Tottenham’s reasons for optimism ahead of north London derby against Arsenal | OneFootball

After the season Tottenham Hotspur have had, you would think they would go into this week’s north London derby against bitter rivals Arsenal fearing the worst.

But in football things can change quickly. A horrendous injury crisis has wiped out nine of their senior first team figures, leading to a nightmare run of form that has left them 12th in the Premier League table — and speculation boss Ange Postecoglou could be sacked.

But Spurs have still managed to pick up back-to-back wins going into this game — even though one of them was a nervy and frankly embarrassing victory over non-league Tamworth that went to extra-time.

Arsenal come into the clash off the back of three games without a win, following their third-round FA Cup exit at the hands of Manchester United on Sunday.

The Gunners will be the favourites to prevail at the Emirates, a venue they have enjoyed much success over their rivals in the Premier League era. But there are some factors that might give Tottenham hope of pulling off a famous victory to put a dent in their title hopes.

Arsenal missing key men

Just like Tottenham, Arsenal have also been hit hard by injuries. Defenders Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu are both sidelined while left-back Riccardo Calafiori has also been struggling.

Jurrien Timber and 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly have had to deputise at full-back on either side. And the former is a doubt for the Tottenham game after coming off against Man United with a hamstring injury.

In attack, boss Mikel Arteta is also missing Gabriel Jesus, who was stretchered out of the game due to a knee problem, while Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri are both confirmed absences.

Tottenham themselves are missing first choice goalkeeper in Guglielmo Vicario, centre-backs in Cristian Romero and Mickey van de Ven and left-back Destiny Udogie for the game. But, unlike Arsenal, they have their best attacking options available for the game.

Kinsky presence eases ‘keeper nerves

Just over a week ago, Tottenham’s fitness issues were so severe that they were forced to play their third choice goalkeeper in Brandon Austin in the 1-2 home loss to Newcastle United after Fraser Forster took ill. To his credit, Austin performed admirably and was named man of the match, but the lack of a quality name with experience was still alarming.

Spurs moved quickly to snap up a replacement keeper in Czech star Antonin Kinsky, whose first game was a famous 1-0 win over Liverpool in the EFL Cup semi-finals.

He looked impressive playing with his feet, made some terrific saves and kept a clean sheet. He now has two clean sheets in his first two games after also doing so against Tamworth.

Postecoglou revealed the club were always looking to bring Kinsky in and sped up their plans to sign him in the summer due to the state of their goalkeeping options. His presence in goal has given Spurs more calmness at the back at a time when it lacks experience and quality.

Kinsky doesn’t just look like a back-up option either. He previously played for Slavia Prague but has not looked fazed by the challenge of stepping up to the English top flight.

He has been vocal in charge of his area and has enough arrogance to thrive. Should he continue to impress he could even keep Vicario on the bench when he returns in March.

Solanke in top form

Tottenham signed Dominic Solanke for an eye-watering £65m this summer and while no one was expecting him to become the new Harry Kane and offer a glut of goals, he has still managed to prove himself an asset in many other ways.

The former Bournemouth man scored 21 goals for the Cherries last season and this season he has delivered a more balanced season, netting 11 times in all competitions and assisting six.

The 27-year-old has been involved in a goal in each of the last three games — particularly standing out in the 1-0 win over Liverpool with his superb running and hold-up play before assisting Lucas Bergvall’s winner.

Solanke followed that up by immediately coming off the bench against Tamworth on Sunday and inspiring the eventual opener, forcing an own goal.

The north London derby has had many heroes in the past and Solanke has the potential to carve his name into the history of this fixture at the Emirates on Wednesday night.

Rise of Bergvall

When it was reported Tottenham had beaten Barcelona to the signing of young Swedish midfield Lucas Bergvall, it was seen as a major coup and indicated how could the teenager was.

He hasn’t been given too many chances in the first team this season but for someone as young as 18 to come into the squad and play 705 minutes so far under Ange Postecoglou is invaluable. He’s shown flashes of brilliance after starts in cup competitions after only being given two starts in the Premier League, but finally took his chance against Liverpool.

After being given the nod to start against Liverpool in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg, he was the best player on the pitch by a country mile — even though he was lucky not to be sent off for a second yellow shortly before his smart second-half finish.

His accomplished and energetic display hints he is starting to hit his groove at Tottenham and the fact he was among four big name players to be rested against Tamworth — including Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min — suggests he might even earn a start against Arsenal.