Confirmed Arsenal v Spurs lineups: Pochettino springs surprise as Wimmer and Kane start

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Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby this afternoon as the two rivals lock horns once again.

The Gunners are in great form right now; they’ve dropped just two points in their last eight Premier League games, whilst they also came from 2-0 down to beat Ludogorets 3-2 in the Champions League in midweek.

Today, Arsene Wenger’s men take on their fierce North London rivals, and Wenger will be delighted to have Nacho Monreal back to full fitness and able to start at left back.

Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi continue in the heart of defence, whilst Hector Bellerin is back in eat right back having missed the game against Ludogorets.

With Santi Cazorla still out, Francis Coquelin and Granit Xhaka start in midfield, with Alex Iwobi, Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott supporting Alexis Sanchez in attack.

Wenger resisted the temptation to start Olivier Giroud after three goals in his last two games, with the French striker on the bench alongside the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Meanwhile, Tottenham may still be the only unbeaten Premier League side right now, but they are currently on a run of six games without a win in all competitions.

The midweek 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League means that Spurs have scored just three goals in those six games, and two of those goals were penalties from Vincent Janssen.

Scoring goals has been a problem of late, but Tottenham have sprung a surprise by handing a start to Harry Kane in attack, who has been out since mid-September with an ankle injury.

That isn’t the only surprise; fringe defender Kevin Wimmer is handed a shock start alongside Jan Vertonghen at centre back, with Toby Alderweireld still out injured, whilst Mauricio Pochettino has gone with Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele and Victor Wanyama in midfield.

Harry Winks is on the bench amid rumours that he could start today, and he joins the likes of Vincent Janssen, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Josh Onomah as substitutes for today’s North London derby, with Dele Alli not even in the squad.