Tottenham played into Arsenal's hands with ultra-safe approach – who will Conte blame for this one?

Jason Burt's match report appears above. Cheers for reading.

this time to the BBC.

"Feels brilliant. About time we won here. It was a great game, especially in the first half. We dominated and controlled everything. The second half was a bit more open. They pushed for a goal but we defended well so a good game.

"Last year and the year before we played some good football here but weren't sharp enough in key moments but we showed a different side today and showed how much we have improved.

"I'm really happy for the team and the fans. I know how much it will mean to them. But we have to stay humble and we know we can improve."

• Arsenal completed a league double over Tottenham Hotspur for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign, with the Gunners winning away at Spurs for the first time in the league since March 2014.
• Arsenal are eight points ahead of second-place Manchester City in the Premier League table, with this their biggest lead in the competition when playing the same number of games as the side below since the final day of the 2003-04 season, when they won the title by 11 points.
• Tottenham have conceded 2+ goals in five consecutive home league games for the first time since August 1992, with the Lilywhites conceding 11 goals across these last five home matches.
• Antonio Conte has seen his Tottenham side lose four home Premier League games this season, his joint-highest tally of home losses in a single league campaign in his managerial career (also 2017-18 with Chelsea and 2007-08 with Bari).
• Arsenal have won 47 points from 18 Premier League games this season – the most points they've won at this stage of a season in their league history.
• Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard has been directly involved in 13 goals in 23 appearances in all competitions this season (8 goals, 5 assists), one more than he registered in 40 games in 2021-22 (7 goals, 5 assists).
• Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has provided seven assists in 18 Premier League games this season, equalling his joint-best tally in a single season, set last term (7 in 38 apps).
• Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris scored his first ever Premier League own goal in what was his 354^th appearance in the competition. In fact, all three own-goals scored in Premier League north London derbies have been netted by Tottenham Hotspur players (also Chris Armstrong in March 2000 and Kevin Wimmer in November 2016).

"I don't feel we started too badly, we had spells in their half at 0-0. First goal was unfortunate, both goals were poor. They were the better side but not too much in it."

"They are a very good side, they are top of the table for a reason.

"Of course there is no place for (Ramsdale) incident. That is unacceptable, nothing more I can say beyond it should not have happened."

"Felt we were in control. I am there to make saves. We have not kept a clean sheet for a while in a NLD.

"Spurs fans were giving me some throughout. A fan jumped over and gave me a little punch in the back. Both sets of players tried to get me away. It leaves a sour taste."

Ramsdale at the end gave a a fist pump at the end, then kissed his Arsenal badge. Ha, fair play to him.

"Felt amazing. We had a different game last year and it was good to show a different side here."

at the end and went right up to Aaron Ramsdale. The Arsenal keeper was behind the goal gathering up his bits and bobs and it would appear that this Tottenham supporter kicked Ramsdale. More from Sam Dean on that below.

Aaron Ramsdale kicked by Tottenham fan while Arsenal celebrate north London derby victory

That is it. Some minor aggro at full time when a couple of Spurs players noise up Ramsdale. Richarlison appears to be the chief culprit. 

and now there is a Spurs supporter who has got on the pitch who has either kicked Ramsdale or said something to him. Arteta runs over to defuse/extract his keeper and also now Xhaka from a situation. Nothing too serious, in the final analysis.

Here is Sam Dean: "That was only the fifth away victory in a Premier League north London derby since 2000, and the first since March 2014. Arsenal were totally dominant in the first half and that's what decided this match, along with Aaron Ramsdale's excellence in goal."

Arsenal have gone eight points clear at the top after 18 matches.

Gabriel is going into the book for timewasting.

Not unrelated, a couple of Arsenal changes: Odegaard and Nketiah off. Smith Rowe and someone else on. Vieira. 

There will be five minutes added but Arsenal are home and dry.

Gary Neville has awarded the MotM to Ramsdale and I won't dispute that. He has faced seven shots on target and saved them all. 

The obvious compare and contrast being Lloris, who had a mare for the first, giving away an OG.

Frustration showing for Spurs with a miscommunication between Son and Perisic. The former slips the ball through for the latter to go and.... well, the latter didn't went anywhere. Son looks angry.

Big moment as Son lines up a freekick from not far outside the box but he smacks it into the wall.

Zinchencko coming off sl........oooo.........w........l.........y

Tomiyasu comes on.

Son! Good bit of play but the shot is deflected over.

Spurs throwing the kitchen sink at this now. Kulusevski, who has looked Tottingham's boy most likely, gets down that right flank and tries a low cross.

Son, down the other flank, cannot get a ball in under a lot of pressure.

Arsenal doing really well. Spurs play the ball into the box, good keeping again from Ransdale.

A sustained period of pressure for Spurs. Arsenal cannot get the ball clear, but on the other hand the ball won't quite drop for Spurs. Son's effort is easily repelled and now Richarlison with a low shot saved.

Martinelli is coming off for Tierney.

After all that, it's Xhaka who hits the freekick - over and wide.

Odegaard himself will have a chance to wrap it up with a freekick.

Son in the draught excluder role.

Romero, who must be perilously close to a red now, fouls Odegaard on the edge of the Spurs box.

Spurs losing control of the midfield, I mean even more so than they had previously lost control of it, as the game gets stretched and scrappy. Dier goes into the book for a shoulder barge. Lenglet also just been booked for putting it about.

Richarlison comes on for Doherty.

Nketiah has a chance to settle the match.

Arsenal break, not sure where the Spurs defence have got to, presumably pressing upfield for the corner. Xhaka plays Nketiah in. He fails to control the ball, absolute shocker of a touch actually and Lloris has time to come out and somther.

Long ball to Martinelli, insouciantly controlled with the shoulder.

Not created much for a while but there's plenty of the ball for Spurs.

Son plays it to Kane who tries to create space for the shot; he is very well marshalled by Gabriel.

Quiet few minutes: have Arsenal got through the worst of the Spurs counteroffensive?

Sessegnon with an optimistic volley that he mis-hits so severely that it fails to go out for a corner.

Spurs break and Kulusevski tries to thread the needle to feed Son but that pass is nowhere near the ticket.

Still, Spurs have got something to shout about this half and their fans are making some noise.

Romero lunges in on Xhaka, and he's very lucky not to get a second yellow there. In fact, I am not sure why he hasn't got a second yellow.

Nketiah has a chance to crush this rally and make it three. But he hits that tamely at the keeper.

Kulusevski cuts in from the right, set up again by Kane, and Kulusevski again tries the in-curler with the left foot but he cannot bring it back in enough.

Arsenal come forward and the move is ended with a foul by Sarr that sees him go in the book.

It's all Spurs now! Steaming down the left, a hard shot comes in and that's another good bit of keeping from Ransdale as Sessegnon shoots hard and low on the cut-in angle. It is a really quality save from Ramsdale using his feet.

Son has also woken up and now the ball's into the box and Kane gets up for a header. No power on it.

Spurs! This is better. They are first to the ball in a couple of tackles, good strength Kulusevski to hold it up, slips it to Kane who cracks a shot at goal. Ramsdale tips it around the post.

Spurs look a bit more the ticket here as they surge forward, it is played out to Kulusevski on the right, he cuts inside and shoots with the left. Wide.

Any changes?

No. Same XIs.

Be better off with Tom Conti on this evidence. Or Silviniaco Conti.

Well in any event, here comes the second half.

A tiny reminder at the end that Spurs, with Son and Kane in the team, do have the capability to get back in this but it's a puncher's chance only at this stage. Arsenal have run them ragged, Saka especially is having it away down the right flank. Martinelli and Odegaard also impressing with their movement. Didn't help the Spurs cause that Lloris made an awful blunder for the opener. Conte has some serious work to do in the break.

Here is Sam Dean's analysis: "This game is being won (and lost) in the midfield. Arsenal have had 56 per cent of the ball and played 261 passes to Tottenham's 194 in that first half. With Zinchenko tucking in, Arsenal have four players in the centre of the pitch. It's sometimes five when Nketiah drops deeper. Spurs have two. And it's only ever two. They're chasing shadows in there."

Very close, and a reminder for both sides that while there is Kane, there is hope. Hojbjerg plays an excellent ball in, Kane with a glancing header and that's well saved! 

Spurs get a corner that's not quite cleared and Hojbjerg brings the half to a close by trying an ambitious volley that goes well wide. Brief moment of confusion when the ref blows the whistle as Hojbjerg hits the deck after that shot. For a second people think it's a pen - not sure why, don't think Hojbjerg was fouled despite having a lovely roll around on the grass - but in the end it turns out it's just the half time whistle.

Sessegnon has utterly failed to stop Saka by fair means down that Spurs left so returns to the classics by booting him in the legs. Booked, and rightly so.

Sarr and Odegaard collide, the ref finds in favour of the Spurs man.

Odegaard slaps the freekick into the wall and Spurs clear.

Saka is murdering these. Saka running at the defence, who look nervy and flat-footed. Lenglet appears to give up any hope of tackling him and just shoulder barges the Arsenal right-sider. That will give Arsenal a freekick a couple of yards outside the box.....

Spurs are getting pumped here.

Spurs fail to win a header, and then another header, and Arsenal send Saka away down the right. Excellent run from the England man, plays it inside to Martin Odegaard who takes a shot and drills a hard low shot past Hugo Lloris. That is excellent from Arsenal but my goodness Spurs are poor.

Romero's chopped down Martinelli for a well deserved yellow card.

Old Harry Kane there back helping out in the left back role; not sure he's going to break Jimmy Greaves's record from there

Here is Clinton Morrison on the BBC: "Tottenham can't deal with Saka. Lenglet and Sessegnon are struggling with him and they don't know which one should pick him up. He has started the game really lively on this right hand side."

Antonio Conte shaking his head on the touchline. Well that will gee them up won't it? I get the sense that Conte's had enough/going through the motions a bit. 

Arteta by contrast looks calm, albeit deep in thought as Arsenal prepare to take a freekick.

Spurs with a few moments of the ball now, maybe they can draw the sting from Arsenal if nothing else.

Partey smacks the ball at the goal, beats the keeper, and it smashes against the post. I think Partey shinned that actually.

Kulusevski takes charge and clears from the corner.

It's been all Arsenal so far, Spurs look flat and cowed.

Lloris does not look confident at all. A shot from Arsenal's Odegaard, Lloris seems unsure but manages to parry it around the post.

"Hugo Lloris had looked uncomfortable a few minutes before his own goal, almost losing the ball to Gabriel Martinelli in his own box. This is not the day for nervousness, Hugo. How strange that he seems to be the most affected by the occasion so far... just a few weeks ago he was playing in the World Cup final."

Spurs have their first attempt. Sessegnon finds Son and he gets a shot away but no great alarms for Ramsdale to get down to that.

Goal, nice move by Arsenal and they deserve it for having been the better side, but the manner of scoring is down to an error.

Saka down the right, he gets to the byline and hits it hard across the goal. Takes a deflection off Sessegnon and Lloris has totally bungled what should have been a regulation grab. Tries to parry it and just drops the ball over the line. Dear me. Own goal? I think it is an own goal.

Romero plays the ball forward, Partey sticks out a hand to intercept it. Surely a booking? The Spurs players surround the ref but no card is shown.

Beefy tackle there from Romero on Nketiah earns Arsenal a freekick outside the box, about 30 yards from the Spurs goal.

Odegaard lofts the ball in and Partey heads it (well) over.

Gabriel Martinelli chip[s the ball to Nketiah, but he fires straight at Lloris.

Early signs are that this could be a good game. Spurs pressing lustily and Arsenal brave enough to try and play their way through said press.

Kane has freed Sessegnon but the cross from the former Fulham player is poor.

"He's no longer the masked winger," says Martin Tyler of Son Heung-Min, who has dispensed with the facial guard.

Spurs, roared on by their fans, enjoying a substantial amount of early possession. 

Kulusevski and Zinchenko in a full-blooded physical encounter right away.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Doherty, Sarr, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon, Kulusevski, Son, Kane. Subs: Skipp, Sanchez, Richarlison, Gil Salvatierra, Emerson, Perisic, Forster, Davies, Bissouma.

Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Odegaard,Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli. Subs: Tierney, Smith Rowe, Holding, Tomiyasu, Vieira, Sambi Lokonga, Alencar, Turner, Smith.

Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)

"Emile Smith Rowe has not played in the Premier League since early September, but he is back in the Arsenal squad today. The attacking midfielder made his comeback from long-term injury on Monday night, against Oxford United in the FA Cup, and he could yet prove to be a key player in this season's title race. Arsenal are in desperate need of more attacking options following the injury to Gabriel Jesus, and Smith Rowe's return to full sharpness cannot come soon enough."

two goals to break Jimmy Greaves's Tottenham record. Would be some achievement. 

are out on the pitch.

Bookies having a hard time predicting it by the looks: 13/5 Spurs win, 13/5 draw, 5/4 Arsenal win.

Some analysis from Sam Dean.

"Quite the occasion for Pape Matar Sarr's first start in the Premier League. It is a huge show of faith in the 20-year-old, who might have to do a lot of running in midfield today. Hopefully he is in an energetic mood, as Arsenal will expect to have most of the ball today."

club Twitter, Elneny misses today's match after picking up a knock in training.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Doherty, Sarr, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon, Kulusevski, Son, Kane. Subs: Skipp, Sanchez, Richarlison, Gil Salvatierra, Emerson, Perisic, Forster, Davies, Bissouma.

Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Odegaard,Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli. Subs: Tierney, Smith Rowe, Holding, Tomiyasu, Vieira, Sambi Lokonga, Alencar, Turner, Smith.

Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)

Eric Dier turns 29 today. He's had a good career I reckon. Amusingly random bit in that Amazon Spurs thing when he's talking Italian Portuguese with Robert De Niro Jose Mourinho

Hello, thanks for joining us, Alan Tyers here for the Tottenham vs Arsenal blog and without further ado, here is my esteemed colleague Sam Dean to set the scene for you.

Amid all of his usual pre-match preparations in derby week, Mikel Arteta has been trying to answer a couple of difficult questions: why does the away team so often struggle in this fixture, and what can his players do this weekend to end that curse?

The use of the word “curse” might seem a little dramatic, but the statistics are certainly striking. Since the turn of the century, there have been only four away victories in north London derbies in the Premier League. Since the start of 2010, there have been only two. Since the spring of 2014, there have been none.

Yes, eight full seasons have passed since Arsenal won at Tottenham Hotspur in the league. And, alongside that, it is now 11 seasons since Spurs claimed three points at Arsenal. 

What is going on here? Arteta’s first reaction, as a former Arsenal player who has experienced the intensity of these matches (he played in Arsenal’s 1-0 win at White Hart Lane in 2014, their last league triumph there), was to point to the atmosphere at the games.

“There is something, for sure,” he said. “The atmosphere has an input and affects the game in a way. I have been through a few of them, trying to understand why that happens, in the last few days. It is difficult to get some conclusions but the atmosphere, it is important.”

There must, though, be more to it than that. After all, there are plenty of other passion-heavy derbies in the Premier League, and plenty of other matches where the stadium atmosphere is aggressive and hostile. 

Arteta’s second theory is perhaps the more compelling. “You have to see where both teams are in that moment,” he said. 

This is surely the key point. It is not just that north London derbies are hugely important for local bragging rights. They are more than that. On many occasions in recent years, they have also been hugely important in the wider context of the entire campaign. 

For many seasons now, Arsenal and Spurs have been fighting for the same positions in the league. And over the past four years, they have been separated in the final table by an average of just two points. 

Indeed, since the summer of 2018, Arsenal have won 89 matches and accumulated 300 points in the Premier League. In that same time, Spurs have also won 89 matches, accumulating 296 points. As well as being based in the same location, these two sides have effectively also been on the same level. 

All of which makes this season, and this weekend’s derby, even more exciting for Arteta and Arsenal. Because this year, the two teams have not been on the same level at all. It is Arsenal who are accelerating away, so much so that victory on Sunday would take them 14 points clear of their fiercest rivals.

If now is not the time for Arsenal to claim that elusive away victory at White Hart Lane, when will that time be? This is their best team in years, and the back four seems to represent the most resilient defence they have put together since that last away victory in 2014.

If Arsenal produce their best football, they should win the game. But the recent history of these derbies tells us that other factors can get in the way, and that other pressures can cloud the mind on days like these.

The last meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in May, provided the ultimate proof of how the derby can rattle visiting players. In a straight shootout for fourth place, Arsenal travelled to Spurs knowing that a win would confirm their spot in the Champions League. They quickly crumbled, first losing their heads and then losing the game.

Arteta’s hope is that this season’s Arsenal are better equipped to handle the occasion. “They [the players] are certainly more mature,” he said. “What I would say is that it is an incredible dressing room. A joy to work with, every single day. Some of the things we have done together, probably I am never going to be able to do with any other team and any other group.”

A victory at Spurs, and another significant step forward in the title race, would rank as one of this group’s most significant achievements so far. It would be a sign of how much they have grown, and indeed how quickly the balance of power is shifting in north London.