Mikel Arteta told his Arsenal stars to improve in front of goal after their win over Leeds turned from a cruise into a rollercoaster.
Eddie Nketiah hit two first-half goals at Emirates Stadium before Luke Ayling’s sending off had the relegation-threatened Whites looking down and out, yet a Diego Llorente goal set up a nervy finish.
Arsenal held out but Arteta put the onus on his attackers being more “ruthless” to improve their chances of a win in Thursday’s clash with Spurs.
When asked by Sky Sports what he is expecting of his team in the derby, he replied: “That we score the third and the fourth goals, that we be that ruthless team and that they don’t give absolutely anything to the opponent.
“We will play Spurs with the same attitude.
“We know how big that game is going to be and how decisive it is going to be, so as always we plan it to win.”
Arsenal stretched their lead over Tottenham to three points but goal difference favours their neighbours after Arteta’s team failed to rack up what could have been a big victory on Sunday.
He said: “We started really well with the right determination, attitude, quality, we didn’t allow them to breathe, we generated chance after chance and scored two goals - we were really good.
“After the sending off we should have scored the third goal and when you don’t do that - I think it was the only shot that they had - they score and, yes, it’s nervy. This is the Premier League and they don’t need much to generate a goal so at the end we suffered much more than we needed.”
