive in their shooting statistics as Tottenham Hotspur. They are the only team in the Premier League to average over 20 shots per game, with almost eight of those shots, per match, being on target as well.
Similarly to Arsenal, they have a number of threats in the team, something which has come about in the post-Harry Kane era. This is not to say that Kane was a negative to the Spurs attack, he would undoubtedly continue to enhance the output if he remained at the club, but it is noticeable how many players have stepped up in the absence of the England captain. Son Heung-Min is now the leader of that attack from an experience and goal threat perspective, but the influence of James Maddison has been clear to see. The former Leicester attacking midfielder has produced more shot-creating actions than anyone else in the Spurs team from open play and his dead ball delivery has also created nine chances.
Even fringe attacking players have been impressive. Brennan Johnson will prove to be a great pick-up and Manor Solomon has more shot creating chances than anyone per 90. The Israeli may get more regular appearances if he can keep his form going. We know that Spurs are very shot-happy at the moment, so there are a plethora of options to look at in the shooting stats.
James Maddison leads the way, and with his ownership of dead balls, is always a good option to follow if you think that free kicks could be important. Maddison’s strike rate in terms of shots on target is incredibly high at the moment, 11 on target from 16 shots taken, meaning 2.3 shots on target per match. Variance would suggest that this is likely to recede over time, but could be an interesting angle for now. Unusually, all of Spurs’ central midfielders are genuine shot and goal threats. Yves Bissouma has taken ten shots in five games, from an average distance of 27 yards. Markets around shots from outside the box could be interesting for him.
🛑 Arsenal defensive stats: Excellent defensive record to keep Spurs at bay
The control that Arteta’s side are able to play with is born out in the defensive record of the team. They are second to Manchester City in xG against across the early games of the season and are one of the few teams that are conceding fewer than 1 xGA in their matches, with that figure currently at 0.8.
One of the keys to that record is William Saliba. The Frenchman has played every minute in central defence so far and his aerial dominance, as well as his positional sense, is a key aspect to Arsenal’s solidity when he is in the team. Not to be overlooked as well is Ben White. The England man has also played every minute of the league season and is integral to the structure off-the-ball for Mikel Arteta.
As well as being defensively tight, Arsenal don’t struggle to keep their discipline. They are in the bottom half of the league for yellow cards, very close to the bottom of the league for fouls, and also for tackles made. This all comes about through the very high percentage of possession that they manage.
In this North London Derby we can expect Arsenal to have more possession than Spurs once more, perhaps not to overly dominant levels, but certainly the lion’s share.
🛑 Tottenham defensive stats: Look to the yellow card markets
Conversely to Arsenal, Spurs’ more dynamic and quick style translates into more trouble with the referee. This isn’t to extreme levels by any means, Tottenham are solidly in mid-table for fouls committed and tackles attempted, but they have racked up 17 yellow cards in the five games so far, only Sheffield United and Fulham have more at this stage.
The cards have been shared around, no player has more than two so far, but in terms of fouls committed Destiny Udogie stands out from the pack with the most. Yves Bissouma has by far the most tackles attempted, though he sits comfortably behind Udogie in terms of fouls so his record is fairly clean from that perspective.
However, it is worth looking at those two in the market. As an interesting side note, James Maddison has committed a foul a game on average as well, but he has been fouled himself 14 times in five games, a number far exceeding any other Spurs player.
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