It’s been a long time since Arsenal went into the North London Derby at Tottenham Hotspur’s ground leading the pack. In fact, you’ll have to cast your mind back to April 2004 when Arsène Wenger’s side played out a 2-2 draw to clinch the Premier League title at White Hart Lane.
But that’s exactly how the fixture will look ahead of this Sunday. The Gunners are sitting pretty at the summit of the table, while Spurs are holding onto a cliff’s edge for dear life.
Circumstances are different now than in April 2004. Spurs are a different animal from the one that was led by David Pleat, but there is still a toothless nature about the Londoners, like a lion with no teeth.
Tottenham have conceded two or more goals in seven of their last eight league games which is a truly horrendous showing for a side that want to challenge for silverware this season.
Antonio Conte, an Italian pragmatist, glorified for his dogmatic defensive structures at Juventus, Italy, Chelsea and Internazionale, has been unable to solve Spurs’ defensive issues thus far.
With the Gunners firing on all fronts despite the loss of Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Arteta’s men are the last side Conte and co. would want to face right now.
Arsenal have the potential to kick their bitter rivals while they’re down as Spurs are currently spinning around in a dark room, looking for the light switch. However, as Bono once said, ‘the dark is where you learn to see’. Even a toothless lion will pounce when it’s backed into a corner.
This weekend’s game is the perfect opportunity for Tottenham to get back on track, gaining a massive three points, and clawing their way back into a top-four battle, all the while putting a colossal dent in their rival’s title hopes, with Manchester City breathing down Arsenal’s neck.
This tactical analysis piece will be a preview of the tactics in the North London Derby ahead of this Sunday’s massive fixture. With Arsenal dominating the league right now, this analysis will focus on three ways that Conte can mastermind a victory over Arteta’s army.
Formations and lineups
Formations will be quite easy to predict for this clash. Since Conte’s arrival at the club back in November 2021, Spurs have almost always set up in a variation of the 3-4-3.
The 3-5-2 has been a solution at times for Conte if the Italian wants to congest the middle of the park a little more while having an extra man up top to press the opposition’s defensive line.
Nevertheless, for the most part, Spurs are almost guaranteed to line out in a 3-4-3 formation. Often, this will resemble a 3-4-2-1 with the wingers playing close to Harry Kane up top. On other occasions, the wingers will play a little wider, and when Tottenham are defending deeper down the pitch, the shape will look like a 5-4-1.
After some woeful performances recently, including a 2-0 home defeat to mid-table Aston Villa, it’s likely that Conte will stay with the same side that thrashed Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park over a week ago.
Oliver Skipp started in the double pivot with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and the duo worked quite well together, flanked by Ivan Perišić and Matt Doherty as the wingbacks, with Clément Lenglet, Eric Dier and Cristian Romero as the three centre-backs.
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