Arsenal and Spurs injury news ahead of north London derby

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta have revealed positive injury news ahead of Sunday’s North London Derby. Tottenham fans have been sweating over the fitness of a number of stars, including Mickey van de Ven and Dominic Solanke. The highly-rated duo missed the club’s most recent Premier League game before the international break. Spurs suffered a defeat to Newcastle without their usual starters.

However, Postecoglou has claimed the pair are back in full training and should be fit for the rivalry match. Spurs are set to host bitter rivals Arsenal on Sunday. “Micky (van de Ven) is fine, he trained throughout the international break and it was good for him to stay with us to recover, so he is ready to go,” the Spurs boss told reporters on Friday.

“(Dominic Solanke) has improved as well and trained the second half of this week. We still have two days to go with those guys, so hopefully they will come through training well and be available.”

In addition to the duo, Postecoglou also stated that Yves Bissouma has a “small problem” and could miss the game. The midfielder was substituted late in the aforementioned game against Newcastle as Spurs were looking for an equaliser.

Arsenal Spurs injury news: Arteta refuses to rule out injured midfielder

Having Van de Ven back in the team will be a huge boost heading into such a big match. Much like Spurs, Arsenal are also dealing with a number of issues. In fact, the Gunners are expected to be without Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino this weekend. The England international is suspended for the game against Spurs due to a previous red card. Once fully fit, the trio are likely to be Arteta’s regular starting midfielders.

While both injured midfielders are unlikely to feature on Sunday, Arteta has given Arsenal fans some hope on the injury front. Odegaard recently suffered a seemingly nasty ankle injury while on international duty with Norway. The national team doctor eventually stated that the star would miss around three weeks of action.

Arteta, however, was not exactly committed to that particular timetable. “We need some more tests, so we’ll see what happens in the next day or so, this afternoon probably, and see what happens with the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back,” Arteta said.

“He’s super positive about everything. We know Martin, he wants to be there every day, but we have to wait and see. With 48 hours until the game, players can always be available, but we’ll see what happens.”