WeeklySA_AdminPREMIERSHIP: Some obscure facts about the North London derby taking place Sunday
By Sports Reporter
Premier League football returns in style this weekend, with one of the red-letter days of the English football calendar headlining the weekend as Tottenham Hotspur welcome Arsenal for the North London derby.
The 210th edition of the famous fixture takes place on Sunday afternoon, and both sides will be looking to return to winning ways after setbacks immediately prior to the international break.
Arsenal saw their 100% start ended by Brighton & Hove Albion, while Spurs were beaten 2-1 by Newcastle United to leave them on four points from their opening three games.
Victory in what usually lives up to the billing of one of the most entertaining fixtures in the Premier League would be the perfect way to put those results behind them, though, and both teams will enter the derby optimistic of claiming all three points alongside the bragging rights which come with it.
5 obscure stats about north London derby history
Home comforts
When it comes to recent clashes, the home side has tended to prevail. We have lost just two of our 32 Premier League home games against Spurs who haven’t triumphed at Emirates Stadium since 2010, meaning we boast an unbeaten run of 13 in N5.
However on the other side of north London, Tottenham have lost just three of their last 16 home Premier League games against us, but two of those have come in the last two meetings – that’s as many as we’d achieved in our previous 17 visits. We’re now looking to win three consecutive away derbies for the first time since January 1987 and September 1988.
A history of high scores
Arsenal v Tottenham is the fourth highest-scoring fixture in Premier League history (186), behind our encounters with Liverpool (190), Newcastle v Tottenham (189) and Liverpool v Tottenham (191). That equates to an average of 2.9 goals per game across our 64 meetings, and the 43 occasions both teams have scored is another Premier League record for a single fixture.
On four occasions there have been games that have seen seven or more goals: successive 5-2 home wins for us in 2012, a 4-4 draw at Emirates Stadium in 2008, and the 5-4 win at White Hart Lane back in 2004 where Robert Pires grabbed what proved to be the winner.
Penalty prominence
No fixture in Premier League history has seen more penalties awarded than in the north London derby, with 24 of the 26 spot-kicks being awarded all netted – another league record. Robbie Keane in December 2007 and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in March 2019 were the two players to miss from 12 yards.
You have to go back to the 2017/18 campaign for the last season that didn’t see a penalty awarded in one of our meetings home or away. Harry Kane scored seven of his NLD-record 14 goals against us from the penalty spot, the most any player has scored against a single opponent in the competition’s history.
Comeback kings
We have enjoyed some topsy-turvy encounters against our neighbours in recent times, such as overturning a two-goal deficit to record a convincing 5-2 victory in February 2012, and it’s also the fixture to see the team score first fail to win more often than any other (29 – D19 L10) – Spurs accounting for 19 of those.
In fact, Tottenham have dropped more points from leading positions against us than any other side has against another in Premier League history (45), but have won three of their last four against us in which they’ve taken the lead. However, recent history shows they’ve not managed to get in front in any of our last four meetings.
Late drama overdue?
There have been six goals scored in the 90th minute or later in Premier League history in matches between us and Spurs, but none since the 4-4 draw in October 2008 when Aaron Lennon denied us victory.
As well as that 16-year wait for added-time agony or ecstasy, there’s never been a winning goal scored during stoppage-time of a Premier League north London derby.
Sports: Briefs
A FALLINg STAR
A SAUDI ARABIAN footballer has been rushed to hospital after falling from his second-floor balcony at his home in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to reports. Local news outlet Dubaieye1038 report the 30-year-old Fahad-Al-Muwallad was placed in the intensive care unit upon arriving at the Rashid Hospital in Dubai after suffering multiple fractures.
They add that no one was with the winger at the time of the incident. Street and home camera footage are now being looked into to determine the cause of the incident. Al-Muwallad recently starred for Saudi Arabia in their World Cup qualifying matches against Indonesia and China.
STELLIES JOU LEKKER…
Stellenbosch continued their good form at the start of the season after a 2-0 victory against AS Vita in the first-leg of the second preliminary round of the Caf Confederation Cup. In what is the Cape Winelands club’s first sojourn in the continental tournament, Stellies made a fast start to dispatch the disjointed Congolese outfit. The two goals, and the fact they did not concede, sets Stellenbosch up nicely for the second leg in what is sure to be a hostile atmosphere when they travel to Democratic Republic of Congo next week Sunday. The home side took the lead as early as the seventh minute when defender Thabo Moloisane rose highest from a Fawaaz Basardien corner to find the back of the net.
RONALDO NO MESSI ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Cristiano Ronaldo has hit 1bn total followers across his various social media accounts – making him the first person to reach that mind-boggling figure. The number is calculated by combining his total number of followers across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Chinese social media sites Weibo and Kuaishou.
It does not equate to one billion individual followers, as many people will follow him across multiple platforms, and some will be fake accounts, known as bots. Nonetheless social media expert Paolo Pescatore, from PP Foresight, described it as a “staggering number” that media and brands would pay close attention to. “What an achievement, and it further underlines the fundamental shift taking place in media.” It showed “the power to reach new, younger audiences thanks to technology”, he told the BBC. On the pitch, Ronaldo was famed for his rivalry with Argentinian star Lionel Messi. But off it, there is no competition for who is winning the social media contest – Messi has a mere 623 million followers.
THE RETURN OF MESSI
Lionel Messi is set to return to action with his Major League Soccer club, Inter Miami, after spending more than two months out with an ankle injury, Miami coach Gerardo Martino confirms.
Messi has not played since spraining his right ankle in Argentina’s July 14 win against Colombia in the 2024 Copa America final. He last played for Inter Miami on June 1 but will be available for selection against the visiting Philadelphia Union on Saturday, Martino said. “Yes, he’s fine now,” Martino told reporters on Friday.
“Yesterday, he returned to training. He is contemplated for tomorrow’s game, and after training, we will define the strategy for him, but he is available. We are going to once again have the best player in the world within the team, so we are all happy about that situation.” Messi sat out Wednesday’s session with a sore throat before participating in the Herons’ session on Thursday.
SOMBRE BURIAL FOR UGANDAN OLYMPIAN
The body of murdered Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei has begun its journey home to Uganda, accompanied by activists calling for an end to gender-based violence in Kenya. The 33-year-old athlete succumbed to her wounds on September 5 after being attacked four days earlier by her Kenyan partner, who poured petrol over her and set her on fire.It happened just weeks after she made her Olympic debut in the women’s marathon in Paris, where she finished 44th.
Her funeral is planned for Saturday in Bukwo, home to her family in Uganda, but relatives in Kenya paid their respects on Friday in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, near where she lived. Cheptegei is the third athlete to have died in Kenya as a result of gender-based violence since 2021, provoking a global outpouring of tributes and rage. Tony Sabila, Cheptegei’s uncle, described her as “a pillar to the family” and expressed his sadness over her loss.
