Tottenham's Ben Davies pays tribute to Arsenal man before north London derby

By Sam Preston

Tottenham defender Ben Davies has paid tribute to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta before Sunday’s north London derby.

This weekend’s clash will see Spurs try and put a dent in the Gunners’ title hopes and stop their bitter rivals doing the league double over them.

The corresponding fixture last season saw Antonio Conte comprehensively outwit Arteta en route to a 3-0 victory right near the end of the season.

Arsenal lost their next game at Newcastle and Spurs stole in to clinch the final Champions League spot.

Davies praises Arteta before Tottenham vs Arsenal

The narrative was that Spurs had a ruthless, serial winner while doubts remained over Arsenal’s mentality but Arteta has dispelled a lot of them this season.

As per the Sun, Davies has said he’s been impressed by the job Arteta has done: “What Arteta has done has been very good.

“But I’m sure there were very tough times for him when things weren’t going their way. So credit to the club for sticking by him, it seems to be paying dividends.”

Davies has also called Conte ‘world class’ in the lead-up to the game, where Spurs will look to keep the little bit of momentum they have built going.

In the game at the Emirates Stadium, Spurs created counter-attacking situations but could not take advantage of them regularly.

In the second half, Arsenal overpowered their local rivals, winning 3-1 and it will be interesting to see who wins the tactical battle this time around.