Arsenal face Tottenham live on Sky Sports on Sunday
Tuesday 4 December 2018 07:57, UK
Arsenal meet Tottenham in the first north London derby of the season at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Ahead of the Renault Super Sunday clash, we asked the Soccer Saturday pundits if there has been a power shift in north London...
Tottenham finally ended 22 years of Arsenal dominance in north London when Mauricio Pochettino's side finished the 2016/17 season 11 points above the Gunners. They repeated the feat last season, finishing 14 points ahead of their north London rivals.
Heading into the Renault Super Sunday clash there are just three points between the two sides after 13 games with Spurs in third and Unai Emery's side in fifth.
So, has there been a power shift in north London? The pundits give us their verdicts…
No, and I say that because Tottenham have not won anything. At the moment, these two teams are playing who finishes above who. And until Tottenham start winning stuff, then there is no power shift because neither of them are powerful at the moment.
If Tottenham started winning stuff, then it is a major shift. Tottenham have the better players, but until they start winning things you cannot say there has been a shift.
There's no denying that Tottenham have been the better side over the last two or three seasons as Arsenal faded in the last few years under Arsene Wenger. As it stands their best XI against Arsenal's best XI gives them the edge.
But Arsenal are definitely catching up under Unai Emery, who's brought in a bit of toughness that's been missing over the last few years, and they're scoring goals which is nice and showing the ability to come back in games.
The table tells you Spurs are just ahead of Arsenal at the moment but the gap is closing.
I think so, Tottenham have been challenging for the title over the last few years while Arsenal struggled under Arsene Wenger, so you'd have to say that Spurs have been the better team recently.
Arsenal look like they're improving under Emery, he's definitely toughening them up a bit and there's more fight in them, which they'll need against Spurs who are so strong. And looking at it you have to say Spurs are the better side.
But this is a massive game for Arsenal to prove that they're on their way back.
Before Tottenham start claiming there has been a power shift, they've got to spend a few more seasons in the Champions League and start winning trophies on a regular basis like Arsenal did. That was such a long period of domination by Arsenal but Spurs are certainly heading in the right direction to try and shift it.
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