Arsenal have enjoyed plenty of brilliant victories against Tottenham Hotspur, but have also suffered some painful defeats over the years.
The gap between the two sides has become smaller in the last decade, after a period in which Arsenal continually exerted their dominance over Tottenham.
After 22 consecutive years of Arsenal finishing above Spurs, with ‘St Totteringham’s Day’ an annual celebration whenever it became mathematically impossible for the Gunners to finish below their rivals, Tottenham finally finished above Arsenal in 2017, and this sparked a run where they were the dominant league side until 2023.
When it comes to head to head games, Arsenal do have the superior record in North London Derby clashes, but have had some heavy defeats during the Premier League era, and we’ve listed the worst, which we hope will never happen again.
Rob Holding of Arsenal is shown a red card following a foul on Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur by Match Referee, during the Premier League matc…
Tottenham 5-1 Arsenal, League Cup, 2008
In January 2008 Spurs were on a run of 21 games without a win against Arsenal, before they met in the League Cup semi-finals.
A 1-1 draw in the first-leg of the semis meant that it was all to play for at White Hart Lane, but Arsene Wenger’s rotated lineup took a battering from their rivals.
Arsenal were 3-0 down by half time, with Aaron Lennon adding a fourth in the 60th minute, before Emmanuel Adebayor pulled one back.
A 90th minute goal made it 5-1, which was the highest margin of defeat Arsenal have suffered in a game against Spurs for over 100 years.
Tottenham 3-0 Arsenal, May 2022
In the final weeks of the 2021-22 season, Arsenal were directly battling Spurs for a top four spot, and in the third-last game of the season they went head to head at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Arsenal knew that a win would confirm their place in the top four, but they buckled under the pressure.
Harry Kane opened the scoring after a very controversial penalty was given against Cedric Soares, before Rob Holding received a red card after a nightmare performance.
Arsenal fell to a defeat in a hostile atmosphere, and would ultimately lose out on a top four spot as a result, but have had the last laugh given the trajectory of the two clubs since.
Spurs 2-0 Arsenal, December 2020
Arsenal’s crisis run of form in December 2020 nearly saw Mikel Arteta dismissed from his role as Arsenal manager, as they embarked on a winless run of seven games where they barely managed to score any open play goals.
With Arsenal at their lowest, they travelled to face Tottenham, who were top of the league under Jose Mourinho.
Arteta’s side crumbled again after goals from Kane and Heung-Min Son, in what was a truly miserable day, but Mourinho did praise Arteta after, and predicted the turnaround in form he would inspire.
“I want to give good words and congratulations to Mikel because he gave us a very difficult game,” Mourinho stated after.
“I can imagine tomorrow there, that the headlines will be about them not being in a good position on the table. But I believe with these players, with Mikel, Arsenal will be Arsenal again.”
Although these comments were taken badly by Arsenal fans at the time, it turns out Mourinho was spot on.
Spurs 2-0 Arsenal, April 2017
April 2017 saw Arsenal struggle for confidence after suffering heavy defeats in the Premier League, and they went to Tottenham knowing that a loss would confirm that for the first time in over 20 years, Spurs would finish above them.
However, in a bleak day for Arsene Wenger, Arsenal fell to a 2-0 defeat, and his squad had finally finished below their rivals for the first time in his managerial career.
Spurs finished second and Arsenal finished fifth, but Arsenal did win the FA Cup that season, beating Chelsea in the final, who had knocked Spurs out in the semi-finals weeks before.
Leave a Reply