Depleted Arsenal head to Spurs hoping to keep pace with title rivals

Arsenal face a daunting set of fixtures starting with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, with influential midfielders sidelined this weekend, but Mikel Arteta's side can take heart from their recent record in north London derbies.

Having been held to a draw by Brighton & Hove Albion in their last outing, Arsenal are two points off the pace after champions Manchester City and Liverpool had perfect starts.

Letting points slip in the past two campaigns has punished Arsenal in the title race. With City and Liverpool playing on Saturday, Arsenal could potentially be staring at a five-point gap ahead of Sunday's short trip to face their neighbours.

Arsenal will wear their away kit in the derby for the first time in 38 years due to a colour clash but two men who will not be wearing their black strip are skipper Martin Odegaard and midfield partner Declan Rice.

While Odegaard is out for several weeks nursing an ankle injury sustained in Norway's Nations League victory against Austria in midweek, Rice is suspended following a controversial red card against Brighton for kicking the ball away.

Form usually goes out of the window in north London derbies, which often produce spicy encounters, but Arsenal have had the upper hand in the last two seasons, winning three and drawing one of the last four league matches against Spurs.

The hosts also have injury worries with forwards Richarlison and Dominic Solanke plus defender Micky van de Ven missing their 2-1 loss at Newcastle United, though the latter two are expected to return.

FORCED ROTATION

With Arsenal's midweek Champions League game at Atalanta and a trip to City the following weekend, Arteta will be forced to rotate his squad or even change his formation.

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