Boost for Tottenham as a key Arsenal player ruled out of North London derby

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Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a boost ahead of their trip to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday as it has now been confirmed that a key Arsenal man will play no part in the North London derby.

Tottenham have several players on the treatment table heading into the big clash on Sunday, and the Lilywhites have not been given much chance of getting a positive result.

Pundits have been unanimous in predicting that Arsenal will beat Spurs to maintain their lead at the summit of the Premier League table.

However, Thomas Frank’s men do boast the best away record in the Premier League, and there is one injury development that they can take heart from.

Arsenal defender Gabriel ruled out of Tottenham clash

It emerged a few days ago that Arsenal could be without centre-back Gabriel for the derby after the Brazilian suffered an injury while on international duty.

BBC Sport have now confirmed that the 27-year-old will not be fit for this Sunday’s clash, revealing that he will be out of action for a minimum of four weeks.

That means that the Gunners will be without one half of the most water-tight centre-back pairing in the Premier League, with one of Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera expected to start alongside William Saliba.

Spurs sweating on the fitness of key midfielder

Tottenham are now sweating on the fitness of a key man, who ironically also picked up his injury in the same game that Gabriel did.

Pape Matar Sarr returned to Tottenham after picking up an injury in Senegal’s clash against Brazil, thus adding to the Lilywhites’ already bloated injury list.

Senegal boss Pape Thiaw has suggested that Sarr’s injury is not serious, and Spurs fans will be keeping their fingers crossed for his recovery before the big derby.