Tottenham Hotspur head coach Nuno Espirito Santo believes that his side will be in for a "tough game" when they lock horns with rivals Arsenal for the North London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Spurs, who lost 2-1 to the Gunners away from home last season, have claimed just one victory in their last 12 visits to the red side of North London.

Nuno's men also head into this encounter having won just one of their last four games across all competitions, beating his former side Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on penalties in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

Speaking to the press ahead of this weekend's Premier League clash, Nuno feels that there have been many positives to take from their recent matches, though he has addressed to his players that improvements can be made.

"We expect a tough match and for us, we have to compete, we have to play and compete well. Give everything that we can and play good. Playing good is finding the right balance in our game. [There are] improvements to be made but a lot of positives that we [can] take from the previous games, so let's keep on going," the Portuguese boss said on Friday.

"[Arsenal] are a good team. [They have] good and talented, quality players in the squad. We expect a tough match. Recent weeks better results, this is the assessment we make. We have to try and get the right info to the players to deliver. It's not another game. It's a special game. A special game for us and for our fans."

A victory for Spurs on Sunday would see them move six points clear of Arsenal and could also see them edge closer to the top four if other results were to go their way. body check tags ::