The second WSL north London derby of the season is one of the highlights of Women’s Football Weekend, with both Tottenham and Arsenal desperate for points for very different reasons.
Jonas Eidevall’s Gunners come into this game fourth in the table and needing to make sure they pick up maximum points in order to keep the pressure on those above them – only three teams will make it into next season’s Champions League.
Arsenal have the added stress of returning from a midweek trip to Germany, where they were beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, and with the second coming up at the Emirates Stadium next week only a few days after this derby.
For Spurs, their narrow win over Leicester a week and a half ago under the guidance of interim manager Vicky Jepson was a welcome relief, ending a run of nine successive WSL defeats since October that saw the otherwise revered Rehanne Skinner lose her job.
That result wasn’t overly convincing and they had to really grind it out, but still put some reassuring breathing space between themselves and the foot of the table.
When is kick off? Saturday 25 March, 15:00 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Brisbane Road
TV channel/live stream? Sky Sports Main Event/Football, Sky Showcase (UK), FA Player (International)
What time does TV coverage start in the UK? 14:00 (GMT)
Referee? Louie Saunders
Japan international Mana Iwabuchi is ineligible against her parent club.
Kit Graham could get more minutes after making her return from long-term injury recently and coming off the bench in each of the last three WSL games. Jessica Naz and Kyah Simone remain out.
Ramona Petzelberger has hardly played for Spurs since joining last summer.
Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Steph Catley are all missing for the Gunners, but there is a chance that returning short-term signing Jodie Taylor could make her debut in some capacity.
An Arsenal side without their two best attacking players and a Tottenham side out of their five-month stink should at least make this a slightly closer game than the reverse north London derby played at the Emirates Stadium back in September – a 4-0 Gunners win.
For all that they are in the middle of a Champions League knockout tie, Arsenal have quality all over the pitch that Tottenham simply cannot match. Bethany England got the job done for Spurs against Leicester, but she is only one player and this is a very different type of game.
Prediction: Tottenham 0-3 Arsenal
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