17:30 BST / 18:30 CET | Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur [Premier League]

The first North London derby of the 2014-15 season takes place in Saturday’s evening game with Arsenal the hosts.

Arsène Wenger’s side won all three meetings against rivals Tottenham Hotspur last season which included a 2-0 victory in the third round of the FA Cup.

Both these sides are at home in Europe the following week but there’s no doubt they will be fully focussed on the Premier League action first. The Gunners host Galatasaray on Wednesday whilst Spurs host fellow Turkish opponents Beşiktaş the following night.

Arsenal are certainly worse on the injury front between these two, especially in defence. Theo Walcott has not recovered from the knee injury he picked up in January in his side’s FA Cup victory over their rivals.

Tottenham haven’t won a Premier League game in over a month since thrashing Queens Park Rangers 4-0 at White Hart Lane to make it two out of two to start the season. They have since lost at home to both Liverpool and West Brom and been held 2-2 at Sunderland.

Arsenal head into this match off the back of a 3-0 win over Aston Villa last weekend and are still unbeaten. They are four points behind leaders Chelsea at the start of the weekend and one point off second place.

Team News
Arsenal

Arsenal are without Nacho Monreal at left-back and Mathieu Debuchy at right-back which means the four experienced defenders pick themselves. Theo Walcott is not ready to return just yet but Mathieu Flamini is after a dead leg ruled him out of the last two games. Yaya Sanogo is also out injured and Olivier Giroud is out for the long-term.

Tottenham Hotspur

Kyle Walker is the only player unavailable to Mauricio Pochettino. Eric Dier has started every game at right-back in his place this season.

Predicted Lineups



Arsenal have only lost six times to Tottenham Hotspur in 43 matches since Arsene Wenger became their manager nearly 18 years ago, but the Frenchman is taking nothing for granted before the first north London derby of the season on Saturday.
"North London derbies are always very intense and the players from both sides know each other so well," he said at his pre-match news conference on Friday.
He also dismissed Spurs' recent poor league run, which has seen them take one point from their last three matches, saying he expected a typically tough battle against their neighbours.

"It's too early in the season to judge a team but Tottenham have introduced less new players than they did last year and they can only benefit from that stability -- and they have a quality manager (Mauricio Pochettino) as he showed at Southampton.
"We are playing at home and we want to win our home games. These games are important moments in the season. Over the years Tottenham have always had a good team and for us to be on top of them means we can fight for the top of the league."
Spurs make the short trip the Emirates having only won once at Arsenal since Wenger's arrival in October 1998 when they came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 there nearly four years ago.

Their other five victories have all been at White Hart Lane, but they lost three times to Arsenal last season in the League and FA Cup without scoring.
But Wenger has troubles of his own with new defenders Mathieu Debuchy and Nacho Monreal missing through injury while Arsenal have only won one of their last five games in all competition.

Wenger needs to lift his side -- though that won't be difficult seeing who the opposition are -- after their 2-1 home defeat to Southampton in the Capital One (League) Cup on Tuesday.
"It was a disappointment to go out against Southampton but there will be a completely different team tomorrow," he said.