Matthew Upson ‘really impressed’ with £43m Tottenham player against Arsenal today

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky Van de Ven put in another impressive performance today in a highly emotive contest against rivals Arsenal.

BBC Sport pundit was covering the match for Five Live and pinpointed one moment in the first half that summed up the youngster’s start to life in the Premier League.

It was a match full of incidents as Ange Postecoglou made his North London derby debut.

There were plenty of players also making their bow in the fixture, with Brennan Johnson also making his full Spurs debut.

Micky Van de Ven was one of the many players facing Arsenal for the first time but didn’t look fazed by the occasion.

There was nothing he could do about either goal with his centre-back partner Cristian Romero involved with both goals.

He deflected a Bukayo Saka past Guglielmo Vicario before being penalised for a handball after a shot from Ben White.

In Van de Ven, Romero appears to have finally found a defensive partner who compliments his style of play.

Van de Ven impresses against Arsenal

In the first half with Arsenal enjoying their best spell of the game, Van de Ven made a vital tackle on Eddie Nketiah.

Commenting on the incident, Upson said: “Great tackle, really impressed with that. Confident, decisive, goes to ground [Micky] Van de Ven but wins the ball cleanly.

“Really good challenge.”

Van de Ven was brought in this summer for £43m as Tottenham chased several defensive targets.

His express pace means he makes Spurs much less liable to be hit on the counterattack.

Ange Postecoglou has set his side up to play on the front foot against every opposition.

This means that Van de Ven and Romero have to be at their best at all times, especially as Postecoglou wants his full-backs to drift into midfield as well.

Van de Ven has transformed the way Tottenham play alongside full-back Destiny Udogie on the left-hand side of defence.

Given he’s only 22, Van de Ven could be tormenting Arsenal for years to come in North London derbies.