Arsenal were unbeaten in six against their fiercest rivals, with a goal difference of 13 goals scored and six conceded, and in home matches during 2025/26, the Gunners had won four and drawn one of their five games.
Five changes from Tottenham
Spurs had made five changes to the side which faced Manchester United, their most before a North London derby since 2017, with Destiny Udogie, Kevin Danso, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, and Wilson Odobert all starting.
Piero Hincapie was the only change Mikel Arteta made to his starting XI, becoming the first Arsenal player to make their first English top-flight start in a match against Tottenham since Mohamed Elneny in March 2016.
The pattern of the match was set as early as the opening 10 minutes, by which time the hosts had already had three attempts at goal, whilst Odobert and Richarlison hadn't even touched the ball for the visitors.
William Saliba had completed 34 of his 36 attempted passes in the early stages of the match, whilst Udogie at the opposite end of the pitch had already needed to make four tackles - the most of any player on the pitch - in the opening half hour.
Weaknesses exposed
Two more shots on goal from Arsenal evidenced their total dominance of proceedings, and it was therefore no surprise at all when Leandro Trossard opened the scoring for them after a magnificent pass from Mikel Merino - one of 26 the Spaniard attempted during the game.
The timing of Trossard's strike again exposed Spurs' weakness of conceding in the 15 minutes before half-time. No other Premier League club have conceded more than the Lilywhites' six during that period in a game in 25/26.
Away fans would've been forgiven for thinking the game was up at that point, given that Tottenham had failed to win their previous 19 matches when conceding first.
Not to mention that the visitors were offering nothing in an attacking sense themselves. With five minutes left before half-time, they'd still not managed a single shot on or off target, and even the normally effervescent and creative Kudus was quiet by his standards.
Woeful effort from Spurs
It had been a woeful effort in truth, leaving Spurs as the only side in the Premier League this season that had failed to attempt a shot in two separate first halves (also vs Bournemouth in August); the same amount as across their previous 205 matches in the competition combined.
One of the most damning statistics for them, and which should alarm Thomas Frank, is that by the end of proceedings, they'd only managed four touches in the Arsenal box; two from Kevin Danso and two from Xavi Simons.
They were no match for the rip-roaring Gunners, who extended their lead before the break thanks to Eberechi Eze.
The ex-Crystal Palace man's strike was his fourth in eight appearances against Spurs, and in so doing, it meant he'd become the first Englishman to score in his first North London derby in the league for Arsenal since Ian Wright & Kevin Campbell in December 1991.
Hope after Richarlison stunner
Any thoughts that Frank might've had of his side staging a comeback were put to bed within a minute of the start of the second half, as Eze grabbed his second and Arsenal's third goal. His last brace came back in May when he was still at Palace... and it was against Tottenham.
The hosts continued to pile the pressure on Spurs, with Declan Rice in particular ensuring that the visitors had no attacking outlet.
Out of nothing, Richarlison's speculative long-range effort - Tottenham's first shot of the match - found the net on 54 minutes and gave his side some hope.
At 35.3 yards out, the goal was the furthest scored in the Premier League this season, and also the second furthest goal since 2006/07 scored in a North London derby after David Bentley's strike in October 2008 (35.7 yards).
Eze makes North London derby history
The Brazilian was at least involved in keeping Arsenal's back four on its toes by contesting 12 one-on-one duels; however, winning just three of them summed up his and his team's afternoon.
Arsenal were again in the ascendancy and had taken 15 shots at goal before Eze ended the game as a contest with his hat-trick goal; the first time since Alan Sunderland in December 1978 that anyone had bagged a treble in this fixture, and only the fourth time in history after Ted Drake (October 1934) and Terry Dyson (August 1961).
A 400th hat-trick in Premier League history, Eze is the 23rd player to score one for Arsenal, with no side having more different hat-trick scorers in the competition.
The win gives Arsenal a six-point cushion at the top of the table and ensures that Liverpool are still the only team to shut them out this season.
Check out the full match summary from the North London derby.
