Arguably one of the biggest derby's of the season kicks off on Saturday, currently sitting in sixth place and four points behind North London rivals Tottenham, Arsenal have it all to do come Saturday lunchtime. This match could well serve as a good indicator as to where The Power in North London currently resides, with three Spurs players withdrawing from England duty in the past week (Kane, Alli and Winks) and Christian Eriksen bagging himself a hat trick against the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday night. Spurs look like they may be planning a smash and grab at the Emirates even with Toby Alderweireld out until after the new year whereas the same can not be said about the Gunners.

With Sanchez looking off the pace and disinterested, Ozil just seems as if he can't be bothered, Bellerin's dip in form along with a shaky backline and to top it all we don't know if £52 million man Lacazette will be allowed to start up front.

The pressure

Taking all of this into consideration it is still a North London Derby and as a player, if you are not up for this fixture then perhaps your in the wrong sport. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, cannot approach this game in the same manner he did last season or against Liverpool back in August. It is also fair to say that playing three at the back against stronger teams doesn't seem to be working well, if I was Wenger I would play a 4-2-3-1 formation but I'm not so I don't expect to see proactive changes from him.

As for Mauricio Pochettino Tottenham's manager he will probably play a 4-3-2-1 which his team have no problem playing, This Tottenham squad are well drilled in changing shape during games which is how it should be.

I tell you no lies when I say I fear the worst for the Gunners (sorry Gunner mates) after all a derby only carries the true essence of a derby when there are homegrown players involved, so Jack Wilshire and Rob Holding doesn't really cut it for me.

All the signs point to a Spurs win for me defensively the Gunners seem clueless using the zonal marking system where the culture is to watch the oppositions movement then blame your team mate when the opposition score. Petr Cech is only world class when he has defenders that defend, just a little bit of pressure from the forward players will always put the Gunners back line under stress.

When you look at a player like Davinson Sanchez for Spurs you see the difference in the defensive mentality, No fear! and he takes no prisoners on set pieces. How nobody but Pochettino saw this guy in the transfer window even though he played a strong Europa Cup Final for Ajax is beyond me and at £42 million he looks like a bargain!

Final score prediction 2-1 to Tottenham