The Gunners went into the international break on the back of taking seven points from their first nine in 2024-25, most recently being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates.
Before Joao Pedro's equaliser and Declan Rice's controversial sending-off, Kai Havertz had broken the deadlock thanks to a sublime assist from Bukayo Saka, who has now set up a goal in each of his first three matches this season.
The England international - who turned 23 during the international break - also has one strike to his name this term against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and haunting Spurs was his speciality last season.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Saka has fared against Tottenham in the past.
Bukayo Saka record vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Bukayo Saka's record vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Played: 9
Won: 5
Drawn: 1
Lost: 3
Goals: 3
Assists: 2
Still in the embryonic stages of his Arsenal career - even though he is now one of the longest-serving players in Mikel Arteta's squad - Saka is set to make his 10th appearance against Tottenham this weekend, and his first nine fixtures have produced a mixed bag of results.
Indeed, Saka has been on the winning side in five of his first nine matches against Tottenham, all of which have come in the Premier League, while also suffering three defeats and being involved in one stalemate.
That solitary draw came at the Emirates Stadium in the 2023-24 campaign, where Saka dispatched a penalty following a Cristian Romero handball, but Son Heung-min's double stole a point for the Lilywhites in a 2-2 thriller.
Later that season, Saka repeated his goalscoring trick against Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Arsenal's second in an enthralling 3-2 success, meaning that he could join an exclusive club of Arsenal players this weekend.
Should the 23-year-old make the net bulge against Ange Postecoglou's team this weekend, he will become just the third Gunners player to score in at least three consecutive North London derbies after Robert Pires and Emmanuel Adebayor.
During Arsenal's 2-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in January 2023, which memorably descended into chaos at full time, Saka also had a hand in Arsenal's first goal, as his cross was diverted into the Spurs net by Hugo Lloris.
The winger failed to directly contribute to a goal in five of his first six appearances against Tottenham, though, the one outlier being Arsenal's 3-1 win at the Emirates in September 2021, where he set up Emile Smith Rowe before bagging one of his own.
In total, Saka has three goals and two assists under his belt from his nine Premier League clashes against the Lilywhites, and since being booked on his North London derby debut, he has not picked up a single yellow or red card in this fiery fixture.
0 Comments