Arsenal's Unai Emery expects tougher derby as Spurs look to avenge Premier League defeat
What's the story?
Arsenal boss Unai Emery expects tonight's derby against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to be more difficult than their Premier League encounter a few weeks ago.
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The Gunners met their city rivals earlier this month in a game that saw the Spurs succumb to a discouraging 4-2 defeat.
Emery's men ran riot at home with goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Lucas Torreira helping the side to register a phenomenal comeback.
The old rivals are set to lock horns once again in a League Cup quarter-final tonight.
The heart of the matter
Ahead of the much-awaited clash, Emery has expressed his belief in the difficulty that tonight's fixture will pose, stating that the Spurs "demand a lot" in every moment.
Emery said (via The Standard UK), "I played a lot of derbies in France and Spain. A big derby in Spain is Sevilla versus Betis for the emotion. When you are very close to the line you can’t break this emotion when we are speaking about this derby."
"Tonight is the same. The stadium will be full with supporters and more supporters from them because in the cup they have the possibility to have more supporters."
The Gunners boss added, "Tottenham’s level now is very big. They have very good players, the coach is working very well, they are winning a lot of matches. They lost to us but we worked a lot and pushed a lot with our supporters. My priority is to focus the match tactically and individually against them."
"They demand a lot of us every moment when we are playing against them. Tonight is the same. My first priority is how we can attack with their position on the pitch."
"When they are on the ball they are a very organised team, they like to be in possession, progress with the passes and with quality."
"They are physically very hard and have attacking players with very big performances now."
"We need to do a big match and I think it will be a big match and more difficult than the first."
What's next?
Arsenal will walk into the match more humbled after their defeat to Southampton last weekend while the Spurs have just come out of a win over Burnley and a qualification to the UEFA Champions League's Round of 16.
The derby is undoubtedly important for both teams, not merely for the bragging rights, but also for a chance at silverware in 2019.