'Can't lose!' - Declan Rice reveals Bukayo Saka's cheeky north London derby message as wobbling Arsenal aim to bounce back against Tottenham

Arsenal remain at the top of the Premier League table but missed the chance to go seven points clear of Manchester City after they were shocked by Wolves, who hit back late on to earn a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night. Saka and Piero Hincapie had given the Gunners a 2-0 lead, but strikes from Hugo Bueno and Tom Edozie ensured the spoils were shared at Molineux.

Sunday presents the opportunity for the north Londoners to hit back at their critics when they visit local rivals Tottenham, who will be under the eye of new manager Igor Tudor following the departure of Thomas Frank earlier this month. Spurs are 16th ahead of the weekend's action and are facing the threat of relegation, sitting only five points ahead of 18th-placed West Ham United.

Rice is unbeaten in his meetings with Tottenham since joining Arsenal in 2023, with his last loss to the Lilywhites coming when he skippered the Hammers in a 2-0 defeat in the 2022-23 season. Now, the 27-year-old has revealed what club and country team-mate Saka told him about north London derbies when he first moved to the Emirates Stadium.

Rice told The Sun: “I remember Saka saying: ‘You can’t lose derbies here to Spurs’. For the fanbase, everyone, the players, the staff – that’s the game you can’t lose.”

Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the Premier League table having played a game more than title rivals City, who can reduce that gap to two points by beating Newcastle United on Saturday night. Questions are being asked of the Gunners' mentality, but Rice believes his team-mates have a golden opportunity on Sunday to show they have what it takes to win a first league title since 2003-04.

In another piece with the same publication, the England international said: “The north London derby is the perfect game to respond to that. It’s a massive game, one that is going to be massive in our season. There is a long way to go, there’s still a lot to be positive about, there’s perspective here. We’re still having an amazing season and we can’t let any outside noise disturb that.

“When we say about mentality, we’ve shown unbelievable mentality all season to be where we are, we aren’t going to let anything get in the way of that.”

Punters have floated the 'bottle jobs' tag in Arsenal's direction following the draw with Wolves, but manager Mikel Arteta has dismissed that term and says his side must take criticism "on the chin".

He said: “It’s [bottle jobs] not part of my vocabulary and I don’t see it like this because I don’t think anybody wants to do that as an intention. I wouldn’t use that word, but that’s me.

“That’s individual opinion, perspective. You have to respect that. That’s what I said after in the press conference. You lose two points against Wolves in the manner that the game played out, you have to take it on the chin.

“What I’m very interested in is the next one, what we are made of, what we love about this and how we write our own destiny from here.”

Despite the jibes being aimed in their direction, Arsenal still have the chance to win multiple trophies between now and the end of the season. After league clashes with Tottenham, Chelsea and Brighton, Arteta's side visit Mansfield Town in the FA Cup and take on City in the final of the Carabao Cup in late March.

Arsenal battered Spurs in the first north London derby of the season, with Eberechi Eze scoring a sublime hat-trick.