Dier's derby drive

Eric Dier swaps the Lisbon derby for the North London equivalent this weekend with the mentality that 'every player wants to play in games like this'.

Having represented previous club Sporting Lisbon in four hotly-contested clashes with close rivals Benfica over the last two seasons, the young defender can appreciate the passion surrounding matches between neighbouring teams.

Of course, nothing compares to a North London Derby when you’re in a Spurs shirt.

But, based on his past experiences, Eric expects our trip to the Emirates later today to be an intense affair.

“A derby match is always huge,” said the 20-year-old, who has started all five of our Premier League games in 2014-15 since his move from Portugal in the summer.

“When you play in a derby it’s a massive match and every player wants to play in games like this – it’s why we play the game.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable in Lisbon for derby games – it was really hostile and I expect it to be similar over here.

“There’s a bigger hype around a derby and there’s more attention towards the game from everyone.

“As players we all train hard every week, everyone tries their best every week.

“This game means a lot to the players and we want to make our supporters happy every weekend, not just against Arsenal.

“Having said that, we understand that against Arsenal they’ll be even happier if we win, which we completely understand. We want to make them happy.”