Martin Keown names the only Tottenham player who would get into the current Arsenal team
Today at 07:15 AM
Arsenal face Tottenham in the north London derby on Wednesday evening, and both teams head into this game with differing fortunes.
Arsenal are looking to close the gap on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, while Tottenham are hoping to get back into the top half of the table.
| Position | Team | PlayedMP | WonW | DrawnD | LostL | ForGF | AgainstGA | DiffGD | PointsPts |
| 3 | ArsenalArsenal | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 39 | 18 | 21 | 40 |
| Position | Team | PlayedMP | WonW | DrawnD | LostL | ForGF | AgainstGA | DiffGD | PointsPts |
| 13 | TottenhamTottenham | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 42 | 30 | 12 | 24 |
It's fair to say that Arsenal are a much better team than Tottenham at the moment, and that was reflected by Martin Keown when speaking to TNT Sports.
Keown was asked to pick his combined Arsenal and Tottenham XI made up of their current best players, and he says that there's only one Spurs player who would get into the current Arsenal team.
Indeed, according to Keown, Dejan Kulusevski is the only Tottenham player who deserves to be in the Arsenal side, picking the Swedish midfielder ahead of Mikel Merino.
- READ MORE: Arsenal have just poached key behind-the-scenes figure from Liverpool after £118m triumph
Martin Keown says Dejan Kulusevksi would start for Arsenal
Keown picked his combined XI made up of Arsenal and Tottenham players.
The pundit says that he'd pick Kulusevski over Merino, claiming that he's the only player at Spurs who deserves a place in the Arsenal squad.
"Merino or Kulusevski?" Keown was asked.
"Oh, Kulusevski is probably the only player who deserves to be in the Arsenal XI," Keown said.
Kulusevski has been Tottenham's best player this season, and Tim Sherwood has said that Kulusevski could even play for Man City.
Dejan Kulusevski compared to Mikel Merino
Of course, Merino and Kulusevski are different types of players, but when you look at the stats, you can see why Keown picked Kulusevski over Merino.
| Dejan Kulusevski | Mikel Merino | |
| Games | 13 | 20 |
| Goals | 2 | 5 |
| Assists | 1 | 4 |
| Tackles per game | 1.5 | 1.3 |
| Interceptions per game | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Key passes per game | 2.4 | 0.5 |
| Dribbles per game | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| Shots per game | 1.6 | 1 |
Kulusevski outperforms Merino in all attacking metrics, and while Merino is slightly better defensively, that gap is very narrow in terms of tackles and interceptions per game.
Merino has been criticised for his performances this season since signing for Arsenal, and he could already be in line to be replaced in this Arsenal side.
Indeed, Arsenal are set to sign Martin Zubimendi next summer, and Zubimendi is likely to take Merino's place in this Arsenal side as the Gunners look to evolve.
Kulusevski is certainly good enough to play for a team like Arsenal, and if Spurs are to stand a chance of beating the Gunners in the north London derby, Kulusevski will have to be at his best on Wednesday evening.
