Tottenham, Arsenal Divide North London in 210th Derby

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal did not have the kind of result they both craved for before the international break. While Lillywhites were humbled 2-1 away at Newcastle, Gunners perfect start to the new Premier League season was halted by Brighton. Therefore, nothing short of victory would be the target of the two North London rivals in tomorrow’s derby

This weekend’s Premier League main event comes from a raucous Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs and Arsenal clash in the first North London derby of the season tomorrow afternoon.

The Lilywhites entered the international break on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United, while the Gunners lost their perfect start in a controversial 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

The St James’ Park curse continues to haunt Tottenham, who have at least managed to reduce their margin of defeat on Newcastle’s turf each season, from 6-1 in 2022-23, 4-0 in 2023-24 to a narrow 2-1 loss in the third gameweek of the 2024-25 campaign.

Strikes from Harvey Barnes and Alexander Isak either side of a Dan Burn own goal condemned Postecoglou’s charges to their first defeat of the Premier League season, one in which a familiar tale in front of goal arose for Tottenham, who were once again punished for not making the most of their dominance.

A 4-0 thumping of Everton had seemingly dusted off the cobwebs from gameweek one, where Tottenham’s wastefulness on the road cost them in their draw with Leicester City, but a lack of ruthlessness is still prevalent in the Spurs ranks if their Newcastle exploits are anything to go by.

Lying smack-bang in the middle of the table in 10th place, Tottenham will also endeavour to end a particular pattern of home results in the Premier League, having followed a win-loss sequence since the beginning of April.

Having crushed Everton in their first home contest of the season, the omens are not exactly promising for Postecoglou’s side if that streak is to continue this weekend, but the Lilywhites could arguably not be facing Arsenal at a more opportune time.

When Brighton defender Joel Veltman took a wild swipe at Declan Rice in Arsenal’s showdown with Brighton, the vast majority of supporters inside the stadium expected the Dutchman to receive punishment. Instead, the Emirates crowd were left aghast when Chris Kavanagh sent the equally bewildered Rice for an early bath.

Already on a yellow card, Rice lightly tapping the ball away from Veltman as he was lining up a free kick triggered the Englishman’s second yellow, allowing the Seagulls to fight back through Joao Pedro after Kai Havertz’s delicate first-half lob.

As Arsenal and Mikel Arteta were left to lament Rice’s highly controversial sending-off – which came after Pedro escaped a booking for kicking the ball away in the first half – the Brighton faithful were bouncing all the way home after denying the Gunners a third win from three matches in 2024-25.

Saturday’s visitors therefore occupy fourth place in the Premier League table at present, two points worse off than Manchester City and Liverpool ahead of their games today, but Gooners at least received one piece of good news this week with Arteta’s new contract signing.

Solace can also be taken from their last two Premier League wins away to Spurs in 2023 and 2024, but they have never triumphed against the Lilywhites in three straight road matches in the Premier League era and head to their rivals’ home without arguably their first-choice midfield.

Meanwhile, Manchester City will endeavour to preserve their perfect start to the 2024-25 campaign when they welcome Brentford to the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.

The two teams meet for the first time since February when the Citizens secured a slender 1-0 home victory courtesy of a second-half strike from Erling Haaland.

Man City went into the international break sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table, after seeing off Chelsea, Ipswich Town and most recently West Ham United in their opening three matches of the 2024-25 campaign.

A 2-0 away victory over Chelsea on the opening weekend was followed by 4-1 and 3-1 wins against Ipswich Town and West Ham respectively, with goal machine Haaland netting seven times across those matches, including back-to-back hat-tricks, to help the Citizens conclude the month of August with a 100 per cent record.

Pep Guardiola’s men have now won each of their last 12 top-flight games by two or more goals – a Premier League record, and they head into today’s contest seeking to win their first four fixtures of a new top-flight season for a ninth time – doing just that would see them extend their own record.

Man City will fancy their chances of success this weekend as they boast an exceptional 45-game unbeaten run at the Etihad Stadium across all competitions (W38 D7), scoring 133 goals and conceding only 32 in the process.

However, the last team to beat the Citizens on their own turf in 90 minutes was none other than Brentford, who celebrated a surprise 2-1 league triumph in November 2022 courtesy of a brace from the now departed Ivan Toney.

Shortly after finalising his £40m transfer to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli, Toney was in attendance at the Gtech Community Stadium to watch Brentford beat newly-promoted Southampton 3-1 in their most recent Premier League match prior to the international break.

Bryan Mbeumo starred for the Bees with a superb brace, while Yoane Wissa also got his name on the scoresheet to help Thomas Frank’s side claim their third victory in four matches across all competitions at the start of the new season.

Both Mbeumo and Wissa were also on target in Brentford’s opening-weekend win over Crystal Palace, and with six points on the board – one point more than at this stage last season, the Bees sit sixth in the top-flight standings.

Only Liverpool (2-0 at Anfield) have beaten Brentford thus far and Frank’s men are now gearing up for a tricky trip to another title hopeful in Man City with an away record that they are keen to rectify. Indeed, the Bees have lost more Premier League matches on the road (13) than any other team currently in the division since the start of last season.

Brentford have also lost each of their last five away league games against teams that finished the previous campaign in the top four, while they have only ever won two of their previous nine visits to Man City in all competitions, so the odds are firmly against the Bees putting a sting in the tail of the Citizens.