Tim Sherwood has riled Arsenal supporters ahead of Sunday’s north London derby by picking a combined XI consisting entirely of Tottenham players.
Spurs go into the match at the Emirates Stadium buoyed by the confidence of a seven-match win streak across all competitions, and built on last weekend’s impressive Premier League victory over rivals Chelsea by beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Arsenal are also in confident mood, just three points behind Tottenham in the Premier League table and having not tasted defeat in any competition since August – a run of 18 games.
But their form has done nothing to shake the confidence of Sherwood that his former club are stronger in every area of the pitch and are well equipped to take all three points on Sunday.
Explaining his selections, ex-Tottenham manager Sherwood told Sky Sports show ‘The Debate’: “I didn’t worry about Arsenal too much.
“I tried to look everywhere but I just couldn’t find any room for any Arsenal players. I’m not being biased but I just couldn’t.
“On his day, [Mesut] Ozil gets into any side but he doesn’t have enough of those good days.
“Even the most hardened Arsenal fans cannot disagree. Hand on heart I tried to get in [Pierre-Emerick] Aubamayang maybe but at the moment I couldn’t fit anyone in.
“I think [Eric] Dier has to play because it gives the team leeway to play three at the back. I honestly believe that is the best fit and available combined team.”
Sherwood, who is predicting a 3-1 win for Spurs, added: “For me it will be a shock if Arsenal beat Tottenham on Sunday.”
Arsenal legend Paul Merson, on the other side of the discussion, only picked two Gunners players in his combined XI – Ozil and Aubameyang.
Last season Arsenal won the corresponding fixture between the two clubs 2-0, with Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez scoring the goals.
