Opposition watch | Arsenal's form and players to watch ahead of Sunday's derby

Arsenal arrive in N17 at the top of the Premier League - here's a closer look at how they got there ahead of Sunday's crucial north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (2pm UK).

Form

After one win in five in December, Arsenal have put together a run of 12 wins in 14 to top the Premier League going into this weekend. They've won five of six since drawing against Manchester City on 31 March, and recovered from their Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich and a loss at home against Villa to beat Wolves at Molineux and hammer five past Chelsea this week. They are scoring goals - that sequence of 12 wins in 14 includes five wins of 5-0 plus - and conceding few - 26 goals against is the best in the division.

Players to watch

For all the flair in forward areas, it starts at the back for Arsenal this season. David Raya tops the Premier League with 14 clean sheets and the central defensive partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel have conceded another league best of 26 goals in 34 matches. Declan Rice provides the shield at the base of midfield - both he (2,060) and Saliba (2,562) are in the league's top 10 passers (Cuti Romero also in there on 2,129) - and that leaves the creativity to in-form skipper Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz, who is up to 11 goals after his double in the 5-0 trouncing of Chelsea on Tuesday evening. Saka has been the key threat from the right in recent derbies though and has 23 goal involvements this season (14 goals, nine assists) - one less than Heung-Min Son (15 goals, nine assists).

Manager - Mikel Arteta

A midfielder in a playing career that included a five-year spell at Arsenal following six years at Everton and two at Rangers, Arteta joined Manchester City's coaching staff under Pep Guardiola in 2016 and then headed to the Emirates as Head Coach in December, 2019. Arsenal lifted the FA Cup in his first season and after finishing eighth in 2019/20 and 2020/21 and then fifth in 2021/22, Arteta guided the team to a title challenge last season, where they topped the table from August until April, only to be overhauled by City, who stormed to the summit thanks to a run of 12 wins in their last 14 matches.

Last time we met

A typical derby thriller at the Emirates as we came from behind twice to draw 2-2 - both our goals created by James Maddison for Heung-Min Son. We gave as good as we got that day in September - 13-13 on efforts at goal, 53.5% possession, 449-377 passes - and had a chance to win it at the end, Richarlison's shot deflected wide in added time.

How to follow

Saturday's clash will be televised live by Sky Sports with live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. You can listen to BBC Radio London's commentary via our Match Centre here on tottenhamhotspur.com and the Official Spurs app, where you’ll also find minute-by-minute text, goal alerts, stats and much more. Look out for our social media updates on X and Instagram. Video highlights will be available on SPURSPLAY from 5pm, with the full 90 minutes available to watch on demand from midnight. Also, look out for our Review Show with post-match reaction and analysis from presenter Ben Haines and guests on SPURSPLAY and YouTube. Worldwide broadcast listings are available via the link on this page...