Tottenham Hotspur host leaders Arsenal in the 199th North London Derby on Sunday, with both sides keen on a positive result at either end of the table.
Tottenham have a new man in the dugout with Igor Tudor replacing Thomas Frank as head coach in what could be the most important game for fans as he looks to stabilize a rapidly sinking ship.
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But Tottenham Hotspur, who have won two of their last 17 Premier League games and currently sit 16th, face a genuine battle to avoid relegation while suffering a widespread injury crisis that has become an annual tradition.
Tottenham have not won the competition since May 2022 when Antonio Conte’s side won 3-0 with goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
Spurs won’t be able to rely on that kind of world-class talent this weekend, but Igor Tudor needs to find some heroes in his ranks to turn around this blundering season.
Tudor’s first starting XI options are few and far between, with the list of absentees including club captain Christian Romero, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udoji, Kevin Danso, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur and Mohamed Kudus.
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Former manager Frank has set a target for Pedro Polo and Richarlison to return ahead of Sunday’s game, but it is unclear whether they have returned to training and so may not be available for selection.
The interim manager hopes he can help Randall Kolo Mouani regain the form he enjoyed last season at Juventus, which saw him score five goals in his final six games to secure Champions League qualification.
However, the Frenchman is yet to score in the Premier League this season.
The North London side are not feeling much better at the moment, having squandered a two-goal lead in the closing stages of their draw with bottom side Wolves as anxiety grows over Mikel Arteta’s title ambitions.
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The Gunners leaders, who have won just two of their last seven league games, know victory on Sunday is imperative to ease the pressure on Arsenal against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who have a game in hand and the gap is reduced to five points.
Arsenal are not without their injury woes, with Mikel Merino, Kai Havertz and Max Dauman all unavailable, and captain Martin Odegaard is dealing with an issue that rules him out of the midweek game against Molineux.
All eyes will certainly be on Eberechi Eze once again, with his hat-trick in the 4-1 derby at the Emirates Stadium becoming one of the stories of the season for the England international after rejecting a move to Tottenham in the summer.
Eze has not added to his Premier League goals tally since, with doubts over his move to his boyhood club and Arteta’s ability to get the most out of the forward, with Bukayo Saka already drafted at No.10.
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Arsenal know they must find a sharp winning formula to avoid a fourth successive second-place finish and Eze is a very viable option who can reignite the Gunners’ title push at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The derby kicks off at 16:30 (GMT) on Sunday and will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event.