North London Derby: Bale joins Son and Kane in Ultimate Arsenal-Tottenham XI

Derby Day is the one fans look for first when the Premier League fixtures are announced ahead of the new season and while supporters won't be in attendance for Sunday's North London Derby due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arsenal's welcome of Tottenham still generates plenty of excitement. 

The north London pair come into today's clash on the back of Europa League wins in midweek as Spurs dispatched of Dinamo Zagreb with ease and Arsenal secured an impressive away victory at Olympiacos. Attention turns to the clash at the Emirates, and with it, WhoScored have formulated a combined XI in the build up to the match. 

For the purpose of this side, we look at Premier League ratings from the 2020/21 season of players to have made 10 or more league appearances this season. Injured and suspended players are excluded, but given the lack of absentees from both camps, this isn't an influential factor in the selections. That being said, Arsenal fans may want to look away now, with the white half of north London dominating with nine players to the Gunners' two. 

Starting between the sticks, it's Spurs captain Hugo Lloris (6.74) who secures a spot in this XI in place of Arsenal's Bernd Leno (6.56). Lloris (9) has kept more clean sheets than Leno (8), while the Frenchman (79) has also kept more saves than his German counterpart (63) in the Premier League this season. Leno's red card negatively impacts his rating and it's one of the reasons he doesn't feature. 

In defence, Gabriel (6.78) is one of the two Arsenal representatives. The Brazilian's last Premier League appearance came in the 4-2 win over Leeds last month, but his WhoScored rating is better than any other centre-back of the two teams, bar Toby Alderweireld (6.95) who partners Gabriel at the heart of the defence. 

Rounding off the backline is Spurs pair Serge Aurier (7.03) and Sergio Reguilon (6.92), with the duo ensuring Hector Bellerin (6.73) and Kieran Tierney (6.69) don't make the grade at right and left-back, respectively. The second Arsenal player in the combined XI operates ahead of Reguilon, with Bukayo Saka (7.01) continuing to shine for Mikel Arteta's side. 

On the opposite flank, rejuvenated Gareth Bale (7.23) makes the cut having been exceptional for Spurs in recent weeks. After coming under criticism following his return, Bale has scored four times and provided two assists in his last four league outings as he begins to get into the swing of things under Jose Mourinho. 

Featuring in the middle of the park is Mourinho's current preferred central midfield partnership of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (6.95) and Tanguy Ndombele (6.96). The latter was superb in midweek, despite being kicked to bits by Dinamo Zagreb, while the former has proven an exceptional signing from Southampton. The duo will have their work cut out on Sunday, however. 

Finally, the strikeforce is a record breaking one. Harry Kane (7.81) and Son Heung-Min (7.36) is the most prolific combination in Premier League history with the duo combining to score 14 goals in 2020/21. Kane has assisted nine of Son's 13 league goals, while the latter has provided five of the former's 16 league gooals this term and their superb form in the final third means there is no spot in the XI for Gunners captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (6.77).