Eze scores hat-trick on his north London debut as Arsenal thump sorry Spurs

Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur from the Premier League as Mikel Arteta’s side host the first north London derby of the season, hoping to establish a six-point lead at the top of the table. 

Manchester City missed their chance to close the gap on Arsenal to one point as they were beaten by Newcastle United on Saturday, meaning Chelsea are currently the closest challengers, three points shy of the league leaders. 

Arsenal have now occupied top spot for seven weeks, having enjoyed a formidable period of form, unbeaten in their last 14 matches in all competitions in a run dating back to August, conceding just four goals in that time. 

However, half of those goals came against Sunderland in a 2-2 draw before the international break, in a game which ended their 10-match winning streak and their run of eight successive clean sheets. And since that clash at the Stadium of Light, they have lost central defender Gabriel, who picked up an injury while playing for Brazil over the break, incidentally at the Emirates. 

Arteta’s men remain the standout team in the division, but with these recent setbacks, there is now a sense of even greater pressure on Sunday’s north London derby, particularly with matches against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Chelsea in the Premier League up next. 

Arsenal are currently eight points ahead of their north London rivals, who start the afternoon in eighth place on 18 points following a 2-2 draw with Manchester United last time out. But victory for Thomas Frank in his first derby match since arriving at Spurs could take his side up to fourth, within just one point of City in third. 

It has been a mixed start for Frank since arriving in the summer, but his side have been impressive on the road, remaining the only team in the league unbeaten away from home, having won four of their five matches away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

But their record away at their local rivals is not so impressive, winning just one of their last 32 visits to Arsenal in the league, last taking three points from the Emirates in 2010. And having not beaten Arsenal at home in the league since 2022, they are winless in their last six league meetings, having lost five of those.