League Cup Quarter Finals: Arsenal vs Tottenham preview

The 185th edition of the North London Derby will take place on Wednesday, when Arsenal host Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium in the quarter finals of the League Cup. The two teams have already met in the Premier League this season, it was quite an entertaining match at the Emirates Stadium which Arsenal eventually won 4-2 after trailing 2-1 at half-time. Last season Arsenal won 2-0 at home against Tottenham with goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez, while Tottenham won the reverse fixture 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Harry Kane. Overall, Arsenal have won the derby 77 times, while Tottenham have won it on 57 occasions. Arsenal had their incredible 22-match unbeaten run in all competition snapped last weekend, they lost 3-2 at Southampton and really deserved to lose the match too. The Gunners did produce some memorable performances during that unbeaten run, especially the derby victory over Tottenham, but they also had some close calls and some very lucky wins, like the 2-1 at Bournemouth at the end of November. Manager Unai Emery has a bit of an injury crisis in defence, he had to play midfielder Granit Xhaka as a central defender at Southampton and that experiment might continue as Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos remain out of contention. Hector Bellerin picked up a knock last weekend and might miss out. Tottenham recovered very well from the derby defeat, they won the following three Premier League matches and also clinched a 1-1 draw at Barcelona in the Champions League, a result which allowed them to advance to the next round. Last weekend the Spurs edged past Burnley 1-0 in London, Christian Eriksen scored the decisive goal in stoppage time. Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama, Vincent Janssen and Mousa Dembele are all out of contention due to injuries, while Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth and Davinson Sanchez are injury doubts ahead of Wednesday's match. Probable line-ups: Arsenal: Cech - Mustafi, Sokratis, Koscielny - Lichtsteiner, Ramsey, Torreira, Xhaka, Monreal - Lacazette, Aubameyang Tottenham: Gazzaniga - Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies - Sissoko, Winks - Eriksen, Alli, Son Heung-Min - Kane My prediction: Tottenham to win 2-1, Arsenal haven't been playing very well lately. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Arsenal win - 2.60 Draw - 3.60 Tottenham win - 2.75