Arsenal handed huge Tottenham selection boost

Arsenal are in the midst of a busy January period with fixtures across three competitions coming thick and fast while also trying to balance out the depleting numbers in the squad.

Having the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool moved to two weeks later will see them face the Reds either side of a crucial North London Derby against Tottenham, as opposed to having that Premier League clash following the second leg.

Losing four players to the Africa Cup of Nations has reduced Mikel Arteta’s squad already, and with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Folarin Balogun departing on loan the list of options in midfield and forward areas are minimal.

Additionally, the manager stated in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday that there are ‘issues’ within the squad and that they are ‘very short’ in the centre of the park.

Arsenal handed huge Tottenham selection boost for North London Derby with Heung-min Son set to miss out with muscle injury

Confirming that the club will seek to bolster those numbers, especially with there being growing concerns over Granit Xhaka’s availability, time will be of the essence.

At this stage any help they can get will be appreciated, wherever that may come from.

Not of Arsenal’s doing, they have been handed a huge boost for the North London Derby with Antonio Conte confirming that Heung-min Son is set to miss the remainder of the month with injury, thus ruling him out of the January 16 clash.

"“Son felt a bit of pain in his muscle, in his leg and he had a scan,” Conte revealed. “Now we have to make the right evaluations from the doctors.“He’s an injury. I don’t know but probably they could stay without training session until the end of this cycle, before the international break.”"

The South Korean is usually a thorn in Arsenal’s side when the two meet, scoring four goals and registering four assists in the 15 matches he’s played against the Gunners. His absence also rules him out of Spurs’ Carabao Cup second leg against Chelsea, but it’s the derby game that will come as a huge boost to Arsenal.

With the way that Tottenham are playing at the minute, they shouldn’t be feared anyway. The contrasting forms of the two sides will give Arsenal confidence, yet the old adage of the form book going out the window tends to apply in this particular match.

Arsenal have not won away at Tottenham in the Premier League since 2014, and their last away success against their bitter rivals in any competition came in 2015, when Mathieu Flamini’s memorable brace handed the visitors victory on the League Cup third round.