No North London power shift to Spurs – Arsenal’s Wenger

Arsene Wenger has denied that there is a power shift in North London, despite Tottenham being set to finish above Arsenal for the first time in his 21-year reign as manager.

Arsenal take on Spurs in what could be the last North London derby at White Hart Lane on Sunday, with Tottenham 14 points ahead of their rivals.

A win for Spurs would guarantee an end to Arsenal’s long domination over their rivals, but Wenger told a news conference: “Let’s be honest, I’ve answered that question about a shift for 18 consecutive years.

“You cannot say that the weight of one year has the weight of 20.

“If the worst happens, what do you do? But let’s make sure that the best happens and give absolutely everything to make sure that we finish our season in a very strong way.

“The priority for us is to finish in the top four. After that, for the pride and the continuity or our achievements, yes we want to fight to be in front of Spurs.”

Tottenham are four points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea in the title race, with midfielder Dele Alli having been one of their star players this season.

Wenger said he had “looked at” Alli before he joined Spurs, but indicated that Arsenal were never close to signing the England international.

He added: “He played at Milton Keynes. It’s down the road from here. You have to say that he has done extremely well, and he has developed very well into a very complete player.

“They’ve done well to buy him and give him a chance. They deserve credit for that.”

Arsenal hope centre-back Laurent Koscielny will be fit despite hurting his knee in Wednesday’s win over Leicester, and Wenger said his chances were “60-40.”

If he misses out, it could force Wenger to ditch his new back-three formation, with Shkodran Mustafi still two weeks away from full fitness and Per Mertesacker yet to play a minute this season.

However, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is fit to start after being rested against Leicester.

Meanwhile, Wenger addressed Joey Barton’s 18-month ban for breaching the FA’s rules on betting on football.

“You have everywhere, on every advert, ‘bet.’ You cannot be surprised that some people get addicted to betting,” he said.

“It’s like smoking or with alcohol — if you don’t want people to drink, you don’t sell alcohol. It’s the same if you don’t want people to bet.

“But everywhere you incite people to bet. So some of them get addicted. If you don’t want to have that problem, you forbid betting. That I would support personally, completely.”