Wenger reacts to Dortmund claims about Aubameyang behavior

Where, both Spurs and Arsenal have a super recent record.

Arsenal have lost their last two away games from winning positions – 2-1 at Bournemouth and 3-1 at Swansea – but Wenger is confident that will not become a trend.

The north London side are now in sixth place in the table but know that a win would move them to just one point behind Spurs in the table.

But Tottenham will be keen to avenge a 2-0 loss at the Emirates to their bitter rivals earlier this season.

As for Tottenham, the onus will likely be on them to take the game to Arsenal with home advantage on their side, as well as the fact they are favourites to take the three points this weekend.

Dortmund are fourth in the Bundesliga and among several clubs chasing the three remaining Champions League spots, with Bayern Munich already 18 points clear of second-place Bayer Leverkusen and Dortmund one point behind them.

If Arsenal enter it buoyed, it is due to two factors: the rejuvenating power of signings who made an immediate impact in last week’s 5-1 win over Everton and a change of venue.

But as it is, the 24-year-old is banging in goals for fun across North London and has established himself as one of, if not the best centre-forward in Europe, in the process.

“I don’t encourage my players to dive”.

‘It’s amusing how things work out – as it was after playing for Watford against Tottenham that I got the opportunity to join Tottenham’s youth academy. “I don’t think he would”, Wenger said.

The north London derby is upon us. But if you look at the situation, I think when sometimes you do not want to provoke a dive as well.

Wenger recently brought in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund for a club record £57m and Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United in a swap deal for Alexis Sanchez and the manager has backed his new stars to keep on performing.

January signings Aubameyang and his former Dortmund team-mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan both excelled against Everton, the Armenia worldwide recording three assists after moving to Emirates Stadium as part of a swap deal with Manchester United for Alexis Sanchez.

When pitting Aaron Ramsey against Delli Alli, it’s Ramsey that comes out on top in the goalscoring stakes following his hat-trick last weekend (6 this season compared to five for Alli).

Arsenal’s new attacking options seem to have injected a sense of urgency and optimism into the side, with the link between Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang appearing nearly telepathic.