Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal. Premier League.
White Hart LaneAttendance31,811.
Sunday 30 April 2017 14:40, UK
Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele faces a race against time to be fit for the crucial north London derby at home to Arsenal on Super Sunday.
Dembele is struggling with an ankle injury ahead of the clash at White Hart Lane, live on Sky Sports.
The Gunners, who could be without Laurent Koscielny, make the short trip this weekend with Spurs still in the title race as Arsenal face an uphill battle to finish in the top four.
Tottenham have not finished above their neighbours in the Premier League since 1995 but Mauricio Pochettino's side can break that run if they beat their visitors.
"It's certainly one of the few times where, if you look at people's opinions, Spurs are favourites," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said.
"It looks a bit like that but it doesn't matter too much to me. It's true that always in our press conferences we have to respond, if the worst happens what do you do?
"But let's make sure that the best happens and give absolutely everything to make sure that we finish in a very strong way our season."
Tottenham boss Pochettino insists he "doesn't think" about Arsenal's position and says his focus is to "try to win every game and try to win the Premier League".
"I knew it was a big London derby but I felt the magnitude of what it means to the Tottenham fans when I started here and felt how the fans feel," he said.
Team news
Danny Rose is unlikely to feature for the hosts, despite returning to training after three months out with a knee problem.
Erik Lamela (hip) and Harry Winks (ankle) are both unavailable but goalkeeper Michel Vorm has recovered from a knee injury and is available again.
Wenger could be without Koscielny at White Hart Lane. The defender suffered a knee injury in Wednesday's win over Leicester and is rated at only having a 60 per cent chance of playing.
Fellow defender Shkodran Mustafi (thigh) is out for another two weeks while David Ospina (back), Lucas Perez (thigh) and Santi Cazorla (Achilles) are all absent.
Opta stats
Tottenham are unbeaten in each of their last five league encounters with Arsenal (W1 D4); they've never gone six consecutive league games without defeat against the Gunners.
Arsenal have got on the scoresheet in 22 of their last 23 visits to White Hart Lane in all competitions, only drawing a blank in a 0-0 draw in February 2009.
Pochettino is the first ever Tottenham manager to remain unbeaten in his first five top-flight north London Premier League derbies.
Wenger has gone five league games without a win against Spurs for the first time in his career.
Harry Kane has scored in four consecutive Premier League appearances against Arsenal, netting five goals in the process. No Spurs player has scored more goals versus Arsenal in the Premier League than Kane (5 - level with Gareth Bale).
Pochettino's side have now won eight consecutive league games for the first time since October 1960, when they secured 13 successive victories.
Paul Merson's prediction
Credit to Arsenal for that performance in the FA Cup semi-final against Man City. I didn't see it coming.
But I cannot bring myself to back them to beat Tottenham on Sunday. I weigh it up and think, where do Arsenal win this game?
Alexis Sanchez needs the match of his life, Mesut Ozil needs to have an unbelievable performance, and it needs to go their way on the day.
Spurs maybe felt they just had to turn up at Palace and I think Big Sam's team shocked them a little bit. They must have got a rollicking at half-time, Mamadou Sakho then got injured and Mauricio Pochettino took off his holding midfielders.
In the end, they deserved to win and it was a massive three points. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm going 3-1 to Spurs this weekend. There's a long way to go in this title race.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (Sky Bet odds 12/1)
Betting
Tottenham are marginally odds-on at 5/6 with Sky Bet, who consider Arsenal outsiders at 29/10, the same price as the draw. Spurs head into a crucial Super Sunday with a 13/2 chance of winning the Premier League while Arsene Wenger's men are 9/2 for a top-four finish.
Harry Kane heads the first goalscorer betting at 7/2 followed by Dele Alli (5/1) and Alexis Sanchez (11/2), who is enhanced from 7/2 to 11/2 to score in a Gunners win in Sky Bet's Price Boosts.
The north London derby is this weekend's Fantasy Six-a-Side fixture, with the usual £5,000 up for grabs for the highest scoring team. Pick your side for free here.
