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Football London
Football London
Sport
Andy Ha

Arsenal handed crucial north London derby advantage over Tottenham despite Jose Mourinho taunt

Arsenal and Tottenham are both looking ahead to the first north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Sunday.

Both clubs are still in the hunt for Champions League qualification, despite contrasting fortunes in recent games.

The Gunners have dragged themselves back into the picture with three straight league wins, including the impressive victory over Wolves on Saturday.

Spurs, meanwhile, suffered a disappointing defeat to Sheffield United last week, and Jose Mourinho will be keen to bounce back against Everton before hosting Arsenal at the weekend.

James Benge reviews Wolves 0-2 Arsenal

However, Tottenham's schedule may prove to be a slight disadvantage, with Spurs having to take on Carlo Ancelotti's side on Monday evening, before travelling to Bournemouth on Thursday.

This would give Spurs only two full days of rest before the derby, whereas Arsenal will have four days to prepare for the clash after their match against Leicester on Tuesday night.

Ahead of the game, Mourinho took a snipe at Arsenal after the official club Facebook page appeared to mock Tottenham's defeat to Sheffield United.

Highlights of Arsenal's FA Cup win on Facebook were captioned: "It's not easy beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane."

"You only enjoy the problems of others when you are also in trouble," said the Spurs boss in his pre-match press conference.

"I think if they were top of the league or fighting for top four in a really good moment they wouldn't enjoy the problems of others," Mourinho added.

"They don't have much to celebrate, they have to get every opportunity to do it.

"They are in a very similar situation to us in the table.

"To be the champion of north London means nothing for me because I think you have to be much bigger than that and have much more ambitions than that."

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