Arsenal’s gain just became Mohammed Kudus’ pain

There’s already a lot going in Arsenal’s favor for the upcoming north London derby.

Arsenal have a few injuries, they are in good form and are also the best defensive team in the world.

For Tottenham fans, even their legends say a win is written in the stars for their neighbors, so it can’t be the best feeling in the world.

The gap between the two rivals continues to grow every season, but that doesn’t mean Arsenal will take this match lightly.

If anything, it will push them even more to aim for victory, because form doesn’t matter as much in this type of games as it does in others.

Regardless, there is one returning player who could significantly improve Arsenal’s chances of winning, and in doing so it will frustrate Tottenham star Mohammed Kudus.

Riccardo Calafiori is expected to be available despite the injury problems he faced while on international duty with Italy.

He should therefore start at left-back and will face Kudus, who, although a very good player in his time, is not at his best.

Mohammed Kudus will struggle against Riccardo Calafiori

What will certainly make matters worse is that Calafiori is one of the best defensive fullbacks in the entire league, and he’s on a different level than the player who was supposed to start in his place if he was injured – Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Lewis-Skelly is not bad by any means. He is an exceptional player with a lot of potential.

However, he is not a natural defender and has a lot of work to do before reaching Calafiori’s defensive level.

When he is fit, the Italian improves the floor of this Arsenal team. So, putting him against a terribly athletic and intelligent winger like Kudus can only be a win for the Gunners.

For Kudus, on the other hand, this is not a good sign. He can still have a good match, as he usually plays well in big matches.

However, the chances of that happening are a bit low now because of how astute Calafiori is defensively.

Although he hasn’t scored as many goals – just one so far – Kudus has actually been more involved in the Spurs attack than anyone realizes.

Despite this incredible news for Arsenal, they will need to be wary of the threat Kudus can pose any day of the week. As said before, form doesn’t really matter in these encounters.