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Arsenal v Tottenham: 5 reasons Spurs will win the North London Derby

By Rucker Haringey

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 30: Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur and Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur embrace after he is subbed during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at White Hart Lane on April 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 30: Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur and Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur embrace after he is subbed during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at White Hart Lane on April 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 01: Mousa Dembele of Tottenham Hotspur and Marcelo of Real Madrid speak during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 01: Mousa Dembele of Tottenham Hotspur and Marcelo of Real Madrid speak during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /

2. Mousa Dembele is better than Granit Xhaka

When Arsenal acquired Granit Xhaka they had real hopes he’d evolve into a world-class midfielder. That may happen eventually, but it hasn’t happened yet. That means Spurs’ midfield Mousa Dembele will be the most talented midfielder on the pitch Saturday.

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Dembele’s toughness may be even more important than his talent advantage in this one. Xhaka will enter a tense derby looking to fly around and make all sorts of challenges. Dembele is prone to the same hot-headed type of play, he just happens to be better at it. The chances of Dembele picking up a silly red are significantly less than Xhaka doing the same.

In the end, my money would land on both players exiting the pitch with a yellow. Neither is going to want to give their counterpart a single inch. It will be a tense and physical tangle between these two.

Dembele’s just a better player at the moment. That’s going to allow Spurs to establish a real foothold in the middle of the pitch. The team that controls the midfield usually wins the match. Tottenham will hope that formula holds true on Saturday.

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