Former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has explained what Mikel Arteta's side must do to beat Antonio Conte's Tottenham Hotspur in Thursday night's North London Derby.
A win for the Gunners will seal a top-four finish for the first time in five years, but they will be mindful that they haven't won away at Spurs since 2014. To make matters that little bit more difficult, Spurs produced a disciplined performance against title-chasing Liverpool at the weekend, securing a valuable 1-1 draw with the Merseyside outfit.
But Arsenal will be encouraged by the fact that they've turned things around in the Premier League after losing three consecutive games to Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton at the beginning of last month. They've now won their last four games against tough opposition in Chelsea, Manchester United, West Ham and Leeds, and they'll be eager to get the job done against their arch-rivals.
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Fabregas, who played under Conte at west London outfit Chelsea, has always praised the Italian for his coaching abilities. Now, he's told Arteta what the Gunners must do to beat his former boss: "I'm sure Mikel analyses the opponent very well, but Arsenal will need a lot of intensity if they're going to win this game," he told LondonWorld. I know exactly how Antonio works. I know this methodology very well.
"If I was a coach, I could get by managing with all that he showed me in the two years I worked with him. Spurs are very well structured. They use the wing-backs very high. They are intense and a little bit like Arsenal. They try to build up from the back to draw the opponent out.
"Tottenham have world-class players upfront as well in [Heung-min] Son, [Harry] Kane and [Dejan] Kulusevski. Last weekend against Liverpool, they gave them a game. If you're going to beat a Conte team, you'll need to be very well structured."
With so much on the line so late in the season, it promises to be the biggest North London Derby in years, but who will end up on top?
