Date/Time: Saturday 2nd March 2019 (Kick-off 1:30 PM CET).
The opening Premier League game of the weekend comes from the national Stadium as Tottenham Hotspur look to bounce back from two very poor defeats over the last eight days.
Every time they have gotten into a position to be back in the Premier League title talk Tottenham Hotspur have either not coped with the pressure or not had a bit of fortune on their side, but the narrative has to be getting boring for the fans, players and management.
The defeats at Turf Moor and Stamford Bridge have been compounded by the fact that the three teams immediately below them in the Premier League table have all picked up big points. It means Tottenham Hotspur are no longer looking up at the title race, but instead could be worrying they are being dragged into a battle for the top four places and a defeat on Saturday will really put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Arsenal will believe they can win here having put 3 wins in a row together since the embarrassing 1-0 defeat in Borisov in the Europa League. The Gunners have been firing in front of goal with 10 goals scored in those 3 wins, but all have come at the Emirates Stadium and you can't just ignore how poorly they have played on their travels.
In fact Arsenal have lost 5 of their last 9 away games in all competitions and the only two wins in that time have come against Blackpool and Huddersfield Town. They've been beaten handily by both Liverpool and Manchester City which means Arsenal have lost 3 of their 4 away games at the other top six clubs this season with this one concluding those fixtures.
Tottenham Hotspur have also won 3 of their last 4 North London derbies they have hosted and I think they are about as healthy as they could have hoped for ahead of this one. I do think Arsenal will pose problems on the counter attack with the quality they have in the final third, but defensively Arsenal are very poor and it says something that they have conceded at least twice in visits to Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Anfield and the Etihad Stadium this season.
Unai Emery won't change his style and I think Tottenham Hotspur hosting the game makes all the difference on the day. The home team just haven't done draws this season and with that in mind I am going to look for Tottenham Hotspur to bounce back from their poor week and finish off with a win.
Spurs have won 4 in a row at Wembley Stadium in all competitions and can extend that sequence on Saturday morning.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur to win
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