Arsenal have a chance to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League when they take on Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby on Thursday.
We should see a hard-fought battle here with plenty of bookings. Bookmaker William Hill has Granit Xhaka as the likeliest player to get carded in the contest offering odds at 1.95 while Cristian Romero is seen as the likeliest Spurs player to get booked with the odds at 2.10.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 10th, 6:30 P.M. (EST)
Arsenal’s season started to fall apart only a few weeks ago when they took three consecutive losses, but a run of four straight wins has given the team a major boost and they are now in charge of their own destiny with a four-point lead over Spurs. A win on Thursday would take the club back to the Champions League for the first time since 2016-17.
The Gunners started their run of victories with a superb performance against Chelsea and they have also beaten Manchester United, West Ham and Leeds United. Arsenal have won four consecutive league games while conceding at least once each time for the first time since 2012, which shows that the team has demonstrated some very good character.
There have also been some unexpected heroes during the winning streak. Eddie Nketiah has scored a couple of braces and center-backs Gabriel and Rob Holding popped up with goals in a 2-1 victory over the Hammers.
Nketiah scored twice against Chelsea and also had two goals against Leeds last weekend. On Sunday, he became only the second Arsenal player ever to score two goals in the opening 10 minutes of a Premier League match.
The 22-year-old is in the final year of his contract and it sure looks like he’s currently motivated by the fact that he has to impress in order to earn a new deal at the Emirates or elsewhere.
Nketiah is the all-time leading scorer of the England under-21 team and he’s shown plenty of potential through the years, but for some reason Arsenal haven’t put a lot of trust in him. That’s changed in recent weeks and he’s rewarded Mikel Arteta with four goals in five starts.
Tottenham came very close to beating Liverpool over the weekend, but their recent form hasn’t been very good overall with only one win recorded in four league outings.
Getting into the Champions League will be vital for the club’s ambitions and they must win on Thursday to have a realistic chance of pipping Arsenal for a top-four spot.
All of the last four North London derbies have ended with the home team winning and there actually hasn’t been an away victory in the league in this match-up since 2014. This seems to point strongly towards Tottenham’s success on Thursday, but Arsenal’s recent spirited performances show that they definitely won’t go down easily.
