North London Derby Is Already Looming for Title-Chasers Tottenham and Arsenal

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal enjoyed similar but contrasting experiences in the last Premier League weekend before the international break.

Each recorded three points to maintain their position at the upper end of the league table, cuing jubilant scenes naturally recorded by their social media teams for posterity. Tottenham's was a more noteworthy performance, dispatching league leaders Manchester City, but the three points Arsenal earned at Burnley will feel just as important.

Passing the one-month-to-go mark, the first north London derby of the season, set for Nov. 6, is firmly looming. Plenty more will occupy the minds of managers Mauricio Pochettino and Arsene Wenger before then—UEFA Champions League and EFL Cup games too—but the likely title implications of this clash make it worth looking toward already.

Assuming both clubs can continue their good form and stay in contention, this is an exciting newer development in this particular rivalry—at least so far as its placement in the Premier League era is concerned.

From the rebranded top flight's inception in 1992 until around the middle of last decade, it was largely a case of mid-table Spurs versus a title-chasing (and often winning) Gunners. Since the 2005-06 campaign, the Lilywhites' improved competitiveness and Wenger's difficulty maintaining his club's previous elite standing have seen things draw closer, their meetings frequently influencing who would fill out the Champions League qualifying spots.

Last season was the first time in the 21st century when these league derbies (Arsenal also won a League Cup game in September) could be categorised as being between two championship challengers. Perhaps less so the 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium in November, when the notion of Spurs as contenders was in its formative stage, but certainly March's thrilling 2-2 draw.

"Their first goal was very unlucky," Spurs defender Kevin Wimmer reflected at the time, per their official website. "Then we went 2-1 up, and we had chances for the third, so it's disappointing that we conceded the second goal and didn't win this game."

He then refocused on the quest for first place: "The point is OK. There’s still a long way to go. We will get our chances, and we have to keep on going like this."

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Speaking to Arsenal's website, Aaron Ramsey said: "We'll keep giving everything until the final game of the season is over."

They would fall short of a serious challenge of eventual champions Leicester City but did end up pipping a despondent Tottenham, disappointed at losing out to the Foxes, to runners-up. 

So while the upcoming fixture in Arsenal's little corner of the capital will not decide anything—that status may be reserved for the final derby at the existing White Hart Lane, set for April 29—it will tell us plenty about where both stand as the season belies its upcoming winter and really heats up. Of course, victory for either would provide a welcome confidence boost and local bragging rights, too.

Headline writers will be cursing television scheduling moving this game to the Sunday—a day earlier and it would have coincided with Guy Fawkes Night in the UK, literal and descriptive fireworks and all.

The fact is these games do not need extra hype. Every one of them matters to the fans and those involved, and on this occasion, the intrigue of the contest should suffice.

Up until now this season, there has been little to separate the two, who are sitting second and third in the table.

Five wins each after seven games played, the extra point in Tottenham's favour comes from their drawing both of their surplus results while Arsenal lost one. Spurs are on a four-game winning streak. The Gunners' extends to five.

If Pochettino's men are as good as their form and the performance against Manchester City suggest, though, they could go into their trip across north London as hopeful as they have any for a long time. Not for a second can they overlook what is to come before, however.

West Bromwich Albion, who twice successfully stifled them last season, are next up, and their in-form former player Nacer Chadli will be keen to show Pochettino he was wrong to sell him. Two tough cup trips to Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool sandwich a visit to Bournemouth—home to the on-loan Gunners man Jack Wilshere—before they conclude October by hosting last season's nemesis, Leicester City. The return tie with Leverkusen precedes the trip to Arsenal.

Come out of that run still unbeaten in the league, and they will deserve to be confident. Yet there is also the task of overcoming a foe looking formidable in their own right.

It was not too long ago Arsenal fans were again threatening to turn on long-time boss Wenger after the opening-day defeat to Liverpool. But after bouncing back to record a similarly strong start to Spurs', there is optimism surrounding the club.

Only Manchester City and Liverpool have scored more so far (18) than Arsenal (16), who feature the brilliant Alexis Sanchez and a resurgent Theo Walcott in attack. Only Spurs, Everton and Southampton have conceded fewer goals (seven) than a previously concerning defence boosted by the summer signing of Germany international Shkodran Mustafi.

"We showed that [we] have good character and steel, and that's what gave us the three points in the end," the defender said to Arsenal's website after Sunday's win over Burnley, which marked Wenger's 20th anniversary with the club. "The great teams fight until the end because they know that there's still an opportunity to score a goal, and today we showed that."

Reiterating the "steel" Mustafi talked about would further underline Arsenal's credentials after years in which a lack of it and dependable leadership left them prone to inconsistency. Wenger has perhaps finally struck upon the right balance and combinations to see them crowned best in England once more, a hope that Spurs will be the next major test of.

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

Enticingly for this fixture, Tottenham are looking just as good. With all involved full of self-belief, this is a team superior to so many to have come before in recent times.

"We've got a very, very strong team, and even if we rotate a few players, the new ones will come in and fill the spots perfectly," Christian Eriksen said to his club's website after the win over City on Sunday. "At the moment, there are no weak links, and the result is that it only makes us stronger."

Pochettino is striking a more cautious tone. He would be wise to stress to his players they do similar ahead of the north London derby—at least publicly.

"That is the example, and we need to push and be clever to use it to try to improve," the Argentinian offered after his team's latest victory. "I'm happy, but it's only three points. Tottenham is a big club, and we need to be ambitious. We need to fight for titles at the end. That is our aim."

Manchester City, Liverpool, Leicester and probably more will do their utmost to make sure it is not Pochettino and his men celebrating come next May. Guardiola's side will come back from the loss, while the others all have scope to get even better, too.

But it is the prospect of Tottenham's ambitions having to navigate past a likewise positive and self-assured Arsenal that is most exciting for potential drama here. The first of these games should set the scene in suitably spectacular fashion.

Get ready.

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