ARSENAL face a showdown with the "Kray twins" in the battle to be London’s top dogs.
Mikel Arteta’s eager young team face their toughest test of the season in tomorrow’s North London derby against Tottenham at the Emirates.
And former Gunners hardman Martin Keown picked out “Kray twins” Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur, Spurs’ midfield enforcers, as the main men to overcome for the Prem leaders.
Keown said: “The 3-0 win at Brentford in their last game was the best I have seen Arsenal playing under Arteta.
“They were complete in every department of the team.
“But Tottenham will be the ultimate challenge because they have the Kray twins of Hojbjerg and Bentancur as their enforcers in central midfield and a terrific front three.”
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Danish central midfielder Hojbjerg and Uruguayan partner-in-crime Bentancur have been mainstays of Antonio Conte’s side since the latter’s arrival in January.
Hojbjerg last missed a Premier League game in February, a 2-0 home loss to Wolves.
And since Spurs’ famous 3-2 win over Manchester City at the Etihad a week later, Conte’s hardmen have started 20 of 22 league games together — the missing two coming when Bentancur was injured.
But their record in those other 20 is 15 wins, two draws and three losses.
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And one of those was at Burnley, when Bentancur came off injured at half-time with the score 0-0.
Keown is relishing a proper scrap for supremacy between two teams both looking to make an unlikely title challenge.
The man who made his reputation as one of the most uncompromising defenders in football during his 21-year career has nothing but admiration for the work of rival bosses Arteta and Conte.
And while he believes that the team from the other end of the Seven Sisters Road are slightly ahead right now, he predicts that tomorrow’s game could be the making of Arsenal’s young pretenders.
He said: “I’m surprised that Arsenal are top of the table because I think they’re just behind Tottenham.
“But that’s their motivation to get ahead of them.
“Conte is a miracle worker. He’s won all the trophies and medals as a manager and you only have to look at where Tottenham were when he took over a year ago compared to where they are now.
“He’s an absolute connoisseur playing three at the back and hitting you on the counter-attack and it will be interesting to see if Arsenal can disrupt that system tomorrow.
“It’s the strongest Tottenham squad I’ve seen in years and they will be kicking themselves if they don’t win a trophy this season.
“But I don’t think they can win the Premier League because that would need Erling Haaland to dry up in front of goal for Manchester City and I don’t see that happening.
“Arsenal have to win tomorrow if they’re going to maintain their momentum and if their back four can stop Spurs they can cement their reputations for years to come.”
Arsenal were blown away in the North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in May, a game that saw momentum swing in Spurs’ favour in the race for the last Champions League place.
Rob Holding’s red card, two goals from Harry Kane and one from Son Heung-min saw a home win in front of a bouncing crowd.
But Keown, who made 323 Premier League appearances for Arsenal — winning three Prem titles — warned Spurs the boot will be on the other foot tomorrow, as they face an Emirates crowd that is throwing its support behind manager Arteta and the team.
He said: “Spurs will walk into a totally different atmosphere at the Emirates this time.
“The unity and the positive mood is something I’ve never seen in that stadium before. It’s finally feeling like Arsenal’s proper home.
“We had the same belief when we played at Highbury. It was a nightmare for the opposition and we would win the games as quickly as we could.
“Now there’s a similar energy about this Arsenal side which hasn’t been there for a very long time.
“Where they have improved is by bringing in role models for the younger players — leaders like Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko who won the Premier League at Manchester City and have the credentials for everyone to follow.
“It’s been a number of years since Arsenal were up there competing at the top of the table and now they have to keep showing the personality and character to go to the next level.
“Arteta and Conte are fiercely competitive managers and we’re at a period where Arsenal and Tottenham are emerging at the same time.
“That creates extra rivalry and tension and I think it’s going to be quite tasty on Saturday after Conte told Arteta to stop moaning and to concentrate on his football last season.”
As a veteran of 449 appearances for Arsenal and more derby matches than he can recall, Keown insists the key to victory is not getting too caught up in all the pre-match hype.
He added: “Arsenal will have to be careful when you remember how Son got Rob Holding sent-off the last time these teams met when they were both fighting to reach the Champions League last season.
“William Saliba and Gabriel are hardmen who are building a real reputation together. But they will need to have an outstanding match if Arsenal are going to win this one.
“You have to play this game with your head and not your heart — because it is very easy to get wrapped up in all of the tension.
“I was someone that didn’t really manage to keep calm until Arsene Wenger arrived, I moved away from North London so the build up to Tottenham didn’t really affect me.
“But no one needs to be told the significance of this fixture because they are two huge clubs with massive support bases.
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“It’s going to be a really tough battle and this time it’s not just about North London. It’s about what’s going on in the title race.”
WATCH Arsenal v Spurs live on BT Sport 1 from 11.30am tomorrow. For more info, visit btsport.com
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