New tension, old rivalries: Arsenal brace for north…

New tension, old rivalries: Arsenal brace for north London derby test against a changing Spurs

Arteta has begun to face the first grumbles from players over minutes - (Getty Images)

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Arsenal are assessing everything from injuries to Eberechi Eze’s role as they face a newly physical Tottenham Hotspur at a key moment – but Mikel Arteta is aware the main test may be mental.

Over the past few weeks, Arteta has begun to face the first grumbles from players over minutes – but he now has an even better response. This spell is the reason why the Arsenal squad is as big as it is.

The Basque has been adamant about sustaining the same team intensity in order to truly challenge for the biggest trophies, but he knows it is almost impossible with a small squad in this absurd calendar. There is simply too much wear in the constant churn of matches, especially when an international break is one of the last before a World Cup. Hence a key defender like Gabriel Magalhães actively wanting to play for Brazil.

The effects can be seen in the seven injuries Arsenal’s staff are assessing ahead of this weekend’s north London derby. Such absences are no longer a crisis. It is suddenly just as well that Arteta has Eze’s creativity if Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz do end up out, or Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié if Gabriel is missing. Myles Lewis-Skelly, meanwhile, is now likely to get the minutes his performances deserve. There is still considerable depth in the squad for this weekend – just about.

If Arsenal’s ongoing injury issues raise questions about the club’s physical approach and even the intensity of training, it is something they are conscious of. The football leadership sought to study it in the summer, and to properly research the volume of soft-tissue injuries.

All of this nevertheless feeds into the sense that the next test is again psychological, which is why it is yet another delicate moment in which to face a north London derby.

Arteta was hugely frustrated by the way they dropped points against Sunderland – the first time they had failed to win in 11 games – due to how David Raya’s defence conceded two goals from second balls. The manager did his usual of subsequently trying to create tunnel vision within the squad by reframing it as a positive, talking about how the second half was one of their best performances of the season so far.

He is surely aware that those dropped points came at an inopportune time, given that Arsenal now face one of their more difficult spells of the season.

The derby marks the start of a Premier League run that features Chelsea away, Brentford at home and Aston Villa away. Even if the Champions League home match against Bayern Munich does not have the same significance, given how comfortable Arsenal’s group position is, they could probably have done with it at a different time.

Arteta knows his players are now facing a familiar pressure. Such is the demand on the team to win a title this season that virtually every match has been a referendum on their credentials. This spell, starting with this game, is now a referendum on their “bottle”.

An extra challenge is that they are now facing an unfamiliar Tottenham Hotspur...

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