This Sunday, Tottenham and Arsenal will meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a new North London derby. A match with a lot of football rivalry that reaches this new edition with the Spurs as league leaders and Gunners in low hours.
Go back to November 1887 when Arsenal and Tottenham met for the first time. It was in a friendly and it was necessary to wait a few more years, until 1909, to witness the first official meeting between both clubs. The Gunners they won 1-0 to the Spurs thus beginning a London derby that is now over a century old.
Four years after that first meeting, in 1913, Arsenal moved from Manor Ground in Plumstead to Highbury just four miles from White Hart Lane, expanding the rivalry between teams. Since then, the derby has added all the characteristics that a great match between neighboring teams can have and has become one of the most classic matches in England by overcoming 150 matches in the First.
On a statistical level, Arsenal prevails in the North London derby. The Gunners have been victorious in 77 gamesout of 181 that have been disputed, while the Spurs have prevailed in 59, staying in tables 51 times. Where they have faced each other more times has been in the league, both in the First League and in the Premier League, where the balance tightens a bit more with Arsenal having 11 victories more than Tottenham in the 166 games played.
This London ‘classic’ has a turning point in the late 20th century. From the 1996/97 season to 2007/08, Tottenham only won once out of 28 meetings between the two teams. A streak that unbalanced the balance in favor of Arsenal who lived during those years, his golden age reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League or receiving the name of ‘The Invincibles’ among other successes. A team made up of Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Robert Pirès and Patrick Vieira that made their White Hart Lane neighbors forget for a decade.
In recent seasons, the North London derby has been on a level playing field and victories have been decided by details. Tottenham took the last duel 2-1 after coming back from Lacazette’s initial goal. This clash was the first derby without an audience as it occurred after the resumption of the competition after stopping by the pandemic. But nevertheless, Arsenal’s last victory came in December 2018 when he won with force 4-2.
This Sunday, Tottenham and Arsenal will meet again. The magnitude of this type of matches equalizes the forces between both groups despite the fact that those of Jose Mourinho arrive as leaders of the league and those of Arteta in low hours after his worst start in the Premier era. We will see who takes the victory in a derby that will have very interesting internal duels, by which the match could be decided.
Twitter: @ProjectPremier@albarcon_18
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