There a lot of battles to look forward to when Arsenal host their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Sunday.
But none of them will be as important and exciting as to who will dominate the midfield battle between Lucas Torreira and Eric Dier.
Dier, one of the unsung heroes of the current Spurs team that has been part of the club’s incredible rise to one of the best teams in the country against Torreira, who within a very short period of time has proven to be the man the Gunners have been missing for so many years in that defensive midfield position.
Heading into Sunday, Dier might hold the upper hand in terms of experience, having played in the Premier League for four years and knowing all about these sort of derbies.
This will be the tenth time the England international will face off against Arsenal since making his debut for Spurs back in 2014, while for Torreira, it will be as big a game as he has ever played in his life.
The Uruguayan has been at the heart of Arsenal’s resurgence this season that has seen Unai Emery’s men extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches with a win over Vorskla in the Europa League on Thursday.
The manager made the decision to rest most of his regular starters for the match, in order to be fully fit come Sunday, including Torreira.
The 22-year-old was eased into the team by Emery, using him from the bench in the opening few rounds before handing him a start against Everton in September.
Since then, the 5 foot 5 midfielder has been exceptional for the Gunners and would he have taken a lot of confidence from his impressive performance against Liverpool at the Emirates at the beginning of November.
But Dier showed last Saturday just how important he is to Mauricio Pochettino’s side in that holding position as Spurs thumped Chelsea at Wembley.
The result in itself should have been a big warning to the Gunners that Spurs are ready to claim their first win at the Emirates since 2010, but Dier as the base of the midfield will also be difficult to crack if the Arsenal attackers were to put their opposition defenders under pressure.
