Sports Mole previews the North London derby between Spurs and Arsenal at White Hart Lane as the rivals fight for crucial points in the Champions League race.

The Premier League weekend kicks off in style as Tottenham Hotspur host Arsenal in a huge North London derby on Saturday lunchtime.

As it has in many of the recent seasons, this historic fixture takes on extra significance as the two fierce rivals compete for Champions League qualification.

Arsenal's 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane last term helped them continue their record of finishing above Spurs in every season of Arsene Wenger's tenure, and they look well placed to do so again this year.

The Gunners may only hold a two-point advantage over their neighbours, but they are hitting their stride at just the right time and have won five matches on the bounce since their New Year's Day defeat to Southampton.

Alexis Sanchez has been ruled out this weekend with a hamstring strain, but Wenger's men fared perfectly fine without their 18-goal top scorer last weekend as they thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott each notched their first goals since returning from their own injuries, while Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud continued their impressive recent form before Hector Bellerin opened his club account.

Spurs do not have the same spread of goal getters, but Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen are proving to be reliable match-winners and they combined to fire the Lilywhites past West Bromwich Albion this past Saturday.

Kane's 20-goal haul in all competitions this season actually eclipses that of £35m man Sanchez, and every other Premier League player, so the club will have been delighted to tie him down to a new long-term deal.

Tottenham's only other piece of deadline-day business was the £5m signing of teenage MK Dons starlet Dele Alli, who has been loaned back to the League One promotion hopefuls for the remainder of the season.

Mauricio Pochettino does have another of his highly-rated midfield talents available this weekend, though, with Nabil Bentaleb back from Africa Cup of Nations duty following Algeria's quarter-final elimination.

The 20-year-old has been a favourite of the Argentine's and could go straight back into the team alongside Ryan Mason and Mousa Dembele in a midfield trio that will be tasked with disrupting Arsenal's passing game.

His return could be the only change made by Pochettino from the 3-0 victory at The Hawthorns, although Nacer Chadli is in contention again following a family bereavement and is pushing Erik Lamela for his berth on the wing.

Former Gunners striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who was sent off in this fixture two seasons ago, could be named on the bench after his last-minute loan move to West Ham United was blocked by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

With good reason, Wenger is likely to stick with the same side that hammered Villa, which means that new arrival Gabriel Paulista will be spared the prospect of making his debut in the cauldron of a North London derby.

Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Debuchy and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are still sidelined by injury, but Danny Welbeck, a summer target of Tottenham, is fighting to be fit and could be named among the substitutes.

The reverse fixture at the Emirates in September was drawn 1-1 as Chamberlain cancelled out Chadli's opener.

Spurs:

Form in Premier League: WDWLWW
Form in all competitions:WWWLDW

Possible starting lineup: Lloris; Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Rose; Mason, Bentaleb; Eriksen, Dembele, Lamela; Kane

Arsenal:

Form in Premier League: WWLWWW
Form in all competitions: LWWWWW

Possible starting lineup: Ospina; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Ramsey, Coquelin; Ozil, Cazorla, Walcott; Giroud

Sports Mole says: 1-1