Arsenal's Premier League North London derby with Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday has the potential to be "the worst possible game" for Gooners if they lose to their biggest adversaries, according to Gunners expert Charles Watts.
Mikel Arteta's men are at risk of suffering three straight home defeats following their recent unsuccessful exploits in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, most recently suffering an agonising penalty-shootout loss to holders Manchester United in the latter following a 1-1 draw.
Arsenal are also on the verge of EFL Cup elimination thanks to their 2-0 semi-final first-leg loss to Newcastle last week, leading to heightened criticism of under-pressure boss Arteta, but his side enter the gameweek 10 places and 16 points better off than Spurs in the Premier League table.
As a result, while any possible reaction to a defeat "doesn't bear thinking about", Watts expects Arsenal to relight the blue touch paper in what is always a hotly-contested derby, telling Sports Mole: "With my Arsenal fan hat on, it's the worst possible game because the thought of losing to Tottenham at any time fills me with dread.
"When you sense the mood around the place, and you envision what the reaction will be like if they lose to Spurs, it doesn't bear thinking about. But if there's any game to get your laser focus on, it's the North London derby at home.
'Arsenal normally turn up against Tottenham'
"You can't afford to feel sorry for yourself going into this game because the fans just won't let you, the atmosphere won't let you. You've got to get straight back on it.
"It's been a bruising few days for Arsenal, but there's no better way to come out of that by beating Spurs at home and giving yourself a real good shot in the arm ahead of another really difficult game against Villa on the weekend.
"It's a massive game for Arsenal and they usually turn up for the North London derbies. From a fan point of view, I'm dreading it, but from a player point of view, I'm sure they're desperate to get out there and really feel that atmosphere and try and get themselves back on track."
Arsenal left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a 1-0 win to their name in September thanks to Gabriel Magalhaes's header from a Bukayo Saka corner, their second straight success over the Lilywhites after also triumphing at the same venue in April 2024.
However, the Gunners have never beaten Tottenham in three successive league matches during the Premier League era - last doing so in 1989 - and they could start the day nine points behind Liverpool on the same number of games if the Reds beat Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.
Watts: '100% Arsenal's biggest game of the season'
© Imago
"It's going to be interesting watching that game a bit later on," Watts said of the City Ground blockbuster. "I don't think anyone at the start of the season would have predicted Liverpool versus Nottingham Forrest was going to be a top of the table clash come January, but that's how it's panned out.
"Someone's going to drop points in that game. Maybe both teams end up dropping points in that game. And if they do, then it just adds even more importance to what Arsenal are going to do. Maybe it puts more pressure on them as well. We'll have to wait and see."
Asked if the upcoming derby was the biggest game of the campaign for Arsenal and Arteta so far, Watts gave a firm response, saying: "It's always the biggest game anyway.
"But in the context of what's happened in the last week, another defeat here to make it three defeats at home in three different competitions, it would leave them with such a mountain to climb in the Premier League as well. A win is absolutely essential for so many reasons. 100% it's the biggest game of the season."
While Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has been plagued by a spate of injuries this season, Arsenal do not come into the derby in tip-top shape, having just lost striker Gabriel Jesus to a suspected ACL rupture.
Arsenal to receive triple boost after Jesus blow?
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Jesus will join Saka (hamstring), Ethan Nwaneri (muscle), Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu (both knee) on the sidelines for Wednesday's game, which Riccardo Calafiori is also uncertain for after picking up a muscle issue before the FA Cup loss to Man United.
Arteta was quietly optimistic that Calafiori would make the cut when asked in his pre-game press conference, though, while the duo of Jorginho and Jurrien Timber are also expected to be OK despite cramping up during the weekend's 120-minute affair.
Timber missing out would leave Arsenal with no recognised right-backs, but Watts expects Arteta to avoid that "hammer blow", adding: "Team news wise, we'll wait and see on Calafiori. He'll have a late test.
"Mikel was sounding fairly optimistic that maybe he might have a chance of making it for this game. It sounded like Timber and Jorginho should be fine. And that's a boost, especially Timber, because when he went off against United holding his hamstring, I think everyone feared the worst.
"But it sounds like it was just cramp. And that's really, really important, because that would be a hammer blow if Timber picked something up as well."
Tottenham have also picked up a fresh concern ahead of the North London derby, albeit not to the same extent as Jesus's ACL problem, as misfiring RB Leipzig loanee Timo Werner suffered a hamstring injury in their 3-0 FA Cup success at Tamworth and joins Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur and Wilson Odobert in the medical bay.
Ben Knapton
