Antonio Conte is set to take charge of his first north London derby on Sunday.

We say "is set to" rather than "will" because there does appear to be the possibility of the game being postponed due to Arsenal's growing list of absences, with the club reportedly requesting for it to be called off.

The Gunners were without as many as nine first-team players for Thursday's EFL Cup semi-final first-leg draw with Liverpool, and Mikel Arteta intimated they have further issues as a result of that match.

But, for the moment, the game is planned to go ahead as normal and Conte will surely be eager for it to do so, with Arsenal's predicament seemingly giving him the best possible chance to right some previous wrongs…

CONTE'S ARSENAL HOODOO

When you consider how good Conte's Chelsea were, it seems quite remarkable he could have such a poor record against any team.

But during his time at Stamford Bridge, Conte won just one of eight games against the Gunners, or 12.5 per cent.

Among the clubs he has faced at least five times across his managerial career, Conte does not have a worse win rate against anyone.

Spurs can perhaps take solace in the fact they have not lost yet under the Italian in the Premier League, though if they do lose on Sunday, Conte will be the first Tottenham manager to suffer his first top-flight defeat in a north London derby since Ossie Ardiles in August 1993.

KEY MEN RELISH A DERBY

In Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, Tottenham have two players with a track record of impacting north London derbies.

Son has had a hand in five goals across his previous four meetings with Arsenal (three goals, two assists), while Kane is, of course, this fixture's all-time leading scorer with 11 strikes in 16 games.

Nevertheless, Arsenal may have some confidence in keeping Kane at bay at least given he has not scored in his past two derbies – failure again will make it his worst drought in the fixture.

Further to that, Kane's record of 0.35 non-penalty expected goals (xG) per 90 minutes is bettered by as many as 15 players this season (minimum 500 minutes played) and he is under-performing that in terms of non-penalty goals (0.19 per 90 mins), suggesting he may not be the Mr. Reliable he once was.

YOUNG GUNS MADE OF THE WRIGHT STUFF?

While Arsenal's squad may have a little less derby pedigree, it would be fair to say they have a greater presence of youthful exuberance, with young players playing a prominent role for Arteta.

Arguably chief among them are Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka, who were both on the scoresheet when Arsenal beat Spurs 3-1 earlier this season.

No English player has scored in both north London derbies for Arsenal in the same year since, remarkably, Ian Wright in 1993-94.

Given the form of both players, there is a strong chance that run could end.

SAKA BACK ON TRACK

After dazzling at Euro 2020, some might have expected Saka to truly light up the Premier League this season. He perhaps has not quite reached that level, though his recent form has been excellent.

He has been involved in at least one goal in each of his previous five Premier League games, netting four and setting up a couple.

Should he continue that streak against Spurs – or whoever they play next if the game is postponed – he will be the youngest player in the competition's history to have a hand in a goal in six successive Premier League games.

Gabadinho Mhango scored twice as Malawi came from behind to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 on Friday, providing a real boost to the Flames' hopes of getting out of their group for the first time in Africa Cup of Nations history.

Ishmael Wadi had seemingly ensured Zimbabwe were going into the break ahead, with his towering header looping over Ernest Kakhobwe in the Malawi net with 38 minutes played.

But Meck Mwase's men levelled soon after, Mhango turning in Francisco Madinga's sumptuous left-wing cross.

Malawi then completed the turnaround just before the hour mark.

Mhango played the ball into Madinga from the flank and continued his run, which subsequently allowed him to capitalise on Teenage Hadebe's hesitant defending after a flick-on, and he guided a delicate finish over the onrushing Petros Mhari.

The result leaves Malawi with three points from two games, one behind top two Guinea and Senegal, and gives them a fine chance of at least securing one of the qualification spots awarded to the four best third-placed teams – Zimbabwe are pointless and staring at likely elimination.

Morocco are through to the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 after goals from Selim Amallah and Zakaria Aboukhlal secured a 2-0 win over Comoros on Friday.

Amallah opened the scoring in the first half at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium and Aboukhlal added a second late on as the Atlas Lions made it two Group C wins out of two following a 1-0 victory over Ghana in their opening game, sealing their spot in the knockout stage.

Standard Liege midfielder Amallah showed great composure in the penalty area as he latched onto a loose ball after Ayoub El Kaabi's shot was blocked, before finishing with his right foot after 16 minutes.

Nayef Aguerd almost doubled Morocco's lead before the break when he met Sofiane Boufal's corner with a towering header, but rattled the crossbar.

Amallah shot wastefully wide following a terrible pass from goalkeeper Salim Ben Boina, who was in the thick of the action as he bundled Zakaria Aboukhlal over in the box, but saved the resulting penalty from Youssef En-Nesyri with seven minutes to go.

Ben Boina continued to keep a dominant Morocco at bay until Aboukhlal sidefooted home in the 89th minute, the VAR awarding the goal after he was initially ruled to be offside, as Comoros suffered a second defeat that leaves the AFCON debutants bottom of the group.

Massimiliano Allegri says there is no questioning the "extraordinary" Paulo Dybala's value to Juventus and does not expect Arthur to leave this month.

Dybala's future is in doubt as the Argentina forward's contract expires at the end of the season and the 28-year-old has been linked with a move to Serie A rivals Inter.

Juve director Maurizio Arrivabene this week called for Dybala and his team-mates to show "character, grit and a desire to win" as the Turin giants battle for a Champions League spot.

Bianconeri head coach Allegri, who will take charge of the club for a 300th time when they face Udinese in Serie A on Saturday, says Dybala still has a big part to play.

He said: "The evaluations of the contracts are the job of the company, they are not things that concern me.

"I raised Dybala, he was a child when he arrived from Palermo, now he's grown up and he's an extraordinary player. I expect a lot [from Dybala] in this second part of the season. The value of the player is not discussed. He is a great player "

He added: "We are in a situation where we are temporarily out of the Champions League, so all the evaluations will be done in March/April. Juventus plans like this and we have to think about playing and working, we will see the rest later."

Midfielder Arthur has been strongly linked with a move to Premier League side Arsenal during the January transfer window.

Allegri is not planning for life without the Brazilian and also reiterated that Alvaro Morata will not be departing.

He said: "I don’t want to repeat myself. We have to get to the end of the season with these players in the best possible way.

"This means trying to reach the top four and go ahead in the Champions League and Coppa Italia."

Italy centre-back Leonardo Bonucci will miss Udinese's visit to Allianz Stadium due to a muscle injury.

Mikel Arteta suggested it is still too early to determine whether Sunday's north London derby with Tottenham will be able to go ahead as planned.

Arsenal were without nine first-team players for their goalless EFL Cup semi-final first-leg draw with Liverpool on Thursday.

They had four players away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, another four injured and Martin Odegaard tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the game.

But despite the club having only one known coronavirus case prior to Friday's testing, there appears to be a real danger of the clash being postponed.

Media reports claim the club have not yet submitted a request to the Premier League for the fixture to be called off, but it would seem they only need a few more players to become unavailable for a postponement to be likely.

In order for the encounter to not go ahead, Arsenal will need to prove they do not have 13 eligible outfield players and a goalkeeper among their first-team squad or "appropriately experienced Under-21 players", and Arteta suggested Thursday's game did bring further fitness problems.

Speaking on Friday, Arteta said: "We had concerns already before the match against Liverpool, and after the game we had some more issues.

"We haven't been able to assess the squad yet because we couldn't fly last night, so we just arrived to the training ground and all the boys are being looked after. So we don't know."

Centre-backs Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes were two of those able to play the full 90 minutes on Thursday, and both have been praised for their performances this season.

Since the former's pre-season arrival from Brighton and Hove Albion, the defenders have formed a good understanding at the heart of the Gunners' defence.

They have started 18 games together this season across all competitions, with Arsenal losing just four of those and winning 11 (61.1 per cent).

Arsenal have suffered as many defeats from matches in which one of them has not started, despite there being only eight games that qualify in that regard.

From those matches in question, Arsenal's win rate drops to 50 per cent, while their average goals conceded per 90 minutes increases to 1.4 from 0.9.

After a somewhat shaky start, White appears to have settled and Arteta can already see a strong partnership forming, with the Spaniard praising him for being one of those to stand up the challenge posed by facing Liverpool a man light for much of the match following Granit Xhaka's red card.

"He is one of them that I would certainly apply the words that I've just mentioned to his performance," Arteta continued.

"He's not Tony [Adams] and he cannot be Tony. He's just moved to our club and he's just been here just for a few months, but he has something and he wants to do it.

"He's very demanding with himself, he's really willing to learn and improve his game and he's in the right place.

"In terms of the qualities that I saw in [White] and what is required for us to try to recruit somebody like him with his qualities, it was clear [he could play with Gabriel].

"Then those personalities as well, that chemistry has to exist. We can see they really enjoy playing together, you can see that, that chemistry is there and that's a massive extra when you are looking to build something at the back."

Thomas Tuchel declared he would be "very angry" if any of Chelsea's rivals unjustly take advantage of the Premier League's COVID-19 emergency postponement rules.

The Chelsea head coach was left frustrated in December when an application to have the Blues' game against Wolves postponed after a rash of positive cases in Tuchel's squad was turned down.

On that occasion, a weakened Chelsea team battled to a 0-0 draw at Molineux, and Tuchel insists he has always made every effort to field a side during the pandemic.

At his news conference on Friday ahead of a trip to Manchester City, the German coach was asked whether he felt others team might be looking to bend the rules, taking into account players unavailable through injury or Africa Cup of Nations involvement when seeking postponements.

"I strongly, strongly hope that's not the case," Tuchel said, "because otherwise I would be very, very angry, because we are doing everything to make games happen.

"We were made to play when we thought we should maybe not, so I can only strongly hope that the rules are the same rules for everybody."

The Premier League has mapped out guidance for clubs to follow when it comes to requesting a postponement for COVID-19 factors.

It states that when a club cannot field 13 outfield players from its squad list – or by using "appropriately experienced" under-21 players – a match will be postponed.

Chelsea possess formidable resources, even with injuries, illnesses and AFCON absences.

They have also recalled Kenedy from a loan with Flamengo, offering the 25-year-old winger a chance to reignite his Stamford Bridge career. He last featured for the Blues in the 2017-18 season and has since had loan spells at Newcastle United, Getafe, Granada and Flamengo.

With Ben Chilwell injured and an absentee for the foreseeable future, Tuchel needed extra options on the left. He believes Kenedy, despite playing much of his career as an attacking player, can prove adept as a left wing-back.

"Kenedy is back and I'm very happy about it," Tuchel said. "it's a huge opportunity for him to make his mark at this club and in this team.

"We cannot say Kenedy is the solution. He can be the solution, but the situation has not changed, we have long-term injuries with the wing-backs."

Antonio Conte laughed off the suggestion he had been surprised by the scale of the challenge at Tottenham, ahead of his first north London derby as Spurs boss.

Tottenham host fierce rivals Arsenal on Sunday knowing a win would see them leapfrog the Gunners, who sit fifth in the Premier League.

Spurs are unbeaten in their last seven home league games against Arsenal (W5 D2), their longest such run against their north London rivals since a run of nine between 1960 and 1968, while a win would see them claim three successive home league victories over the Gunners for the first time since 1961.

However, after claiming a 3-1 win in the reverse fixture this season, Arsenal are looking to complete their first league double over Tottenham since the 2013-14 campaign.

While Spurs have hardly been spectacular under Conte, they are unbeaten in the eight league games he has taken charge of so far, though Arsenal have won their last two Premier League away games, netting as many goals in these two victories (nine) as they had in their previous nine league games on the road.

Though they undoubtedly have a world-class head coach in place, the gulf between Spurs and the Premier League's elite was on show as Chelsea eased to a 3-0 aggregate win in the recent EFL Cup semi-final.

Arsenal, with 10 men, held Liverpool to a goalless draw in the first leg of their semi-final tie on Thursday, and Conte believes Mikel Arteta's side are ahead of his team in regards to the progress of their "project".

Yet the former Inter boss dismissed the idea that he had been taken aback by the task at hand.

"I decided to accept this job because to work in this environment, to work in a modern club is good I think for every coach," Conte chuckled in response in Friday's news conference.

"Then, when you're outside you can imagine the situation no? Then, when you're inside the situation, you can understand every aspect very well.

"Now it's time to work. I made my evaluations about the situation, but now I think no words but facts. We have only to work to try to improve the situation that I have found here."

On Arsenal, Conte said: "I think that they're working, they've started to work and to build something important.

"They had more time than us and Arteta has the possibility to work with the players for a couple of years. Also to go in the transfer market.

"I think they're doing a good job in this moment but maybe, for this reason, they're ahead in the project than us because they have started before [us] with the same coach. Now they're having good results.

"Arsenal are a really good team, but we want to know how much we're improving from the last period."

Conte did, however, offer assurances that he is committed to the job at Spurs, having signed an 18-month contract upon his arrival.

"We agreed, Tottenham and I, the length of the contract. I think was good for me to see the situation and for the club to understand the coach they're going to work with. I'm enjoying my time in Tottenham," he added.

"I found a fantastic atmosphere, a great stadium, a great training ground. For sure, we want, and I want to improve the situation. I think all the people, we want and deserve much more than this."

Conte confirmed Spurs are assessing one new COVID-19 case within their squad, while Eric Dier will miss Sunday's match due to injury.

Andy Murray refused to add to Novak Djokovic's troubles after the Serbian star's visa saga reared up again, insisting he would not "start kicking Novak while he's down".

Some players have been critical of Djokovic, while world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas said the Serbian has been "playing by his own rules" after refusing to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

Djokovic faces a critical Federal Court hearing on Sunday that looks set to determine whether he can play at the Australian Open, which starts the following day.

Although the Serbian arrived in Australia with a medical exemption for the grand slam tournament, which he has won on a record nine occasions, that did not satisfy Border Force officers who last week decided Djokovic did not meet entry requirements.

After four days in detention, Djokovic won a first challenge against the visa decision on Monday and has been able to train at Melbourne Park in the days since; however, he will be returned to detention on Saturday morning in the Victoria state capital after immigration minister Alex Hawke cancelled the visa anew.

Murray said: "It's not a good situation. I'm not going to sit here and start kicking Novak while he's down. It's unfortunate it's ended up in this sort of situation.

"It's just one to get resolved. I think it would be good for everyone if that was the case. It seems like it's dragged on for quite a long time now.

"It's not great for tennis, not great for the Australian Open, not great for Novak, and a lot of people have criticised the government here as well, so it's not been good.

Murray banged his head against a microphone in exasperation as he faced another question on the matter, clearly by now sick of being asked about Djokovic.

The Scot, a former world number one and long-time friend and rival to Djokovic, was asked about the latest developments after coming off court, having just booked his place in the final of an ATP Tour event for the first time since 2019.

Speaking after his semi-final win at the Sydney Classic, Murray said: "I would encourage people to get vaccinated.

"But I do feel like people should be able to make their own decisions. Ultimately, people have to make their own choices, but there is also consequences sometimes for those decisions as well."

Former doubles world number one Rennae Stubbs told Australian broadcaster ABC she expected the story to keep rumbling on.

"It's not over, he's staying in the country, but for the ramifications for the Australian Open, it's huge," Stubbs said.

"It's hard to know, obviously I'm not in his mind, but I would say he's going to be extremely disappointed, very sad, angry. I think he's probably going through all the emotions you can imagine as a human being."

Before the hearing on Sunday was confirmed, Stubbs said: "Unfortunately for Novak, it's not looking good."

Djokovic has been drawn to face fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round in a match that would be expected to take place on Monday or Tuesday.

Although the case of Djokovic has drawn global attention, Australian Stubbs said the single-minded nature of tennis players meant most were "really not concerned about Novak and his dilemmas".

"I think they're ready to get on with this tournament," she said. "I frankly think that most of them are sick and tired of talking about Novak and dealing with this situation in general."

Paris Saint-Germain will continue to be without Lionel Messi for their Ligue 1 clash with Brest, with the Argentinian due to rejoin the squad next week, the club has confirmed. 

Messi was ruled out of PSG's 1-1 draw at Lyon after testing positive for COVID-19, and the Parisians managed just three shots on target in his absence, struggling to make their dominance of possession count.

"Having made good progress, Lionel Messi is continuing to work with the club's medical and performance staff, and will gradually rejoin the squad next week", read a fitness update issued by the club.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino also addressed Messi's fitness in his pre-match press conference, but refused to comment on whether Messi would leave Paris to represent Argentina in their World Cup Qualifiers at the end of January.

"No, Leo is not available for Saturday", the former Tottenham boss said. "Leo is better, but he is still under the supervision of the medical department.

"We hope he can be back in the squad as soon as possible."

When it was asked whether Messi had made a decision not to represent the national team in their forthcoming fixtures, Pochettino was non-plussed, responding: "I don't know what decision you are referring to.

"He is being assessed daily, and we can't get ahead of ourselves. We hope everyone is back as soon as possible, to be available for the team."

Messi has endured a frustrating season in Paris, and has produced the largest underperformance in Ligue 1 when looking at Expected Goals and Expected Assists figures. The Argentine has accumulated 4.93 Expected Goals and 4.4 Expected Assists in Ligue 1 this season, but registered just five goal involvements (1 goal, 4 assists). 

Meanwhile, Pochettino refused to be drawn on Neymar's recovery, but admitted that the Parisians have missed the Brazilian, with the league leaders winning just one of their five Ligue 1 matches since the winger suffered ankle ligament damage in November.

"Neymar is following his recovery plan.

"He is a very important player. He has tremendous quality, and I think that any team would miss a player like Neymar". 

Reports from RMC Sport suggest that Neymar could make his long-awaited return when PSG travel to French champions Lille on February 6, giving him time to get up to speed ahead of PSG's huge UEFA Champions League clash with Real Madrid on February 15.

Neymar has produced three goals and three assists in 10 Ligue 1 appearances this term, and will be crucial to Pochettino's hopes of bringing the Champions League trophy to Paris.

Andy Murray will face the surprise package of last year's Australian Open in Saturday's final of the Sydney Classic.

Blocking Murray's way to a first ATP Tour title since October 2019 will be Russian player Aslan Karatsev, whose gritty win over Dan Evans prevented an all-British final.

Evans won a marathon tie-break in the second set of that encounter but could not maintain the level as he lost out 6-3 6-7 (13-15) 6-3 to a player who caused a sensation by reaching the 2021 Australian Open semi-finals.

It was also a case of digging deep for Murray, who picked up a stellar win over American Reilly Opelka, triumphing 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4 against the fourth seed and world number 25. Murray is ranked down at number 135, but this strong week has provided evidence he still belongs at a much higher level.

Three years have passed since Murray came to Australia and indicated he was close to retirement due to hip trouble. He has battled back against the odds to stay active, but his lone ATP singles final appearance since that point came at the 2019 European Open in Antwerp, where he beat Stan Wawrinka to land a surprise title.

Now he is back in another title match, for what will be just his fourth singles final on the main tour since the end of the 2016 season, when he reached world number one status.

Murray rifled 16 aces and no double faults, winning an impressive 88 per cent of points when he landed his first ball in court, and his serve was not broken at any point by Opelka.

He has 46 singles titles and dearly wants to reach 50 before calling it a day, with a glorious chance to land a 47th coming up on Saturday.

Karatsev, the world number 20, is not a player that Murray would underestimate. He was ranked 114th and largely unknown before going on his run to the final four in Melbourne last February, but he has since pushed on and should provide a stiff test for three-time major winner Murray.

"It's already been a great week for me, big progress from anything I've done in the last year or so, to string four matches together like this and against top players in Basilashvili and Opelka," said Murray. "I'll go for 47 tomorrow. It's been a good week, I've played better with each match, so hopefully I'll step it up again."

At the Adelaide International 2 event, Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis produced a stunning semi-final win over fourth seed Marin Cilic, battling to a 6-2 3-6 7-6 (12-10) victory over the former US Open champion, teeing up a shot at Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the title match.

Senegal failed to take advantage of their apparent superiority against Guinea as they were held to a 0-0 draw at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Lions of Teranga reached the final of the 2019 tournament but are still awaiting their first AFCON title and better attacking play will be required for them to do so on the evidence of this Group B encounter.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was left to rue the absence of Senegal's Sadio Mane and Guinea's Naby Keita, as well as Mohamed Salah of Egypt, in their 0-0 EFL Cup draw with Arsenal on Thursday. But neither Mane nor Keita could provide the moment of magic to break the deadlock in Bafoussam, though it was not for lack of trying.

Guinea, for whom Keita played a game-high 18 passes in the opposition half, should have taken the lead in the 31st minute when Morgan Guilavogui shot straight at Seny Timothy Dieng after a counter-attack, while Mane created Senegal's best chance of the game in the 67th minute only for Bouna Sarr to skew hopelessly wide from close range.

Sarr's miss encapsulated a match in which the two teams combined for just three shots on target, though both should sail into the next round having each claimed four points from two games in a group with minnows Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Pep Guardiola's considers Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel as "one of the few" managers he still learns from.

Guardiola's Manchester City play host to Tuchel and the Blues on Saturday in the standout match of the weekend's Premier League schedule.

City head into the game with a 10-point lead over second-placed Chelsea – only four times before have the Premier League leaders had a bigger lead over their nearest challengers after 21 matches.

On each of those occasions, the team with the lead has gone on to win the title, and victory over Chelsea could see City end the weekend with a 13-point advantage as long as Liverpool do not beat Brentford.

City will certainly be considered favourites given the impressive job they did on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in September, only winning 1-0 but outplaying Tuchel's side practically throughout.

Despite that wobble from Chelsea and the fact City have a healthy lead at the summit, Guardiola still counts Tuchel among the few rivals he looks to for inspiration.

"He's so creative, one of the few managers I learn constantly from, to become a better manager myself," Guardiola told reporters.

"Excellent in all departments. I enjoy since he was in Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, always I enjoy watching his teams and the way he's playing, the approach.

"I think he's dignified and he makes world of football better. When you find a manager who always wants to be positive in the way they play, it's good."

Earlier in the day, Tuchel revealed his regret at Chelsea going too defensive in their clash with City at Stamford Bridge.

City were the far greater threat, attempting three times as many shots as Chelsea (15 to five), who did not test Ederson once.

Chelsea accumulated just 11 touches in the opposition's box compared to City's 34, while the visitors' 1.47 expected goals (xG) suggested Tuchel's side were somewhat fortunate to concede just once.

Tuchel's comments would hint at Chelsea turning up in Manchester with a more positive approach, and that appears to be what Guardiola is preparing for.

"I can't imagine what is going to happen. If he didn't like how they played at home, they play different away," he said.

"Seeing the Liverpool game and both Tottenham games, I saw Chelsea as completely different at Tottenham than they played at Stamford Bridge.

"I don't know if the plan was like this, or they couldn't do it. With this quote, I presume the approach that Chelsea will have tomorrow.

"Every game is completely different, [our] performance was really good, minimising the Champions of Europe when all players were fit and there.

"It was really exceptional. In that moment we were below them, knowing the difficulties if we didn't get the points. Our commitment with and without the ball was exceptional.

"We won unfortunately with a small margin, we couldn't score much more. We had three one-on-one situations, but the victory was nice.

"[Saturday] will be completely different. We learned from that, like how we can be better especially in attack, [so] they will change, like their manager said, their approach. They know they need points to be still there [in the title race]."

The debate around coronavirus-enforced postponements reared its head again after Burnley had their game with Leicester City called off, but Guardiola – who confirmed his side have had more positive COVID-19 cases – did not want to get into it.

"It's a Premier League decision," he said. "I don't get involved. COVID is all around the world. The situation is there, in the next two or three months it will still be there, hopefully it will decrease step by step."

On City's cases, he added: "Some people are coming, some are positive again. When you test once, twice negative, then you come back, otherwise you stay at home.

"It happened in the last two-three months affecting all the clubs. We have some new cases, they want privacy so I can't say who."