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A white-hot partnership

Living in Arsenal’s shadow for the best part of the past 25 years must have been a dark and dreary experience for Tottenham Hotspur fans. I do not know how they have coped.

Together, Christian Eriksen (left) and Harry Kane (right) combine beautifully, and between them they have scored 15 of Tottenham Hotspur’s past 21 goals. Photo: Reuters

Together, Christian Eriksen (left) and Harry Kane (right) combine beautifully, and between them they have scored 15 of Tottenham Hotspur’s past 21 goals. Photo: Reuters

Living in Arsenal’s shadow for the best part of the past 25 years must have been a dark and dreary experience for Tottenham Hotspur fans. I do not know how they have coped.

However, it has not all been doom and gloom at White Hart Lane. The golden cockerel has looked down on some great individual performers down the years, and in particular a clutch of very special creative partnerships — Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker, Teddy Sheringham and Jurgen Klinsmann, and Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.

Those are three exceptional duos that trip off the tongue, and I wonder if Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane will soon join the club’s Hall of Fame.

It is Danish international Eriksen who paints the pretty pictures. Scampering around the pitch with effortless energy (he has run farther than any other Premier League player this season), his deft brush strokes have helped propel Spurs back into top-four contention. Supplying 54 chances this term — 23 more than anyone else in a white shirt — the 22-year-old playmaker has provided vibrant colour to an otherwise workmanlike side. The kind of highly-skilled artist who opponents find difficult to tie down, for Spurs he has been priceless.

Kane is their unlikely goal machine. I only say “unlikely” because, up until a few months ago, most people in the game expected him to be a Championship (second-tier) player, not the talisman that Tottenham would grow to rely upon.

While not refined like Eriksen, he does the basics incredibly well: Excellent running with real conviction, sound touch, strong dribbling and once the whites of the goalposts catch his attention, the 21-year-old forward has discovered a knack of arrowing the ball just where he wants to put it. With 10 Premier League goals since Nov 2, he is a lethal marksman who is at present one of Europe’s best.

Together, Eriksen and Kane combine beautifully, and between them they have scored 15 of their side’s past 21 goals.

Arsenal’s primary job this evening is to render Mauricio Pochettino’s prize pairing null and void.

Until recently, Gunners fans might have been nervous at the prospect of such a containment job, but the emergence of an unexpected hero of their own — 23-year-old defensive midfield man Francis Coquelin — has remedied that fear.

To all intents and purposes, he was finished as an Arsenal player, but injuries for Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Jack Wilshere paved the way for a surprise recall and the French rookie has responded with a series of magnificent displays.

Providing an intelligent obstruction to just about every pass Manchester City tried to fire towards David Silva and Sergio Aguero three weeks ago, Coquelin almost single-handedly stifled the champions.

His tackles and interceptions have been so proficient, so outstanding, that all that talk of Arsene Wenger desperately needing a defensive midfielder has been put on hold. It is quite an achievement.

Upfront, Arsenal will still be expected to score even without Alexis Sanchez. Olivier Giroud is in great shape, Santi Cazorla has been in mesmerisingly impish form, Mesut Ozil’s mojo is back, while Theo Walcott has two goals in his first two starts since returning from injury.

Only Chelsea and Southampton have kept the Gunners at bay this season, and of all the top seven clubs’ goalkeepers, Spurs’ Hugo Lloris has been the busiest by some distance.

“Mind The Gap” is a term Gunners fans have revelled in mocking Spurs with since they began to dominate this great rivalry, but a glance at current form and their respective points tallies tells us there is very little to choose between them ahead of this derby. It is a genuine 50-50 game between two excellent in-form sides.

But if Arsenal are to get anything from their trip into the auld enemy’s den, they will need to keep Eriksen and Kane quiet.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Adrian Clarke is a former Arsenal midfielder who has played at every level of English football. Now an experienced sports journalist, he writes for publications around the world. Follow him on Twitter @adrianjclarke.

English Premier League on TV:

Today:

Tottenham v Arsenal — Singtel TV Ch 102 and StarHub TV Ch 227, 8.45pm

Aston Villa v Chelsea — Singtel TV Ch 102 and StarHub TV Ch 227, 11pm

Manchester City v Hull — Singtel TV Ch 103 and StarHub TV Ch 228, 11pm

QPR v Southampton — Singtel TV Ch 104 and StarHub TV Ch 229, 11pm

Swansea v Sunderland — Singtel TV Ch 105 and StarHub TV Ch 230, 11pm

Leicester v Crystal Palace — Singtel TV Ch 106 and StarHub TV Ch 231, 11pm

Sunday:

Everton v Liverpool — Singtel TV Ch 102 and StarHub TV Ch 227, 1.30am

Burnley v WBA — Singtel TV Ch 102 and StarHub TV Ch 227, 8pm

Newcastle v Stoke — Singtel TV Ch 102 and StarHub TV Ch 227, 10pm

Monday:

West Ham v Manchester United — Singtel TV Ch 102 and StarHub TV Ch 227, 12.15am

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