The first North London Derby of the season will take place this weekend and there have been some injury concerns in both camps leading up to the encounter. While Arsenal sweats over the fitness of three key players, Tottenham worries over the fitness of their own.
The Premier League returns with a bang! A North London Derby that holds so much more than previous meetings has the current first-place club going up against the third-placed club. A win here will set a real statement of who is in the title race with Manchester City and Liverpool.
Sadly, the NLD clash comes just after an international break, stopping the momentum gathered ahead of the interruption and also bringing up some injury concerns for the pair of Noth London clubs.
Dejan Kulusevski and Hugo Lloris could be missing this Saturday for Tottenham
As per earlier reports, Arsenal have major injury concerns but are more optimistic about their injury doubts starting or making the matchday squad than rivals Tottenham are. Conte has received the news that his attacker, Dejan Kulusevski, who has had 17 goal involvements in the last 25 PL fixtures, could not make the matchday squad at all.
"The 22-year-old underwent a scan at Hotspur Way on Wednesday after returning from international duty and having felt tightness in the muscle after playing 90 minutes of Sweden’s 1-1 draw against Slovenia in the Nations League on Tuesday.Now the Swede, who has 17 goal involvements in 25 Premier League matches – 11 assists and six goals – is a doubt for Saturday lunch-time’s derby at the Emirates Stadium between the two high-flying north London rivals.(Via: football.london)"
He underwent a scan after feeling a tight hamstring while on international duty. There have been no reports that confirm he will not make it in time for the showdown on Saturday during lunchtime. However, it is more doubtful than hopeful that we will see him in one of the biggest North London Derbies.
Joining him is Hugo Lloris, who withdrew from the French squad during international duty. The club has remained guarded around their injuries and hasn’t given any updates on any of the players missing over the break and afore.
"Tottenham have been tight-lipped about it generally, that's what they do with injuries unless it's like a player is set for surgery, so I'm still waiting to find out."
— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) September 28, 2022
Conte’s side has the firepower in Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, and Richarlison but if any of them suffers from any problems leading up to the Premier League clash, they are travelling light on the bench in that department. Lucas Mora has been missing since Spurs’ 2-2 draw with Chelsea last August before Thomas Tuchel’s sacking.
Missing Kulusevski could be crucial when looking to the bench if they go down in the match or something drastic. Some of the biggest matches are won or lost with the changes made. Missing Hugo is quite the problem on its own but Fraser Forster is more than capable of stepping in for the Frenchman and doing a job.
It is going to be interesting to see what lineup Antonio Conte goes with against an improved Arsenal side. The Gunners have 19 points and are looking for their second win on the run, following their first defeat of the season against Manchester United.
Tottenham are yet to lose a match this term and are on a winning streak of two straight wins, following the draw against West Ham United a month back. They have shown a weakness in their armour, having lost in the Champions League to Sporting CP.
Both North London clubs have only lost once and are looking to rival Man City for their Premier League title. A win here will certainly show their intent and send a massive statement across the league.