Arsenal vs Tottenham – The North London Derby
2025 has barely begun and we are already being treated to our second North London Derby of the season, as Arsenal welcome Tottenham to the Emirates on a frosty January evening. The English game is full of some of the most intense and famous rivalries in football, from the Manchester derby to the Merseyside derby and beyond. However, the North London Derby is arguably the fiercest of them all – so let’s find out why.
Arsenal vs Tottenham
Some rivalries are born out of close proximity and others come from competition on the pitch – the North London Derby is arguably a perfect blend of the two. While Arsenal have been far more successful than their Lilywhite counterparts over the past 20 years, Tottenham have grown substantially in stature despite their immense trophy drought. The opening of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a CL Final appearance in 2019, and a trophy cabinet that may be dusty but at least holds a historic European trophy or two – Spurs are here to compete. The Gunners look certain to celebrate St Totteringham’s Day once again in 2025 (the Arsenal national holiday when it becomes mathematically impossible for Spurs to finish above them) but there is still plenty of fire in the belly of the North London Derby. So where did it all start?
The History of the North London Derby
To truly understand the intense hatred behind the North London Derby, we have to go all the way back to 1913. Sure, Tottenham and Arsenal actually played each other for the first time in November 1887, but the rivalry didn’t really spark until the early 1900s when the Gunners moved house. The Reds originally played their home matches in Plumstead (Kent) but moved to Highbury in North London in 1913. There was just one problem… North London already had a top-tier football team just four miles down the road – Tottenham Hotspur. It is fair to say that the residents of White Hart Lane didn’t throw out the welcome banners – instead, they saw it as an invasion.
After the First World War, it was decided that the First Division should be expanded to welcome two new teams. Those teams would be selected from those relegated the previous season or candidates already plying their trade in the second division. Much to Tottenham’s horror, they were overlooked after finishing 20th the season before. Chelsea, who finished 19th, were saved from relegation and Arsenal, who only finished fifth in the Second Division, were selected to make the step up. Not only were Spurs fans left feeling robbed of their place at the top of English football, but they had been robbed by none other than their worst enemy. Since then, the North London Derby has been fought almost 200 times – every single season apart from 1977/78. In fact, the rivalry was so fierce in the early days that the FA threatened to force Tottenham and Arsenal to play behind closed doors because fans could not be trusted. Fast forward to modern day and things aren’t quite so violent, but there is certainly still a heavy police presence on any North London Derby fixture.
The Venue
Emirates Stadium – Wednesday 15 January. Kick-off: 20:00 local time
The Emirates Stadium first opened back in 2006 and has been the home of Arsenal Football Club ever since, with the Gunners moving from their iconic Highbury. With a capacity of 60,704, it is one of the largest and most modern stadiums in England, although the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium edges the battle in both those categories. The Emirates has not been a happy hunting ground for Tottenham in recent years. In fact, the Lilywhites last won there in the League Cup back in the 2018/19 season. In the league, Spurs haven’t recorded a win at the Emirates since 2010/11.
Team News and Injury News
Let’s take a look at some of the team and injury news as we head into the first NLD of 2025.
Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou has had a torrid time of it on the injury form this season in N17, and although a few players returned to training this week – Ben Davies and Richarlison – Tottenham still have a number out. Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, and Wilson Odobert will be sidelined for the foreseeable future with ankle and thigh injuries respectively. Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven have also been long-term absentees in the centre of defence. The Spurs squad suffered a bout of illness ahead of their match against Newcastle last time out, with Fraser Forster, Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin particularly affected, but that seems to have cleared up now.
Arsenal: The Gunners look slightly better on the injury front than their North London rivals, but they remain without their talisman Bukayo Saka who will be sidelined until March with a thigh injury. Ben White will likely be out for another few weeks so will miss the NLD. Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, and Takehiro Tomiyasu will all be fighting to make their PL returns against Tottenham.
Players to Watch
There are plenty of players to watch on both sides of the coin heading into the second North London Derby of the season. The injury absentees actually make it a far more interesting match-up. Gabriel Jesus finds himself in hot form in front of goal ahead of the derby and will likely be up against a weakened Spurs central duo of Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies/Archie Gray. Leandro Trossard against Djed Spence will also be an interesting battle on the right-hand side of Arsenal’s attack, with the Belgian filling in for Saka and Spence enjoying somewhat of a redemption story this season. Their captain, as always, is one to watch in midfield. For Tottenham, Dominic Solanke has been a handful for defences this season but comes up against one of the best duos in Gabriel and Saliba. Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski may fancy their chances on the right against relatively new boy Riccardo Calafiori. However, it does feel like this battle may be won or lost in the midfield.
Head-to-Head Record
Arsenal and Tottenham have gone toe-to-toe on the pitch 194 times in North London Derby history, with the Gunners claiming an impressive 81 wins to Tottenham’s 61. Arsenal also lead the way on goals scored, putting 293 past various Lilywhite keepers over the years to Spurs’ 262. However, the top scorer charts are dominated by Tottenham. Harry Kane leads the way with 14 NLD goals, while Bobby Smith is four behind on 10. Even Emmanuel Adebayor (10) burned his Arsenal bridges by playing for Spurs (and celebrating in front of the Gunners fans after scoring for Man City, of course).
Tottenham are without a win of any kind against Arsenal since the 2021/22 PL home fixture, which they won 3-0. However, the NLD is always exciting to watch, with 31 goals in the last 10 fixtures alone. Last season, this fixture ended in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates, with a brace from Son Heung-min, an own-goal from Cristian Romero and a Saka penalty.
Form Guide
Arsenal come into their home North London Derby in much the better form. Despite the injury to Bukayo Saka, the Gunners have won three and drawn two from their last five fixtures and currently sit second in the league. Although they are six points behind leaders Liverpool (who also have a game in hand), Mikel Arteta and co will still harbour hopes of competing for the title this season. Tottenham, on the other hand, have won just once in their last five league fixtures and are without a win in their last four. The Lilywhites are just eight points above the relegation zone, and a whopping 16 behind Arsenal in second. Weirdly, Spurs have actually scored more goals than the Gunners this season though.
Potential Implications
This season, the North London Derby is all about the bragging rights. Let’s face it, Tottenham look unlikely to mount a charge and compete for the PL title in the second half of the season, while Arsenal look unlikely to drop off into a mid-table fight. So, unless the North London enemies meet in the cups this season, they will be fighting for bragging rights and bragging rights alone. Of course, Spurs will also want to dent Arsenal’s title credentials along the way, while the Gunners will want to get to St Totteringham’s Day as soon as possible.
There were 23 points between Arsenal and Spurs last season and 16 points between them so far this campaign, so it seems unlikely that Ange Postecoglou’s side will be able to bridge that kind of gap. However, they will want to start turning positive performances into actual results amidst their heavy injury crisis. The defeat to Newcastle was Tottenham’s best match in a month, but they still walked away with no points to show for it.
Predicted Line-Ups
Let’s take a look at how we expect Mikel Arteta and Ange Postecoglou to line up their sides for the North London Derby on Wednesday.
Tottenham: Antonin Kinsky; Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Djed Spence; Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr, James Maddison; Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Son Heung-min.
Arsenal: David Raya; Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori; Kai Havertz, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard; Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.
North London Derby Odds
Betsmith is currently offering a wide range of odds on Arsenal vs Tottenham ahead of this week’s North London Derby!
Arsenal to win: 1.41
Draw: 5.50
Tottenham to win: 7.20
Last season, this fixture was tied 2-2. If you want to back a repeat of that exciting draw, you can get odds of 15.00. If you think the Gunners could secure a 1-0 win as they did away to Spurs earlier this season, you can get odds of 10.00. Arsenal to win 2-0 comes in at 7.80 and 2-1 is 7.60. Alternatively, Tottenham have odds of 25.00 to flip the script and record a 1-0 win of their own. 2-0 to Tottenham would get you odds of 48.00 while 3-0 is 120.00. There hasn’t been a bore draw (0-0) between these two sides in the league since way back in the 2008/09 season, but you can get odds of 27.00 for the match to finish 0-0 on Sunday.
You can also use our Bet Builder to create your own wager from scratch, including odds on goals, timings, corners, handicaps, and more.
You can find all the latest North London Derby odds HERE via Betsmith!
Score Prediction
Arsenal undoubtedly come into this game as favourites considering they are second in the league and Spurs are down in the bottom half. That being said, form and home advantage often go out the window when it comes to the North London Derby. We expect the Gunners to open the scoring in the early minutes, but Spurs to fight back and earn a 2-2 draw, with goals from Gabriel Jesus, Dominic Solanke, Leandro Trossard, and Dejan Kulusevski.
Score prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham
Odds might have changed since the publication and/or writing of this article.
Last Updated: 15.01.2025
