Football Preview | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal

A lot of question for both sides to answer here

Arsenal’s trip to Spurs will unfold against a backdrop of questions about their nerve, character and the familiar accusation of bottle.

Author | DJ

Stadium | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

The most basic question remains this. Are Arsenal, under Mikel Arteta, faltering during what looks their best chance to win the Premier League since Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles of 2003–04?

Earlier in the season | Arsenal 4 - 1 Spurs

The landscape around this visit to hostile territory has shifted sharply over the past fortnight. What once resembled a relatively straightforward assignment now feels like a searching test of every attribute required to win a title.

Arsenal head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Spurs have won only two of their 13 league games this season, with the toxicity linked to the tenure of former head coach Thomas Frank potentially eased following his sacking and replacement by Igor Tudor.

The home side look to avoid a relegation battle

Tudor’s appointment is largely aimed at steering Tottenham clear of relegation. His uneven managerial career has taken in Hajduk Split, Galatasaray, Udinese, Marseille, Lazio and Juventus. Even so, he has developed a reputation for quick impacts at new clubs, a forceful personality whose arrival adds another edge to what was already set to be a highly charged occasion.

All of it amounts to a stern examination of Arsenal at a moment when they appear to be creaking under the strain of pursuing an elusive Premier League crown.

Context matters. Arsenal remain top of the table. They finished first in the Champions League standings with eight wins from eight games. A Carabao Cup final against Manchester City awaits, alongside a seemingly winnable FA Cup fifth-round tie away to League One Mansfield Town.

What is troubling Arsenal?

It was a bad ending to their midweek trip to Wolves. Can they recover this weekend against their local rivals? youtu.be/pjX3j6r3Ov8?...

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— European Super Football (@eurosuperfootball.bsky.social) 21 February 2026 at 09:49

The collapse from 2–0 up at relegation-bound Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the manner in which that lead was squandered, captured the tension that has gripped the Gunners on and off the pitch during a run of just two wins from seven Premier League matches.

As if the implosion at Molineux, which ended amid angry scenes between players, was not damaging enough, Wolves compounded the sense of unease by mocking Arsenal on social media with a TikTok post captioned “Game Management”.