The Daly Brief | Spurs vs Arsenal, Premier League | OneFootball

"Can Igor Tudor implement his bold brand of intense, attacking football for the visit of an Arsenal side that has found a new role for Bukayo Saka?"

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

Which system will Igor Tudor use?

The Croatian is known for favouring a 3-4-2-1 formation, with potential variations in attack. High wing-backs, aggressive man-to-man pressing and brave attacking play are all hallmarks of a style honed over a long coaching career. But can that philosophy be worked into this Spurs team after just a week of training with Tudor taking his first session on Monday. “We have a lot of injured players, so, we need first to find the best system that suits the players that are available at this moment. So, (it is) a very particular moment," he told us in his first club interview this week.

Who could play in a back three?

If Tudor does line up in a familiar style, with Cristian Romero and Kevin Danso unavailable, you could imagine Joao Palhinha, Radu Dragusin and Micky van de Ven making up the defence. In his teams of the past, centre-backs have been given license to get forward in open play should the chance present itself. Again, will we see this in a game as soon as this North London derby? “The team needs, I believe, first of all, to get some confidence, to get some courage,” explained the Croatian upon his immediate plans, speaking of the importance of buy-in during training from the group. “The coach needs to show the path, where is the way we want to go, how we want to go, and the players need to accept this and together we, in this way, we prepare."

Is this Randal Kolo Muani's chance to shine?

After stepping into the Juventus dugout last March, Igor Tudor guided the Bianconeri back into the Champions League places by the season’s end. A key man in that late charge for fourth place was Randal Kolo Muani. While on loan at Juve from PSG, the French international was used by Tudor as one of two players behind a centre-forward, as a lone striker himself or as one of two up front in a 3-5-2. Scoring in three of the final five league games of the season, Tudor spoke of how 'complete' his performances had been.

How have Arsenal reshaped their attack?

Since the previous north London derby in late November, there have been some changes for Arsenal. Right now, Noni Madueke has been starting on the right wing, ever since Bukayo Saka picked up an injury in the warm-up versus Leeds last month. Madueke came into the starting XI and set up one before scoring himself directly from a corner in a 4-0 win. Since that game he’s claimed goals against Brentford and Wigan and the England international started there again for the midweek trip to Wolves.

Where is Saka playing?

That doesn’t mean Saka is out of the side – and another injury in the warm-up to a game, this time Wigan, forced Mikel Arteta into a reshuffle that saw Saka deployed in the 10 position. The experiment worked well in a 4-0 victory, so it was no surprise to see him start centrally at Molineux and within five minutes he’d made a well-timed run to head home a Declan Rice cross. Despite the late collapse to draw that game, did Mikel Arteta see enough from Saka in that role to do it again, despite there being other candidates? Martin Odgegaard, the primary player for Arsenal in that position, and Kai Havertz, were both injured midweek, with the hope of returning today, while Eberechi Eze hasn’t scored since the north London derby earlier in the season.