Five... home north London derbies to remember

Here we go again! It's north London derby time and, as is so often the case, so much on the line as we face Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (4.30pm).

Last season's home NLD represented the first full house for this famous fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the team provided an instant classic of the modern era, as we cruised to a 3-0 victory in a game that went a long, long way to us overhauling Arsenal to finish fourth in the Premier League and get back into the UEFA Champions League.

Now it's all on again. As we approached the halfway stage of the campaign, Arsenal arrive in N17 this weekend sitting top of the Premier League while we're in fifth, just two points adrift of Newcastle in third.

Our recent record in the derby on home turf is good, as well. We’re unbeaten since the 2013/14 season and, going back to 2008/09, we've managed nine wins, four draws and that single loss in 14 matches.

Here are five derbies to remember in N17 - from 2010...

14/4/2010 - Spurs 2-1 Arsenal

This was Danny Rose’s night, but a week that needs a little context in terms of the 2009/10 season. First of all, we’d just suffered the heartbreak of an FA Cup semi-final loss against Portsmouth at Wembley, a match we were big favourites for with Pompey at the foot of the table. However, we were still battling for fourth with City and Liverpool. Arsenal, meanwhile, came into this derby sitting third, fighting for the title with United and Chelsea, having won seven of their last eight. On a Premier League debut that will go down in Spurs folklore, Rose smashed home a 30-yard volley to open the scoring on 10 minutes, followed by Gareth Bale’s clinical finish a minute into the second half. Heurelho Gomes then produced world-class saves to deny Robin van Persie twice and Sol Campbell. Nicklas Bendtner pulled back a late goal, but we held on for a victory that sparked qualification for the Champions League with four wins in our last six, including that memorable night at the Etihad where we beat City to clinch fourth.

3/3/2013 - Spurs 2-1 Arsenal

We were flying when the Gunners arrived at the Lane in March, 2013 - 11 unbeaten, West Ham just put to the sword 3-2 and well in the hunt for Champions League qualification. We made it 12 unbeaten with a superb first half display, and carbon-copy goals from Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale to take a grip of proceedings, both players cutting through the heart of Arsenal's defence to score. It was the last derby of Bale’s first spell, and he signed off in style with his ninth goal in seven games. He ended the campaign with 26, including 21 in the Premier League. Unfortunately, Arsenal hauled us in, and despite finishing 2012/13 with a run of five unbeaten matches, they pipped us to fourth place by one point.

5/3/2016 - Spurs 2-2 Arsenal

Okay, not a win, but a match remembered for the sheer noise, the sheer decibel levels, after Harry Kane fired home one of the great derby goals of the modern era to put us 2-1 up in the second half. Now the record goalscorer in the contest with 11, Kane introduced himself to N17-N5 rivalries with both goals in a 2-1 win at the Lane the previous season. In the title race and desperately trying to haul in Leicester City, this time it felt like the roof had come off when, just minutes after Toby Alderweireld had equalised Aaron Ramsey’s opener, Kane cut in from the left and arrowed a shot into the top right corner. The place went mad, Kane ripping off his protective face mask in jubilation. However, Arsenal found an equaliser through Francis Coquelin as it ended 2-2. The draw came in a run of 10 wins in 13, lifting us from fourth to second, but we couldn’t get close enough to the title-winning Foxes, and Arsenal, who led the table for a month, December-January, nicked second place from us on the final day.

30/4/17 - Spurs 2-0 Arsenal

The script was written for this one, and nothing was going to stand in our way. This was the final derby at White Hart Lane, with rivalries going back to Arsenal’s move to north London and Highbury in 1913, followed by the first competitive clash in the old First Division at the Lane in January, 1921. We were unbeaten in our final season at our famous old stadium, 2016/17, with only one more home match to follow, the Finale against United. Once again, we were in the title shake-up, with this time Antonio Conte’s Chelsea always just a step in front, they’d won at Everton earlier in the day to move seven points clear. What an occasion then, and we dominated, securing victory with quickfire goals in the second half from Dele and Harry Kane. Notably, with four matches remaining, this win ensured we’d finish above the Gunners for the first time since 1994/95 - a run we’ve maintained in the four seasons since.

6/12/2020 - Spurs 2-0 Arsenal

The first home derby of the new era at our world-class new home, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, was sadly ushered in behind-closed doors in June, 2020, a 2-1 win in ‘Project Restart’ as Premier League action resumed with the country in lockdown. This was the second derby here, this time with 2,000 lucky fans back in the stadium in the ballot - it sounded more like 20,000! All present were treated to one of the best derby goals of the modern era. In a classic counter-attacking display, Heung-Min Son was released over halfway by Harry Kane, drove forward and curled home a beauty from 25 yards. The second was equally impressive as Gio Lo Celso led a four-on-two break and fed Sonny, he rolled a reverse pass into Kane, who hammered home off the crossbar. Now we go from 2,000 to a full house for the first time on Sunday - can we do it again?