Samir Nasri played 90 minutes for France on Wednesday but in current form he simply cannot be left out, he is our best attacking player at the moment and will almost certainly be restored to his wide right forward role. Arshavin played the full 90 minutes for Russia on the same day but I am not sure if Wenger will start him

So the first north London derby is almost underway in the 2010-11 season. We have had both massive lows and extreme highs against our neighbours in the last year. At White hart lane last season they managed their first victory against us in 20 games of Premier League football. That day we lacked a creative spark to break them down until Robin Van Persie made his come back from the substitutes bench.

In September our Carling cup side brushed aside the Tottenham equivalent in their own back yard, Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri and Denilson running the show.

After a sticky period against Newcastle United and a few narrow victories at the Emirates we have dusted ourselves down and strung some very positive tough victories together away from the Emirates. Wolves and Everton were put to the Arsenal sword with two very professional title winning performances, the type that many have accused Arsenal of lacking in past seasons. This could be a different game all together as the rolled up sleeves may well be pulled down a little and more focus will be on our football in front of our expectant support.

Tottenham Hotspur will not be coming to the Emirates to sit back and park the old rickety bus, the players they have in their squad are not fine tuned to play that way. Robin Van Persie’s mate Rafael van der Vaart has exploded to life since joining the Tiny Tots in the summer, his £8 million price tag now looks a real steal. Gareth Bale has already achieved landing on the moon, walking on water and has beat the record of David Blane by sitting in a box  for a longer duration. Bale has been playing very well this season but will be up against a very tough opponent in Bacary Sagna. I am not so concerned about Bale when they have the ball, it will be when we lose possession that Bale could become a problem if not treated quickly. We do not want him breaking against us on the half way line with our players chasing back.

That should be a fascinating battle and will be one of many top clashes around the pitch. Depending on who plays in our midfield, Alex Song, Denilson or Jack Wilshere could be given the responsibility of keeping an eye on van der Vaart when we are not in possession of the ball. Aaron Lennon vs Gael Clichy could be electric if the former Leeds United player is given a starting role.

Samir Nasri played 90 minutes for France on Wednesday but in current form he simply cannot be left out, he is our best attacking player at the moment and will almost certainly be restored to his wide right forward role. Arshavin played the full 90 minutes for Russia on the same day but I am not sure if Wenger will start him. Rosicky may well get his wish to start in a big game on the left side of our attack if Arshavin is rested to the bench. Should Lennon start wide right for Tottenham then Rosicky’s inclusion would be a bonus for Clichy who is often left with a larger work load when Andrey Arshavin is starting further ahead of him.

With the injury situation rather strangely looking positive for us, we should have quite the substitutes bench to select from. Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin/Tomas Rosicky and Robin Van Persie could all potentially start from the side lines, although I wouldn’t be too surprised to see our manager spring a surprise and start Van Persie from the very start. In such a footballing game at the Emirates where Chamakh’s presence may not be as important as it would do away from the Emirates, I am starting to wonder if Robin could be the pre match talk for Sky television.

Wenger has a difficult decision to make at center back. Laurent Koscielny started the season higher in the pecking order to Johan Djourou but since his two match suspension, Djourou has come in and has been superb. He has not put a foot wrong in two tricky away matches. Johan Djourou would be a better match for Peter Crouch in the air but at the same time, Laurent Koscielny would be better equipped at winning the second ball from knock downs and obviously he is a better one on one defender on the floor.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

One to watch: Cesc Fabregas

Both sides will be looking towards their play makers to make the difference. Cesc Fabregas has been slowly picking up his form after injury and his goal at Goodison park would have done him no harm at all. Hopefully he can link up with Nasri and whichever wide player we have on the left, they will be attempting to unlock the Tottenham defence.    

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction

Arsenal 2 (Cesc, Squillaci) Tottenham 1

Although the likes of van der Vaart, Lennon and Bale will pose problems for us, I am more concerned about the lack of time we have had since the midweek Internationals. As we have seen in the past, it has taken us a while to click back into gear, to find the momentum again. Luckily for us our players should all be on a high from recent Arsenal results and hopefully we can take that into the game later on this lunchtime.

With so many quality attacking players from both teams, it should make for a mouthwatering game of football. Our defending has been good of late, and the fact that we are third in the goals against table tells you exactly that. Much of the game could be down to how much the other team stops the opposition from creating chances because both teams are fully capable of carving out chances.

If we can play aggressively from the start and put in the hard work that we have done in our last two away matches then I think we can beat them. I don’t think we will score many more goals than them because of the midweek break but hopefully we will have enough to win the game.