Fresh from a morale-boosting comeback victory mid-week against Ludogorets FC, the Gunners take on a beleaguered and battered Spurs side who lost at home and are without a win in their last 5 games. Here are some interesting facts about the upcoming North London derby which may surprise you.

Remember, Remember, NOVEMBER!

If you ask gooners around the world which is the most dreaded month over the entire season, every single one of them would say November. Arsenal average just 1.63 points in the league in November since the turn of the century – Lowest among all months.

However, there is no cause for concern when we take on our North London rivals, against whom we possess a much superior record in November – W/D/L – 4/2/1 – 2 points on average

Out of 32 NLD’s since the 2000-01 season, NONE have taken place in the months of August, January & May! A high of 7 derbies each have taken place in November & April. This Sunday’s match will be the 8th in the month of November.

Furthermore, you may not be surprised to note that we’ve scored 3 goals on average in these derbies in November. Remember the 5-2 thrashing on the 17th of November in 2012! Relive it again!

The Clattenburg Factor

On Sunday, English Referee Mark Clattenburg will be overseeing his 5th North London Derby – A feat he shares with our other well-known nemesis, Mike Dean. We’ve won 2 and lost 2 in the previous 4 encounters with Clattenburg in-charge. However, the only previous home NLD with Clattenburg as the referee ended in a victory for the gunners (October 2009). Good omen, perhaps!

Clattenburg will also surpass Howard Webb, Martin Atkinson & A Wiley by refereeing his 32nd Arsenal match – Only Mike Dean has overseen more Arsenal matches since the turn of the century – 45! Woah! Among referees who’ve been in-charge of 25 Arsenal matches or more, Clattenburg’s record has been decent – W/D/L – 18/4/9 (Refer Chart for others). He has also dished out just 1 Red Card to an Arsenal player out of 31 matches, which is just peanuts in comparison to Mike Dean & Martin Atkinson who’ve sent off 6 players each.

The Invincible dream?

Spurs maybe undefeated so far this season, but their performances have been far from convincing. They’ve been accumulating draws and are without a win in the last four matches in the league. Data shows that in the last 10 years, this is the season that Spurs have managed to concede the least goals in the first 10 games (just 0.5/game). But their challenge is on the other side of the pitch where they are struggling to score without their talisman Harry Kane resulting in drab draws (1.4 goals/game). While their unbeaten streak is still alive, who better than the Arsenal to put an end to this juggernaut by unlocking this frugal Spurs defence – Especially with their rock-solid centre-back Alderwierld likely to miss out due to injury.

COYG! #YaGoonersYa