Arsenal mascot steals the show pre-north London derby as Sky Sports pundits crack up

An Arsenal mascot embodied the fierce nature of the north London derby by jokingly pushing a Tottenham mascot ahead of kick-off.

Spurs’ group of mascots all lined up to shake hands with Tottenham players who were heading out to the bench ahead of kick off, including Archie Gray and Pape Sarr. However, the Arsenal representative soon intervened to put a halt to the good spirits on the opposite side of the tunnel.

He light-heartedly pushed the Tottenham mascot before being told by a member of staff to return to where he was stood before players from both teams arrived.

Sky Sports presented David Jones could not help but laugh as he attempted to tell viewers that kick off was on its way, with fellow pundits Paul Merson and Jamie Redknapp also heard finding the funny side of the clip.

The tension in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ahead of kick off certainly suggested that the mood between both teams will be anything but light-hearted, especially with Arsenal being dealt a tricky injury crisis to overcome.

With Declan Rice suspended and both Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino ruled out through injury, Mikel Arteta opted for Thomas Partey and Jorginho to provide a strong, defensive-minded base from his attacking players to work off of.

The Spaniard also decided to keep the faith in Kai Havertz as a striker, rather than dropping him into midfield, and opted for Leandro Trossard in the No. 10 role. The Belgium international has impressed when given opportunities and he will be keen to make his mark, knowing that Raheem Sterling is also vying a spot in the starting 11.

Ange Postecoglou also had some injury problems to overcome, though the returns of Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke will certainly have bolstered his chances of claiming bragging rights in north London.

The Aussie is without Yves Bissouma due to injury so appears to have decided to roll the dice and opt for an attacking midfield trio, with James Maddison being joined by Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski in those central areas.

The latter has been used centrally previously, but if he struggles to settle into the match then fellow Swedish star Lucas Bergvall could be brought in to provide an injection of youthful energy in that departments.