Spurs troll Arsenal with ‘ready in January’ jibe ahead of north London derby

The north London derby is heating up already

Tottenham Hotspur appeared to troll rivals Arsenal ahead of the north London derby on Thursday night, posting a video on social media which referenced the controversial postponed match in January. Spurs and the Gunners were set to face off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the start of this year, but the game was controversially postponed because Arsenal did not have enough available players to field a side.

"The decision is a result of a combination of Covid-19, existing and recent injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations," said the Premier League after accepting Arsenal's request to postpone the match. 

Arsenal were without Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe due to Africa Cup of Nations duty, while Cedric Soares, Bukayo Saka and Calum Chambers were all out injured at the time. 

Granit Xhaka was also suspended after he was sent off against Liverpool, while Martin Odegaard had just tested positive for covid-19.

At the time, Premier League rules stated that a club must play a game if they had 13 outfield players and one goalkeeper available. 

Spurs release a statement criticising the Premier League's decision to accept the Gunners' request, but Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta issued a defiant response to criticism and 'lies' about the decision.

Spurs take jibe at Gunners

Now, four months after the game was initially scheduled to be played, the two clubs will finally face off in one of the most eagerly anticipated north London derbies in recent years.

Arsenal can secure fourth position in the Premier League with a win over Antonio Conte's side, while Spurs need to win in order to give themselves a chance to overtake their opponents on the final day of the season.

Prior to the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs released a video on Twitter about the upcoming game, which was captioned: "Dare. Dream. Do."

https://twitter.com/spursofficial/status/1524630701794115585?s=21&t=lIoBGwI0dPEMeO6jqRSp1A Included in the video was a sly dig at the Gunners, with the sentence, 'We were ready in January' appearing on screen early on in the video. Spurs have no fresh injury worries for the game against Arsenal, with Sergio Reguilon (groin), Oliver Skipp (pubis), Matt Doherty and Japhet Tanganga (both knee) all still out. On the other hands, the Gunners will be hopeful that defender Ben White will be fit enough to play after missing the last few matches with a hamstring issue. Bukayo Saka went off injured in the 2-1 win over Leeds on Sunday. Both Thomas Partey (thigh) and Kieran Tierney (knee) remain out for the season. Related links:

• Mikel Arteta fires back at ‘lies’ surrounding Arsenal’s postponement of North London Derby
• Tottenham fan starts petition to investigate North London Derby postponement
• Supercomputer predicts Arsenal to pip Spurs to fourth in 2021/22 season