Larry Ryan: Arsenal v Tottenham a North London battle for lost souls

Though all involved, like Stephen Kenny and many Ireland gaffers before him, would probably snap your hands off now for a 1-1 draw

After finally landing the top job at Spurs after Daniel Levy asked every other gaffer in the world first, Nuno Espirito Santo has so far left a dangerous vacuum on the narrative-shaping front. Picture: GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images

Like the TARDIS and Fortycoats’ trick shop, the North London derby is dimensionally transcendental — it looks bigger from the inside than the outside.

This weekend’s edition could have been a six-pointer in the race to avoid the European Super League golden wooden spoon. Cruelly denied that glamour, it now sits as a Super Sunday irrelevance, a local squabble after the Lord Mayor’s show on Saturday lunchtime when Chelsea and Manchester City once again wrestle for world domination.