Arteta makes the right calls for derby win

If Arsenal hadn't beaten Tottenham, they would have been written off as bottlers. They might even have been given their worst-imaginable soubriquet; they could have been called 'Spursy'. Fortunately, for Mikel Arteta, that looked very unlikely against everyone's favourite opponent right now.

Each decision made by Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola over coming weeks and months will be scrutinised. The Gunners had to decide who was right to dismantle an admittedly dysfunctional Spurs and Arteta went for Viktor Gyokeres over Gabriel Jesus and Eberechi Eze instead of Noni Madueke, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli.

These were two big calls on two players who have been in and out of form, but both proved to be inspired decisions, getting all four goals between them. With five goals now in two games for Arsenal against Spurs for Eze, you can see some of the manager's thinking, but it was a shrewd decision nonetheless.

Now all he has to do is keep making good calls for the next two months solid.

Fortunately, those choices generally only affect the creative top end of the team as the goalkeeper, back line and two deeper midfield positions are not a problem. Maybe that has been another advantage over Man City, who have had to chop and change their back line this season, but now, with Marc Guehi alongside either Abdukodir Khusanov or Ruben Dias, that seems fixed. So, from here on in, every creative call by either boss could win or lose them the title. No pressure then.

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