Tottenham vs. Arsenal: 6 Key Battles to Decide the Match

Tottenham's result on Sunday at Emirates Stadium will either prove the club to be a legitimate title contender or cause Spurs fans to ask the same question they've been asking for decades:

"What happens to a dream deferred?"

The latest North London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal carries the weight of this entire season, and three points will go a long way towards either club's chances for a title as well as a place in next year's Champions League.

Although Arsenal have displayed poor form as of late—that 4-0 thrashing by AC Milan to name the most recent—Emirates Stadium is never an easy place to play.

This game is going to come down to key, individual battles all over the pitch, but there's six that will be especially important in determining Sunday afternoon's outcome.

Gareth Bale vs. Bacary Sagna

If Gareth Bale shows even half of the energy and class he displayed in the first meeting between these two clubs, Tottenham should be fine on Sunday.

Bale had the better of Bacary Sagna in their first meeting (and then Carl Jenkinson once Sagna left with a leg injury), sprinting past Arsenal's right back with ease and delivering cross after cross with beautiful pace and timing.

He even came close to scoring during a delicious one-on-one opportunity with Wojciech Szczesny, but fell short—as the Welsh international has done several times this season.

Sagna is a smart, dependable defender, but he's not nearly as quick as Bale. Also, keep in mind that Sagna is coming back from a broken leg. How Sagna adapts to Bale's speed and agility could prove to be a determining factor on Sunday. 

Louis Saha vs. Laurent Koscielny

Arsenal's center backs had, to say the least, a dreadful time keeping pace with AC Milan in the knockout round of the Champions League—as some predicted they would.

Sadly, Sunday doesn't quite look like the reprieve Gunners fans were hoping for.

Instead of a team like Wigan Athletic to help Arsenal lick their wounds and get back on track defensively, they've got Tottenham—a club that has been scoring goals in droves. In their last five league matches, Tottenham has scored 11 goals.

If Laurent Koscielny is able to go on Sunday, I see no reason why he won't be marking Louis Saha. He's the best option Arsenal have at center back, and fellow striker Emmanuel Adebayor has lately been showing himself to be better at setting up the score rather than making it himself.

Was Saha's two-goal performance against Newcastle United a fluke, or does he still have the fitness and skill to harass Premier League center backs?

Emmanuel Adebayor vs. Thomas Vermaelen

If Laurent Koscielny is marking Louis Saha, who's marking Emmanuel Adebayor?

That would be Thomas Vermaelen's responsibility. If Sunday's match at Emirates Stadium looks anything like the clash with AC Milan, Vermaelen might not have to worry about marking anyone else as a member of Arsenal.

The Belgian international looked absolutely dreadful last week at center back. Laurent Koscielny bailed the 26-year-old out several times in Milan—the most obvious being when Vermaelen coughed the ball up to Robinho late in the first half.

He was dispossessed and intercepted several times by AC Milan's forwards and could not, for the life of him, keep pace with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The former Arsenal man is settling well into Tottenham's tactics, recording his 10th assist of the season against Newcastle United—in addition to his ninth, eighth and seventh.

Adebayor's ability (or inability) to set Saha up for the score early in the match—as well as feed Jermain Defoe the ball late when he inevitably comes on as a substitute—will be the difference between Tottenham winning and losing.

Ledley King vs. Robbie Van Persie

If Gareth Bale was the star on offense in Tottenham's early-season matchup against Arsenal, it was surely Ledley King who filled that role on defense.

The veteran was masterful at center back against Arsenal's attack, helping to make sure that Tottenham's deficiency in time of possession—Spurs players possessed the ball a pathetic 38 percent of the match—didn't translate into a lot of scoring chances for Arsenal. Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel only had to defend against five shots on goal.

Manager Harry Redknapp purposely rested King in Tottenham's FA Cup match against Stevenage, so it seems all systems are go for the center back to make an appearance against one of the most feared strikers in the world—Robbie Van Persie.

Van Persie's league-leading 22 goals are the only reason Arsenal hasn't faded into mid-table obscurity. King's performance against the strongest weapon Arsenal has to throw at him will be the difference between Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel gaining ground on the coveted Golden Glove and Arsenal once again possessing the ball for two-thirds of the match.

Rafael Van Der Vaart vs. Alex Song

According to ESPN, Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart is fit and ready to go for Sunday's match against Arsenal.

That's bad news for whatever midfielder is playing deep to help cover for Arsenal's lack of defense—most likely Alex Song.

Song is a strong player who dispossesses attacks regularly, but he frequently plays out of position and could find himself on the wrong end of one of van der Vaart's lethal crosses to Adebayor or Saha.

Van der Vaart will have a chance on Sunday to prove he's healed from a calf injury he sustained against Wigan Athletic a few weeks ago. His accuracy on the long ball is rarely questioned. But can Song disrupt van der Vaart's timing enough to limit his ability to cross the long ball in the first place? 

Luka Modric vs. Mikel Arteta

In their first meeting, Arsenal held the ball for a ridiculous 62 percent of the match. That's completely unacceptable to anyone's standards—except maybe Wigan Athletic.

But it's understandable, as this was just Tottenham's sixth league game, and there's few harder things to do than implement a new set of tactics with a lot of new players, as Redknapp was finding himself in the midst of well into the winter.

The growing pains paid dividends, as Tottenham finds themselves as legitimate title contenders and now it's Arsenal's who are suffering some pains of their own.

Luka Modric, Tottenham's field general, has made several midfields look like League Two sides, as he is consistently outperforming anyone and everyone who stands up to challenge him.

His continued performance commanding the midfield will either create dozens of chances for the likes of Bale, van der Vaart, Adebayor and Saha, or Tottenham's game plan will completely implode. A lot is riding on the Croatian international's shoulders.