You have to go back to May 2022, when Champions League football was on the line for both sides, and Antonio Conte was in the opposition dugout, for the last time Sp\*rs beat Arsenal in the North London derby.
Since then, the Gunners have won six of the last seven, including four in a row, the best winning streak against our neighbours since George Graham led his squad to six straight wins between March 1987 and January 1989.
After Thursday’s awful performance against Wolves, Arteta will be hoping his players can keep that derby form going.
They’ve endured a torrid couple of days of deserved criticism, but with Manchester City breathing down their necks, there is no time to feel sorry for themselves. Guardiola’s side have the chance to cut Arsenal’s lead to two points on Saturday evening when they face Newcastle.
Ahead of the game, Arteta spoke about the mood in the camp: “What I’ve seen is a tremendous reaction again, and I’m not surprised at all.
“When you lose points in the last kick of the game again, in a very unpredictable manner, I would say, because to predict somebody with a 0.2 expected goals probability and one shot to concede and equalise the manner that we did it, nobody can really understand that.
“But this is football, and that’s the beauty of it. And that was a chapter. So we have a long season, chapter 27 says, ok, we drew against Wolves in this manner.
“What I’m very interested in is the next one. It’s \[time to show\] what we are made of, what do we do about this? And how we write our own destiny from here and going forward. And that’s it.
“You have to react to that because life moves on. The result has to stay unfortunately, as it was. There is nothing we can do. What we can do is a lot. It’s what’s going to happen next.”
After Arsenal lost to Manchester United last month, Arteta was quick to give the supporters a pep talk that calmed the tension. It didn’t last. Wednesday’s abject performance was met with an avalanche of abuse, driven by fears the title race is slipping from Arsenal’s grasp for a fourth consecutive season.
“It’s a shock in the system,” said Arteta of the performance, acutely aware he couldn’t play the same card again.
“But they’ve been incredibly good with us. And, yeah, we wanted to give them the victory. We couldn’t. And we have to move on.”
On using the pain to drive forward, he continued: “That’s what we are trying to do. That’s the instant reaction – first of all, it’s pain \[from conceding late in our last game\], and then after that, what can we do about it? That’s it.
“There is not another thing that we have to do – now all we have to do is perform on the pitch. The words are clear. I was a player – love me when I draw or lose or when I win. To love you when I win, it’s very easy. You have to love the players and be next to them when they need it most.”
If Arsenal are in a rut, it’s nothing compared to what’s going on at White Hart Lane. Sp\*rs have won only once in their last 10 Premier League games, a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in December, and face the very real threat of a relegation battle. For that reason, they dispensed with Thomas ‘Silver Member’ Frank 10 days ago, handing the reins to Croat Igor Tudor, a man with a growing reputation for firefighting.
It’s not the first time this season that Arsenal have faced a side with a new manager in the dugout, and mostly they’ve handled it well. However, with so little time to prepare for this game, Arteta says his side’s focus has to be on themselves.
“I think it’s happened seven times already to us this season, so we are getting used to it,” said Arteta.
“We have analysed everything that he’s done in his career in different clubs, different formations, the players that they have available.
“And from there, of course, we will have the capacity to adapt in relation to what the game requires. But the main focus as well is on what we have to do to win.”
It sounds as though the players are raring to go.
“It’s one that we cannot wait to play. If we could play today, I think we’d all love to play today to get that feeling that we have in our tummies and use it in the right way. We have to show it on Sunday.”
In terms of team news, Arteta says there are no new injury concerns following the trip to the Midlands.
Leandro Trossard is “fine” after going off with a head injury picked up in the closing stages, while Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz are still hoping to be involved.
The club captain has missed two games after picking up a knock against Brentford, while the German nurses a hamstring issue suffered after the win over Sunderland.
“We have to wait until tomorrow, but there is a big possibility that they are available for the game,” said Arteta.