Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber sends six-word message ahead of north London derby, and Virgil van Dijk responds

Although the Dutchman joined the Gunners last summer, an ACL injury decimated his first season at Arsenal, meaning he is still waiting for his first game against Tottenham Hotspur.

With Riccardo Calafiori injured during his international game, Timber is the right choice to start against Spurs, and Mikel Arteta will be counting on him to slot into midfield and support the midfield contingent.

The 23-year-old is clearly looking forward to the rematch.

Jurrien Timber’s message for the North London Derby

Timber recently played for the Netherlands on international duty. The Dutch team faced Kai Havertz’s Germany in their last game, and there is certainly a football rivalry between the two nations.

After that game, Timber took to Instagram to say six words: “Country rivals! Now on to city rivals.”

Fellow Dutch international Virgil van Dijk responded to the message with a cheering hands emoji.

Timber to play key role against Tottenham Hotspur at Arsenal

As previously reported, Timber will need to move inside from his left-back position and bolster Arsenal’s midfield against Spurs.

While Arteta often assigns this task to his left-backs, it will be more important than ever that the Gunners concentrate as much of their strength as possible in the midfield on Sunday, as Arteta will be without many key players in that area for the clash against Tottenham.

Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice will not be available for this game. Otherwise, that trio would probably have been the manager’s first choice. Their replacements in that part of the pitch will need all the help they can get, and Timber can be part of that support network.

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