Jorginho leads Arsenal as captain, while Postecoglou says full-bodied: “That’s the way we are, mate”

Ange Postecoglou has thrown caution to the wind when naming his team for the North London derby, with Jorginho coming in for Arsenal and becoming the captain of the team.

There has been much talk ahead of the NLD about Arsenal's midfield problems, with Declan Rice suspended, Mikel Merino out with a shoulder injury sustained in the Gunners' first training session and Martin Odegaard suffering an ankle problem in international action with Norway.

Mikel Arteta has given Jorginho his first minutes of the season in place of Rice, with the Italian also captaining the team in central midfield alongside Thomas Partey, while Leandro Trossard is expected to pull the strings in front of midfield in Odegaard's absence.

READ MORE: Arsenal dominate but Rice and Odegaard fail to score, leaving Spurs trio in combined XI for north London derby

Gabriel Martinelli will therefore start on the left wing, where Trossard started in the 1-1 draw with Brighton. Otherwise, Arsenal are unchanged from their last Premier League game.

Postecoglou, meanwhile, was brave with his team selection to say the least and exemplified his attack-attack-attack-attack ethic of “this is who we are, mate”.

Rodrigo Bentancur is expected to start in midfield behind James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, forming a very attacking trio ahead of Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.

Micky van de Ven also returns to Spurs in place of Radu Dragusin.

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Postecoglou warned his players before the game not to fall into the “trap” of believing that the absence of Rice and Odegaard would have given Spurs a clear advantage.

“God, that’s a damn trap to fall into if you think you [Arsenal] depend on two players,” said Postecoglou.

“Two important players, but we were also missing important players last year and we still managed to deliver remarkable performances.

“A team like Arsenal has been very, very consistent over the last two years and can fill any gaps they have. They have quality in their squad. The key for us is to focus on our performance.”

“If we play well, and we certainly did in the first three games, and if we are a bit clearer in our heads in both penalty areas, we are an opponent for any team. We have to think about that at the weekend.”

“If we go in there thinking they are somehow weakened, we will be punished.

“If we assume that they will be very strong, and I believe they will be, then we have to do our best. We know that if we do our best and play the football we can, we can keep up with them.”