Ex-Arsenal man finds room for just two Tottenham Hotspur stars in combined red heavy XI

Former Arsenal player Mikael Silvestre could only find room for two Tottenham Hotspur stars in his combined XI of players from the north London rivals.

Spurs had the edge over Arsenal last season as they propelled their rivals into the top four.

That was helped by a 3-0 home win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium towards the end of the campaign.

The Gunners have put that disappointment behind them this season as they are currently five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Summer additions of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira - as well as the return of Wilia Saliba - were key to Arsenal's launch.

Tottenham, meanwhile, are fifth under Antonio Conte. They may be a bit lucky to be this high in the league because they've fallen too far behind this season.

Spurs have produced worrying performances against Brentford and Aston Villa since the World Cup break, but they beat Crystal Palace 4-0 last week.

They followed that up with a win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round, so they approach Sunday's home game against Arsenal with a bit more confidence.

In the second leg in October, Arsenal beat 10-man Tottenham 3-1 and they fully deserved all three points.

Mikel Arteta enters this weekend's game again as favorites and it would be a huge statement if they could beat their rivals on their home turf.

Ahead of this weekend's game, Silvestre suggested that Harry Kane and Cristian Romero would be the only Tottenham players to make the North London combined XI.

"Yes, my combined XI would be Arsenal and Harry Kane," Silvestre told bettingexpert.

"I would have said Son. But not now.

"So no Jesus, you put Kane in Nketiah's place. There's no room for anyone else."

"Maybe Romero and Gabriel Magalhaes at the back. Just on form for now."

Silvestre expects the North London derby to be a 'big battle'.

"It's hard to predict that one (laughs)," Silvestre added.

"We know what Arsenal can do, but on the other hand Spurs can be very good in the North London Derby.

“I think it will be one of those, Arsenal in the lead or we will have a very good fight.

"Tottenham will obviously be extremely aggressive defensively but offensively they can find solutions with Son, with Kane and other players around to create chances and score.

"I would go for the second - a great battle."

Spurs manager Cristian Stellini thinks they enter the game against Arsenal 'in a good time'.

"Yeah, I think we're coming in a good moment, in a good mood for this type of game," Stellini said ahead of this weekend's game.

"It's a North London derby, so nothing to say. It's an important game and we have the team to play this type of game."

READ MORE: Arsenal to play Hazard up front and sign Mudryk after Chelsea confuse and 'surprise' each other