North London derby - Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Tottenham's Nuno Espirito Santo preview 'special' match
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ByEurosport
Published 24/09/2021 at 15:17 GMT
Arsenal take on Tottenham in the first north London derby of the season on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium. It will be the first time Arteta has managed the team in the derby in front of supporters, while for Nuno Espirito Santo it is his first ever NLD, having been appointed Tottenham boss in the summer. Both have spoken of the game's significance to the fans.
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he cannot wait to manage a north London derby in front of the home fans for the first time.
The Gunners have won their last three games in all competitions and have lost just one of their last 28 home league games to Tottenham.
The Spaniard has spoken of his excitement to lead the Arsenal team out in front of supporters at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
"To be fair, I can't wait to have that experience," he told reporters ahead of the highly-anticipated match on Sunday afternoon.
"Even right now, after such a long time without them, I have experienced some London derbies but without supporters and I am saying supporters because I think that is the word to describe the people who are behind our football club.
"What they have done in the last few weeks has been pretty special, they only want what is best for the club and it is very different to just being a fan."
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Martin Odegaard celebrates scoring for Arsenal against Burnley in the Premier League.
Image credit: Getty Images
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was dropped for the north London derby by Arteta in March after he turned up late to the game last season, but the former Arsenal midfielder says the pair have moved on from the "incident".
"Well, that was just an incident that I had to make a decision over and I did on the day," he said.
"We as a team have some ways of working together, and this (Aubameyang's actions) wasn't how we do that, so we made a decision.
"I think now he's been in really good form. I think the way he played at Burnley, even if he didn't score a goal, was extraordinary, the way he played for the team. So we expect him to do the same (on Sunday)."
NUNO: A SPECIAL GAME
Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo says his first north London derby cannot be considered "another game" with Spurs still seeking their first Premier League win of the season.
"It’s not another game. It’s a special game," Nuno said.
"A special game for us, a special game for our fans. It’s going to be a tough match but no doubt, it’s a different game.
"I had many, many situations in derbies but this is a new one, a tough one and a good one, a special one for our fans. If it’s special for our fans, it’s very special for us.
"We expect a tough match and for us, we have to compete, we have to play and compete well. Give everything that we can and play good.
"Playing good is finding the right balance in our game. Improvements to be made but a lot of positives that we take from the previous games, so let’s keep on going.”
Spurs will have Lucas Moura back after he missed the last two games with a knock, but Steven Bergwijn and Ryan Sessegnon remain out.
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