For fans of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, there was only one game that mattered last weekend – the North London Derby, which ultimately ended in a 1-1 draw.
Always one of the biggest and most fiercely contested games of the season, Tottenham remained undefeated against their North London neighbours last season, achieving a draw at Emirates Stadium before completing a fantastic comeback against Arsenal at White Hart Lane where Harry Kane catapulted himself onto that next level.
The not so friendly neighbours have of course already faced off this season in the third round of the Capital One Cup where Mathieu Flamini produced his best striker-like impression, bagging an unlikely brace to put the Gunners through at White Hart Lane.
To help celebrate the fixture, we devised what the majority of punters in the tavern believe to be the best combined Arsenal and Tottenham eleven. Do you agree with their choices?
[ffc-gallery]
Click on the image below to reveal what we believe to be the best combined Arsenal & Tottenham XI. Do you agree?
[/ffc-gallery]
Petr Cech
With his horror show competitive debut against West Ham United now firmly behind him, we’ve since seen the kind of performances from Petr Cech that we were all expecting following his high-profile summer switch from Chelsea.
Being able to do nothing about Bayern Munich’s five strikes in the week given the fact Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista were particularly poor, Cech has made his fair share of world class saves already this term.
Seemingly being able to keep Arsenal in games for far longer than any of his predecessors of the last few years could, Cech boasts match-saving abilities in his locker and Arsenal fans love having him between the sticks.
Hector Bellerin
One of the surprise packages of Arsenal’s season last term alongside Francis Coquelin, Hector Bellerin has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame having been on the fringes of the team only a year-and-a-bit ago.
Firmly the first choice right back at Emirates Stadium over Mathieu Debuchy nowadays, Bellerin was missing from the Bayern game through injury in midweek and Arsene Wenger’s side missed his recovery pace badly.
Still learning of course, Bellerin looks like he’ll progress on to become one of the best full backs in the business in the Jordi Alba mould and Arsenal might have to resist Barcelona coming back to reacquire his services in the next few seasons if he continues developing at his current rate.
Toby Alderweireld
A summer signing from Atletico Madrid for £11.5 million, Toby Alderweireld has so far proved value for money with the Belgian international continuing on well from his impressive loan spell at Southampton last season.
A tough customer, Alderweireld has benefited from playing alongside his Belgian international team-mate Jan Vertonghen and fully merits his place in this eleven.
A ball playing centre half to boot, Alderweireld can also play and that’s why he’s also been deployed in defensive midfield in his career so far.
Laurent Koscielny
Strangely on the bench against Bayern Munich in midweek but deemed not fit enough to start, Arsenal badly missed their French international centre half who is most definitely the Gunners’ single best defender.
Having a little bit of everything in his game in terms of being strong, quick and able to play out from the back as well, Koscielny also brings the best out of others around him with Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista looking better players when he’s partnered with either of them.
A lot of the Gunners’ success this term will depend on whether they can keep Koscielny fit with the player definitely being one of Arsenal’s vital cogs.
Nacho Monreal
Having turned his game around massively, it was only around a year ago that Nacho Monreal’s name was mud amongst Arsenal supporters.
Rather unfairly pressed into action by Arsene Wenger as an emergency centre half following a defensive injury crisis, Monreal didn’t enjoy filling in in an unfamiliar position but having reverted to his usual slot at left back thereafter, he hasn’t looked back since.
Now more tough and giving little away, Monreal’s game has developed hugely and if Arsenal fans tell the truth, when Kieran Gibbs is playing instead, Gunners fans don’t nearly feel as assured as when the Spaniard is deploying the left flank.
Dele Alli
An absolute revelation of a signing for Tottenham so far, Dele Alli has handled the step up in class from being a League One player to Premier League professional with ease.
Tall, combative and capable of grabbing goals to boot, Alli looks like he could go on to become the complete midfielder and we can now appreciate why he’s drawn comparisons to Steven Gerrard from such a young age.
Having also made his senior England debut this term, Alli is riding the crest of a wave right now and there was simply no reason to not select him in our combined eleven.
Santi Cazorla
Having been subdued against Bayern Munich in the week like so many other of Arsenal’s players, we found out that Santi Cazorla isn’t the most effective in the defensive midfield position when facing a truly world class outfit such as the German champions.
That said, the Spanish international has done a good job in the role for the most part having been deployed there alongside Francis Coquelin in the second part of last season through until now.
Able to thread through those eye-of-the-needle passes while boasting the two-footedness to get himself out of tight situations, Cazorla is a fantastic footballer to watch when in full flow and that’s why we’ve put him in tandem with the ball winning Dele Alli in our eleven.
Christian Eriksen
So we need somebody to put those free-kicks into the net in our eleven, don’t we?
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen has proved himself to be something of a set-piece specialist since signing from Ajax in 2013 and the Danish international is most certainly the success story from Spurs splashing the Gareth Bale sale cash.
While Erik Lamela is finally improving his all-round game this term, we’ve deployed the hugely versatile Eriksen on the flank who boasts the skill and trickery to cause damage to any opponent.
Mesut Ozil
Adding far more consistency to his game nowadays, Arsenal fans are now starting to see regular good performances from club record signing Mesut Ozil.
Always seeming to be the Arsenal player that has laid on the assist for a goal or one-on-one chance, Ozil’s assisting abilities are undoubted and he was the player who opened the scoring for the Gunners at White Hart Lane last season.
Perhaps he should be scoring more given the fact he’s an attacking midfielder by trade but when you assist the number of goals Mesut Ozil does, you can probably forgive him in respect of his contributions to the team.
Alexis Sanchez
Quite simply one of Arsene Wenger’s most successful signings, Alexis Sanchez has been a revelation since signing from Barcelona for £35 million last summer.
Something of a bargain buy given some of the fees several players go for nowadays, Sanchez was bought as a ready-made solution but he’s taken his game to new heights where he is far more of the main man than during his time around other superstars such as Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou.
A regular source of goals and one of those Arsenal players who seems to get injured less frequently than his team-mates, Sanchez can be a world beater on his day.
Harry Kane
Not scoring as freely as he did last season, Harry Kane has at least gotten back on the goal trail recently proving that he’s far from being a one-season wonder.
Quite simply Tottenham’s talisman nowadays in a way akin to Gareth Bale before him, Kane has come a long way in a relatively short space of time and it was his two goals against Arsenal last season that really catapulted him into heroic status.
Scoring against Chelsea to boot, Kane has already proved he can score against any calibre of opposition and what’s more, he’s capable of scoring different kinds of goals to boot.
It was a tough call between Kane and Giroud who continues to answer his critics but we’re going with the England international who is a fantastic leader from the front for Tottenham.
