'It's not ideal': Mikel Arteta reacts to unexpected news Arsenal have received ahead of NLD

The footballing world’s eyes will be on north London this weekend as Arsenal head to Tottenham Hotspur for a derby that is always fiercely contested.

The Gunners made a bright start to the Premier League season with two consecutive wins, but they then dropped two points just before the international break.

Arsenal could only draw 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion in a game that also saw midfielder Declan Rice controversially sent off.

Meanwhile, Tottenham only have four points to show for their early-season efforts, despite dominating in all three games before the break.

In addition, both teams have a number of personnel worries they have to contend with.

For instance, the Gunners will be without Mikel Merino and Declan Rice, while Spurs will be without Richarlison.

And if that wasn’t enough, an off-the-pitch update earlier this week has not gone down well in some quarters.

PGMOL and the Premier League believe the Gunners’ 2024/25 home kit features “too much white” and is expected to clash with Tottenham’s home shirt.

Therefore, Mikel Arteta will see his side don their black Adidas away kit and Spurs will wear their away shirt in the return fixture at the Emirates Stadium.

Richard Keys has already expressed his outrage with the decision, and now Arteta has admitted he’s not that impressed but will soldier on.

Indeed, he is trying to look on the bright side and hopes the away kit will bring the Gunners luck as it did against Aston Villa.

When asked about the enforced kit change, the Arsenal boss said, as per football.london: “It’s not ideal.

“We wanted to play with our home kit and colours but we will adapt. We did it against Villa and we won. Hopefully it will bring good luck as well.”

When was the last time Arsenal had to wear a kit other than red and white in North London derby?

The last time that Arsenal wore a kit other than their traditional red and white home strip in the North London derby was back in 1986, which is 38 years ago now.

Although it’s not a game-changer for Arsenal, it’ll feel weird not seeing the Gunners in their usual kit against their arch-rivals, as is the norm.

After all, Arsenal and Tottenham have distinctly different kits – though not according to PGMOL this time – and it’s very rare to see a deviation from their home kits in the North London derby.

That said, Arsenal have more important things to worry about, such as who to pick in the starting XI in the absence of the likes of Mikel Merino and Declan Rice.