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Wenger reminds Spurs of Arsenal's superiority

Arsene Wenger says the history of Arsenal's success against Spurs breeds confidence © Getty Images

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has underlined the fact that his club have consistently outperformed Tottenham in the Premier League and suggested victory in Saturday's north London derby could lift his side's confidence for the title race.

Wenger's team have finished ahead of Tottenham in every campaign since he arrived at the club back in 1996, with a handful of those successes ensuring Arsenal and not Spurs secured Champions League football.

The latest derby comes a little too early in the season for it to be the defining fixture for either side, but Wenger claimed it was a key encounter nonetheless.

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"Tottenham have always had good teams so to be on top of them means you can fight for the Premier League," said Wenger.

"It can have a psychological impact on the confidence of the team [to win the derby]. I just hope we can get on top of Tottenham. It's always a very heated atmosphere and I believe it will be a very competitive game as well.

"The history [of success against Tottenham] can make you feel a bit stronger, yes, but let's not be fooled. What's important is how well we turn up with our performance tomorrow.

"It's an important moment of the season and it has a meaning for everybody. Above all it's an opportunity for us to take points in the Premier League where every point counts. It looks again this season that every point is difficult to make. Of course we play a home game and we want to win our home games

"I am more proud to achieve our targets every year. That was to be in the Champions League, apart from that most of the time to be in the Champions League, one of our rivals was Tottenham. For many years it was them or us and we always managed to get above them. I'm just proud to be consistent because that's the most difficult thing in our job."

Tottenham are in the process of preparing to build a new stadium on the land where their White Hart Lane home currently sits, but he suggests they are a long way behind their north London rivals after their move to Emirates Stadium in 2006.

"You cannot be in a business where you turn down 15,000 or 20,000 people every week," stressed Wenger. "If your competitors have more financial power than you, at some stage you have to make a decision.

"It looks like everybody makes this decision now, because when you look at Liverpool, Everton, [they] want to increase their capacity. West Ham go to a bigger stadium next season so if you stay in a smaller capacity, it's even more difficult.

"I just think it's much more difficult today, because we built our stadium at a price that you couldn't afford it anymore. We managed to build our stadium by subsidising it with our own resources. That is much more difficult today."

Wenger was then asked about the comments from Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino suggesting he has ambitions to have an during career at his new club to compare to that of his opposite number at Tottenham.

"I wish him well with that," said Wenger, as he prepares to face his eleventh different permanent Tottenham manager this weekend.

"I have always been a fan of technical stability for two reasons. There's a line of conduct inside the club and it's better that the manager knows the history and carries the values of the club better than anyone else. If you change a manager every year of two of course that's not easy."

Wenger confirmed he is 'tempted' to persist with Mesut Ozil in a central midfield role against Tottenham after his sparkling performance in the 3-0 win against Aston Villa last weekend, but he hinted the German may be moved out of his favoured position again.

"He played very well and he had a good understanding with Danny Welbeck," added Wenger. "It was a good partnership because they gave each other balls to score. It was an interesting experience.

"It is tempting to keep Ozil in that central role but I maintain again that he will play where he is needed for the balance of the team and that can change game by game."

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