EPL: Spurs ready for Arsenal’s test – Postecoglou

• Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou views the north London derby against Arsenal as a significant test for his team’s strong start to the season
• Postecoglou is more concerned with the quality of his team’s performance than the outcome and sees it as an opportunity to gauge their progress

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says the north London derby against Arsenal on Sunday will be a “great test” of his team’s blistering start to the season.

After winning four of their first five games, Postecoglou’s unbeaten team is second in the Premier League, two places above Arsenal.

Tottenham’s season began with low expectations, owing to Harry Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich and concerns that former Celtic manager Postecoglou would struggle to adjust to the Premier League.

But, so far, the Australian has defied those predictions, leading a high-scoring team with 13 goals in five league games, providing a welcome diversion from predecessor Antonio Conte’s gloomy reign.

A first league win at Arsenal since 2010 would be a significant step forward in Tottenham’s development under Postecoglou.

From our perspective, it’s a great challenge for us as a football team that’s beginning on a journey and trying to have an identity on the way we play,” he said on Friday.

There’s no greater test than playing one of the top teams in the country away from home, who also happens to be your biggest rival.

Arsenal are among the leading title contenders after coming close to dethroning Manchester City last season and starting the season unbeaten.

While Postecoglou is well aware of the message a win against Arsenal would send to the rest of the league, he is more concerned with the quality of the performance than with the outcome.

We’re five games in. I understand that for many people, they will see this as our first real test and I get that,” he said.

For me, what is going to be more important is how much of our football I see in a big game like this. How much of us can I see against a top opponent?

That will give me the biggest indicator of where we’re at, but ultimately we’ll still be six games into a new cycle, a new group of players, a very young group of players.

Similarities can be drawn between the rebuilding job Postecoglou has been tasked with at Tottenham and the work achieved by Mikel Arteta during the past four years at Arsenal.

They have a new challenge, a new opportunity. They have a new manager who is doing really well and he’s managed to change the vibe around the club, with a different style too,” Arteta said.

I really like him. I have players who had him before and they always speak really highly of him, which is not a coincidence because straight away he’s fitting in the right way.

We need to be ourselves and produce the performance to beat them. That’s the beauty of the league where there are top managers, competition and every game is very difficult.