James Maddison says he’s spoken with three Arsenal players about NLD

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Tottenham Hotspur summer signing James Maddison will hope to impress when Spurs head to Arsenal on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are hosting Ange Postecoglou’s Lilywhites at the Emirates Stadium in what should be a lively Premier League derby.

Both Arsenal and Tottenham are in good form right now. The Gunners are fourth in the Premier League table, while Spurs are second.

Ange Postecoglou hasn’t wasted any time in turning Tottenham into a dangerous, solid and cohesive team after last season’s issues.

Meanwhile, Arsenal continue to go from strength to strength, and also picked up a 4-0 midweek win against PSV in the Champions League.

‘If you ask the Arsenal camp…’

Maddison has been one of Tottenham’s best players so far this season, registering two goals and two assists from five league outings.

The Spurs newcomer, speaking to Sky Sports, says he had a “bit of banter” with three Arsenal players about the incoming derby.

Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice were with Maddison on England duty earlier this month.

“If you ask the Arsenal camp, I don’t think it’s a brilliant time that they’d want to play us because we’ve started the season well,” Maddison told Sky Sports.

“I had a little bit of banter with Bukayo, Rammers and Declan on England duty. All in good spirit, and I’m really looking forward to the game.”

Our view

It’s good to hear about the camaraderie between players from rival clubs on international duty.

Obviously with an international tournament on the horizon, we want England to do well (well, the England-supporting readers/writers anyway).

However, there likely won’t be many pleasantries when derby day comes round. And with Arsenal and Spurs neck and neck in the upper echelons of the table, the stakes are really high.