New Spurs hero looking to arrest dismal Emirates form

Tottenham fans are falling in love with Ange Postecoglou and his expansive football after the Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte years, and the Australian’s hero status will be elevated further if his side can beat their arch-rivals Arsenal on their own patch.

But that is easier said than done because Spurs have a miserable league record at the Emirates Stadium.

Younes Kaboul capped a great recovery when Harry Redknapp’s charges came from two goals down to win there on November 10, 2010, but there has been no joy since with Spurs gaining just three points from their 11 subsequent visits.

And now they go into battle without Harry Kane, who is the top goalscorer in the history of the fixture with 14 goals, and he had a big helping hand along the way, netting four penalties in Tottenham's visits.

Spurs also needed a spot-kick from Rafael van der Vaart to bring them level on the last occasion they headed back up the Seven Sisters Road with three points.

While some derbies can turn into mundane affairs, recent north London clashes have not tended to follow that pattern. Although the Gunners finished with 24 more points than their rivals last season, the pair have tended to be close and that has led to some stirring encounters.

Spurs have at least scored in all but one of their last eight visits and both teams have scored in the last five Emirates clashes.

But their discipline, or rather lack of it, has been a big issue. Emerson Royal was sent off in last season's 3-1 defeat and he joined Jan Vertonghen, Erik Lamela, Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker on the list of Tottenham players who have been shown a red card in recent derbies at Arsenal.

Last term was the first time since 2017 that Arsenal have finished ahead of Spurs. The Gunners had held superiority over their rivals in every season before that since 1996, which was the final campaign before Arsene Wenger was unveiled as boss - they eclipsed Tottenham by at least 20 points in each of his first nine seasons.

The two sides are level on 13 points from their opening five games and Tottenham are 2-1 with bet365 to finish higher than Arsenal this season.

The Gunners are 4-11 to have a better campaign than their neighbours following their 4-0 Champions League win over PSV on Wednesday, but if Postecoglou and his team can make a dent in that price on Saturday he will truly be the toast of N17.

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