Brad Friedel thinks Tottenham are “a little ahead of Arsenal” going into Sunday’s north London derby.
Spurs travel to the Emirates aiming to bounce back from last weekend’s surprise home defeat to Newcastle United, while the Gunners will want maximum points after losing at Liverpool last time out.
And Friedel, who made 67 years during his time at Tottenham, has refused to label either side the favourite – but he acknowledges his former side are slightly better than Arsenal overall.
“These games, especially early in the season, you never know how they’ll pan out,” Friedel BonusCodeBets (via talkSPORT).
“Tottenham have a good group of players who have been with Mauricio (Pochettino) for a long time, and they were unlucky in the game v Newcastle. Arsenal, on the other hand, won their first two and came up against a very talented Liverpool side.
“I don’t know if you can put a favourite on this match, I think overall Tottenham are a little ahead of Arsenal, but Arsenal have outstanding players and a very good head coach. It’s a tough one to call but I’m obviously going for Tottenham.”
Arsenal are actually above Spurs in the table ahead of the derby having won their opening two games – against Newcastle and Burnley – before their 3-1 defeat at Anfield. Tottenham opened their season by beating Aston Villa before picking up a point at Manchester City.
Before the new campaign started, Spurs were tipped to finish above Arsenal, something they have done in each of the last three seasons. Unai Emery’s side have looked impressive so far, but Tottenham will be determined to get the better of their fierce rivals once again this term.
The Premier League Panini Tabloid is a special commemorative newspaper sticker collection celebrating the exciting new partnership between the greatest league in the world and the legendary name in football publishing, Panini.