Tottenham assistant boss Steffen Freund believes the club are closing on Arsenal

Tottenham assistant manager Steffen Freund believes the club are close to bringing Arsenal's 18-year domination of North London to an end.

Passion

This is arguably the first season in a while that neither team can consider themselves genuine title challengers. That does not seem to have quashed Freund's passion surrounding Saturday's meeting at the Emirates Stadium, and the overall rivalry between the two sides though. "It would be great to finish above Arsenal," said Freund, who played 120 times for Tottenham. "It would be a great experience for me too because it has never happened for me in the past. "I can't wait for that game. It's a special game. "There are only two of these games every season." Despite his desire to get one over on Tottenham's neighbours on Saturday, Freund does not subscribe to the theory that Arsene Wenger's star is fading. The Gunners have endured another miserable start to the season, but Freund still admires the Arsenal boss. "He is doing a fantastic job," said the German. "Arsenal have played Champions League every year and that is a lot of money for the club. That makes it a lot easier for them to buy players."