Many fans and pundits alike thought Tottenham Hotspur were favourites going into the North London derby at the Emirates last month.
Heading into the match Spurs were joint second in the Premier League and four points above us languishing down in sixth position.
They had unconvincingly beaten Crystal Palace 1-0 and Real Madrid 3-1 at Wembley Stadium before the international break.
However, only one team turned up on the day and that was the mighty Arsenal as we ran out 2-0 winners on 18 November 2017 – with goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez before half-time. Heading into the match there had been no clear favourite in the football betting odds with both team odds against to pick up the three points.
In truth, the scoreline could have been greater but the result and performance was the most important thing. It was a game where Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez showed their World Class abilities left all Arsenal fans praying they will extend their contracts beyond this season.
This was followed up by victories over Burnley (1-0) and Huddersfield Town (5-0) before being beaten at home by Manchester United last weekend. Even then we still produced 15 shots on target and were denied any points from the game through a mixture of David de Gea’s superhuman effort, and two defensive errors in the opening 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, our victory over Spurs was the start of a winless streak for them. They have since been held 1-1 at home by West Brom, beaten 2-1 at Leicester City and held 1-1 at Watford. Subsequently we are now three points better off than our neighbours in the Premier League table, though still one point outside of the top four ourselves.
Last month’s North London derby victory was our 65th in the league against Tottenham and it’s not the only head-to-head record that’s better than theirs.
In terms of the trophy count we’re also way out in front. Our 13 top flight titles embarrasses their two – which, by the way, is less than the likes of Huddersfield Town, Wolves and Blackburn Rovers.
Our record 13 FA Cups is five more than Spurs have, though they do beat us four to two in the EFL Cup count but that’s nothing compared to the two major domestic competitions.
We’re fighting on all fronts this season, looking to get back into the Champions League, either via a top four finish or potentially through winning the Europa League. We’re at mid-table Championship outfit Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round in January too. Later this month we have our EFL Cup quarter-final tie at home to West Ham – though that will be another chances for Arsene Wenger to give the youngsters and fringe players a run out during a busy Christmas period.
The graphic below from Betfair highlights the biggest derbies in English football and has a look at our head-to-head record against both Tottenham and Chelsea, as well as the all-time Premier League London derby records.
