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The next installment of the north London derby is upon us, and Mikel Arteta can't wait.
There are a lot of words that can be used to describe the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham, and "nice" isn't one of them.
But that's the word that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is using as his team looks to get themselves up off the canvas having been beaten 2-0 by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup and then knocked out of the FA Cup no penalties by Manchester United just a few days later.
So, it hasn't been the best of build-ups for the Gunners to what some fans think is the most important fixture of the year, but Arsenal is in desperate need of something, anything to go its way.
A win over Spurs, who are currently 13th and have one win in their last five in the league, would be just what the doctor ordered and some chances taken for a chance would also be "nice."
With a lot of the line at this stage of the season for Arsenal as Liverpool dropped points on the road at Nottingham Forest, Arteta is ready for the next installment of the north London derby.
"It’s probably the nicest game of the season to watch because of the atmosphere, because of what it means to our people, what it means to us and everybody involved in the game," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "This is something that is in our hands, for example. Let’s create the best atmosphere that we have played at the Emirates, that’s our objective. That's something that we control, the players, the staff, and everybody that turns up tomorrow. This is something that we can do, so let's do it."
After such a poor week from the Gunners, a win over Spurs would put the pep back in the step of Arsenal and in truth, it's needed more than ever now.
Gabriel Jesus' ACL injury further sucked any positive vibes that might have been floating around, and now the club is in dire need of reinforcements.
But while some are down over the results of the past week, coupled with Jesus' injury, all of that can go away for 90 minutes if Arsenal can take care of business like it should.
Chances will be created because that's just what the Gunners do, but against our bitter rivals, they simply have to be taken.