Ahead of this weekend’s North London derby, which pundits are expecting to be “the biggest derby in the last 25 years” we take a look at how Arsenal and Tottenham are shaping up, and see how their statistics across pretty much every facet of the game compare so far this season.
Tottenham have covered the second most ground in the Premier League, with Arsenal in 7th. Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United, who mostly rely on possession football, are in 4th, while league leaders Leicester are just ahead of the Gunners in 6th.
| Team | Season Distance (km) |
| Bournemouth | 3273.0 |
| TottenhamHotspur | 3245.4 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 3141.9 |
| Manchester United | 3127.4 |
| West Ham United | 3103.7 |
| LeicesterCity | 3094.3 |
| Arsenal | 3094.2 |
| CrystalPalace | 3080.6 |
| Sunderland | 3075.9 |
| Watford | 3073.7 |
Tottenham have also completed more sprints than any other side in the league so far this year, pipping Arsenal to top spot. Liverpool lie in fourth, while Chelsea way down in 10th.
| Team | Season Sprints |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 15074 |
| Arsenal | 14844 |
| Bournemouth | 14839 |
| Liverpool | 14338 |
| Crystal Palace | 14055 |
| Aston Villa | 13915 |
| Leicester City | 13533 |
| Manchester United | 13520 |
| Sunderland | 13491 |
| Chelsea | 13488 |
Tottenham have improved immeasurably since the start of the year. If we look at the same distance statistics since the turn of the year, we can see that Spurs have in fact covered more ground than any other Premier League side, with Arsenal having covered the 4th most ground in 2016.
The Gunners have lost a bit of momentum in recent months, with two wins in their last five league games, but are looking to make a big push for the title.
| Team | 2016 Distance (km) |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1061.4 |
| Bournemouth | 1020.4 |
| ManchesterUnited | 1012.5 |
| Arsenal | 1008.7 |
| Sunderland | 1005.5 |
| NorwichCity | 1002.4 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 1003.3 |
| Leicester City | 997.7 |
| SwanseaCity | 997 |
| CrystalPalace | 993.1 |
Interestingly, Arsenal that have completed more sprints than any other side in the league since the turn of the year, beating their north London derby rivals to top spot:
| Team | 2016 Sprints |
| Arsenal | 5,120 |
| TottenhamHotspur | 4968 |
| CrystalPalace | 4662 |
| ManchesterUnited | 4645 |
| NorwichCity | 4633 |
| Bournemouth | 4533 |
| AstonVilla | 4504 |
| Sunderland | 4500 |
| Liverpool | 4498 |
| Chelsea | 4484 |
Looking at the hardest working individuals in the league, Tottenham have two representatives in the top 10, with no Arsenal player featuring. Harry Kane has covered the 8th most ground in the league, and Eric Dier has covered the 10th most ground in the league so far this season:
| Player | Team | Appearances | Distance (km) |
| Andrew Surman | Bournemouth | 28 | 336.26 |
| Gareth Barry | Everton | 27 | 322.16 |
| Craig Dawson | West Bromwich Albion | 28 | 311.27 |
| Etienne Capoue | Watford | 28 | 305.45 |
| Mark Noble | West Ham United | 27 | 304.62 |
| Darren Fletcher | West Bromwich Albion | 28 | 304.31 |
| Yann M’Vila | Sunderland | 27 | 302.58 |
| Harry Kane | TottenhamHotspur | 28 | 298.47 |
| Matt Ritchie | Bournemouth | 27 | 294.27 |
| Eric Dier | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 290.21 |
Tottenham’s Dele Alli is the only representative for the two sides in the 10 largest distances covered by an individual in one match so far this season, appearing twice in the list, having covered 13.41km against Manchester City and 13.32km against Swansea:
| Player | Date | Team | Opposition | Distance (km) |
| DanGosling | 28/11/2015 | Bournemouth | Everton | 13.87 |
| DanGosling | 02/01/2016 | Bournemouth | LeicesterCity | 13.82 |
| DanGosling | 19/09/2015 | Bournemouth | Sunderland | 13.76 |
| MattRitchie | 03/10/2015 | Bournemouth | Watford | 13.73 |
| DanGosling | 25/10/2015 | Bournemouth | TottenhamHotspur | 13.65 |
| DeleAlli | 26/09/2015 | TottenhamHotspur | ManchesterCity | 13.41 |
| EunanO’Kane | 29/08/2015 | Bournemouth | LeicesterCity | 13.39 |
| DanGosling | 05/12/2015 | Bournemouth | Chelsea | 13.34 |
| DeleAlli | 04/10/2015 | TottenhamHotspur | SwanseaCity | 13.32 |
| JamesMilner | 06/12/2015 | Liverpool | NewcastleUnited | 13.31 |
Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele has won more tackles than any other player in the two squads, having won the 10th most tackles of any player in the Premier League. Tottenham have five representatives in the top 50 in the league, in comparison to Arsenal’s two players:
| Player | Team | Appearances | Tackles Won | PL Tackling Rank |
| Mousa Dembélé | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 80 | 10 |
| Nacho Monreal | Arsenal | 28 | 63 | 34 |
| Kyle Walker | Tottenham Hotspur | 23 | 61 | 39 |
| Aaron Ramsey | Arsenal | 24 | 58 | 32 |
| Eric Dier | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 56 | 47 |
| Erik Lamela | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 | 54 | 50 |
| Dele Alli | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | 53 | 50 |
In terms of interceptions, Arsenal have two players in the league’s top 10, with Spurs having just one entrant in the league’s top 20:
| Player | Team | Appearances | Interceptions | PL Interception Rank |
| Laurent Koscielny | Arsenal | 24 | 90 | 3 |
| Nacho Monreal | Arsenal | 28 | 75 | 9 |
| Kyle Walker | Tottenham Hotspur | 23 | 67 | 18 |
When we look at the teams’ overall tackling statistics for the season, Tottenham edge other clubs and come out on top, but Arsenal have racked up more interceptions than their North London rivals, suggesting the players have a better reading of the game.
| Team | Tackles Won | Tackles Lost | Clearances | Interceptions |
| Arsenal | 542 | 296 | 64.67% | 543 |
| Tottenham | 590 | 214 | 73.38% | 494 |
When we look at the league’s best passers, Arsenal come out slight ahead with two representatives in the league’s top 5 for the most passes completed this season.
Mesut Ozil, the assist king, has been in tremendous form, and his incisive passing from midfield has been key behind Arsenal’s success. Aaron Ramsey has been consistent with his passing as well, managing a total of 1455 accurate passes.
Spurs also have Dier and Alderweireld make the top 20, in addition to Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal.
| Player | Team | Appearances | Total Accurate Passes | PL Passing Rank |
| Aaron Ramsey | Arsenal | 24 | 1455 | 3 |
| Mesut Özil | Arsenal | 26 | 1393 | 4 |
| Eric Dier | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 1228 | 10 |
| Toby Alderweireld | Tottenham Hotspur | 28 | 1224 | 11 |
| Nacho Monreal | Arsenal | 28 | 1191 | 17 |
On the ball as a team comparison, Arsenal have completed over 20% more passes than Tottenham, and with a much higher accuracy than their North London rivals:
| Team | Total Accurate Passes | Total Passes Attempted | Total Pass Completion |
| Arsenal | 13,209 | 15,715 | 84.05% |
| Tottenham | 10,860 | 13,580 | 79.97% |
Tottenham have also proved the more accurate in front of goal this season, hitting the target with 6% more of their efforts than the red half of North London:
| Team | Goals | Shots On Target | Shots Off Target | Shot Accuracy | % Shots To Goals |
| Arsenal | 44 | 157 | 162 | 49.20% | 13.80% |
| Tottenham | 49 | 184 | 149 | 55.20% | 14.70% |
Lastly, every side looking to win the Premier League needs a first class shot stopper, and Arsenal’s Petr Cech comes out on top. Cech has made more saves than Lloris so far this season, with a slightly better ratio of saves to goals than lloris, although he has conceded more times than the France captain:
| Player | Team | Appearances | Saves | Goals Conceded | Saves per Goals |
| Petr Cech | Arsenal | 28 | 90 | 28 | 3.21 |
| Hugo Lloris | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 64 | 21 | 3.04 |
Stats Courtesy: EA Sports Player Performance Index.
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