North London Derby is the nicest game of season: Arteta

Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur, one of the fiercest rivalries in English football, will write another chapter when the Gunners host their North London rivals on Thursday.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta went on to label the North London Derby as the ‘nicest game of the season’ ahead of the much-awaited game.

“It is the nicest game of the season to watch and play because of the atmosphere and what it means to the people - us and everyone that is involved. The atmosphere is something the fans can help with and something we can do by giving them something to feed off. Let’s do it,” said Arteta in the press conference.

Arsenal’s season seems to have gone off the rails, with the Gunners having not won their last three outings, falling eight points behind Liverpool in the league table, trailing Newcastle United 0-2 after the first leg of the Carabao Cup, and having been knocked out of the FA Cup.

Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus is suspected to have ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and now faces a long spell on the sidelines after he was stretchered off during Arsenal’s loss against Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup further adding to the Gunners’ ongoing injury crisis.

Arteta did not confirm the seriousness of the injury but admitted the club is ‘very worried’ in regards to his injury.

“(It’s) not looking good at all, but we need to review with the specialist and will have more information this afternoon. I don’t want to confirm anything until we have the final report this afternoon. We were very worried straight after the game and we are very worried today,” Arteta added.

The Gunners are already missing the services of Bukayo Saka, who was in top form before his injury, as the English forward is not expected to return to the first team before March. It will be interesting to see if they enter the January transfer market in hopes of bringing some much-needed attacking reinforcements.

The Spaniard confirmed the club is ‘actively looking’ in the market to try and improve his squad. “My answer doesn’t change. We are actively looking into the market to improve the squad. We always have been. It would be naive not too. We are looking and we are trying, so let’s see what we can do.”

“To recruit a player there are three parties who have to agree to that. The fact I love my players doesn’t mean we can’t think about improving. We do daily and when the market comes around we have to make sure we have the best resources and capacity to compete the way that we want to,” he added.

Newcastle can’t take the eye off the ball, says Howe: Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe says his in-form side ‘can’t take the eye off the ball’ as they look to extend their winning run against Wolves in the Premier League on Thursday.

United face Vitor Pereira’s men in midweek, looking for a ninth straight win in all competitions, a run that has lifted them to fifth in the Premier League, the semifinals of the Carabao Cup and the fourth round of the FA Cup.

But Howe insists his charges must continue to approach each game in the same manner they have done in their recent run-in and said the visit of Wolves has the makings of a “dangerous game” for the Magpies.

“For me, I know it’s boring, but it’s game by game and it’s trying to keep our focus on what we can affect, which is our next training session, our next game. It’s making sure that we’re not getting ahead of ourselves in both ways - when we were having a disappointing run, it was about making sure we didn’t throw everything out and become despondent, and it’s exactly the same when you’re winning.

“It’s making sure you’re consistent with what you do, the messages are clear, and we focus and don’t take this position for granted. The Premier League is an unforgiving league and we can’t take our eye off the ball,” said Howe in a press conference.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers have lost only one game so far, 0-3 loss against Nottingham Forest, under new head coach Victor Pereira. He succeeded Gary O’Neil at the club following the 1-2 loss against Ipswich Town and has led the team to wins against Leicester City, Manchester United and Bristol City alongside the 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

Agencies