Arsenal vs Tottenham preview: can Gunners recover from Bayern thrashing?

Arsenal host Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday afternoon in a match that will be a test of the Gunners' resilience.

Thrashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich in Tuesday night's Champions League encounter, Arsenal are unlikely to qualify for the last 16 of the competition. In some ways that may be a blessing in disguise, allowing the Gunners to concentrate on the Premier League as they go in search of their first title for 12 years.

Currently level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table, Arsenal have lost just twice in the league this season and they go into Sunday's clash at the Emirates on the back of five consecutive victories.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But what might Tuesday's humiliation have done to morale? It certainly did little to Arsenal's injury list which now numbers ten. Centre-back Laurent Koscielny joined the wounded on Tuesday when he pulled out of the Bayern game shortly before kick-off with a hip problem. With fellow defender Hector Bellerin also sidelined, Arsenal's defence has a fragile feel to it, as does its midfield with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky all crocked.

The lack of depth in the Arsenal squad – for so long a bone of contention for fans who believe Wenger has not dabbled enough in the transfer market in the last couple of seasons – was exposed not just by Bayern, but also in last week's 3-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup.

Not that Tottenham have anything like a clean bill of health. Six players were ruled out of Thursday night's Europa League tie against Anderlecht although the likes of Clinton N'Jie and Danny Rose have a good chance of passing fitness tests ahead of Sunday.

Spurs beat Anderlecht 2-1 thanks to Mousa Dembele's late winner and they are now top of Group J with two games to play. Nonetheless it was a physical encounter against the Belgian side and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be concerned at the short turnaround his squad faces.

Spurs, who are fifth in the table, haven't won at the Emirates for five years, and they were beaten by their great rivals in the third round of the Capital One Cup in September, a rare defeat in what's been an impressive start to the season.

Pochettino's side have lost just once in the league, their 1-0 defeat away at Manchester United on the opening day of the season, but the Spurs manager acknowledged it will be a challenge to get his players fresh less than 72 hours after their Europa League tie.

"I don't want to put any ideas out there that they have an advantage, but it is very difficult to play Thursday and Sunday," Pochettino told reporters. "We have a young squad that runs a lot. I'm not complaining. It is not an excuse. We will be ready to compete and try to win the game... we know this is a very important game for us."