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Pre-match postbag. “Sterling - well, of course Arteta didn’t have much to choose from, though he might’ve tried calling down a member of the public, if only for the first half hour. We’ve been here before – Pepe comes to mind, and dear old Raheem, much as he deserves sympathy for a tough few years, is seemingly intent on replicating some of that dancing about and giving the ball away routine that was such a hit amongst the fans. Freddie Ljungberg is still out there somewhere, perhaps Mikel could give him a call?” – Charles Antaki
“It was awfully nice of Sol Campbell (and Google) to give the away fans so much ammunition. I mean, as a neutral, he’s rarely come across as a likeable fella, but there were some genuinely good lines in that advert. I’m sure his name will be taken entertainingly in vain through the evening. Excellent work” – Sol Campbell Matt Dony
“Mingus! That is one of my all-time favourite jazz albums. It’s brilliant!” – Joe Pearson
Mikel Arteta talks to TNT Sports. “We all love these games … a beautiful occasion … this is the moment of the season you have an opportunity to take advantage … earning the right to be better than Spurs and beat them … take things as they come and make the most out of it … the attitude and the way we played against Newcastle and Manchester United, let’s keep doing that and we will win a lot of games … [Raheem Sterling] looks really sharp … he is very motivated … he has a great opportunity today … the players are very excited … it is a gift to be in a position to make a lot of our supporters very happy so we will do our best to do it.”
You can get sevens on Tottenham Hotspur to win tonight. That doesn’t seem particularly generous seeing they’ve only won one of their last 31 Premier League visits to Arsenal, that victory coming all the way back in late 2010. To be fair to Spurs, their 3-2 triumph that day was one for the ages: relive it here in the old-style MBM format. [Contains references to Charles Mingus and Lester Young. Any old excuse… ]
Ange Postecoglou talks to TNT Sports. “It’s a special game … we should all embrace that part of it … it’s not just another game … [Antonin Kinsky] has handled things really well so far … some big games, some tricky games … it’ll be a great test for him but I’m sure he’ll cope well … apart from [Archie Gray] helping us through this period, the growth we’ve seen in him and the benefit we’ll get from that once we get some players back will be enormous … we’re super pleased to get [Richarlison] back … him and Mikey Moore give us a few more options in the front third … Richy can’t wait to get out there and will see some action tonight … hopefully we can give the fans a night to remember.”
It’s derby day, so chances are the Emirates will be a cauldron of bedlam tonight. That’ll be just as well from Arsenal’s perspective, argues Jonathan Liew. “For all the focus on Arteta’s attention to detail, the fixation on things such as set pieces and defensive spacing, at root he is a vibes coach.” Click below for more.
Arsenal make four changes to the XI that started the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United. Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey are in from the off; Gabriel Martinelli, Mikel Merino and Jorginho drop to the bench, while Gabriel Jesus prepares for surgery on his ACL.
Tottenham Hotspur make five changes to the side that began the win at Tamworth. Lucas Bergvall, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Son Heung-min and Djed Spence step up; James Maddison, Sergio Reguilón, Brennan Johnson and Mikey Moore drop to the bench, while Timo Werner misses out altogether.
The teams
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Sterling, Havertz, Trossard.
Subs: Neto, Tierney, Martinelli, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Merino, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia.
Tottenham Hotspur: Kinsky, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall, Kulusevski, Solanke, Son.
Subs: Austin, Reguilon, Richarlison, Maddison, Johnson, Lankshear, Moore, Olusesi, Hardy.
Referee: Simon Hooper
VAR: Peter Bankes
Preamble
Neither of these teams covered themselves in glory in the third round of the Cup. Both could do with a big bounce-back result in the Premier League, with the title race, robustness of peg for Ange’s coat, local pride, etc., all in mind. Kick-off at the Emirates is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
