Arsenal ace Andrey Arshavin is relishing the prospect of playing against Tottenham Hotspur.
The North London giants face off at the Emirates Stadium in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off in what promises to be a mouth-watering match.
Both teams are level on 19 points in the table with Arsenal sitting in third place - just ahead of Spurs on goal difference.
Tottenham will overtake their rivals with a victory as the two sides aim to close in on league leaders Chelsea and Arshavin is up the big encounter.
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"For us this is the most important derby and we know it," he said. "I found out about the importance of these matches almost immediately after I signed for Arsenal.
"People who work for the club told me about it and about the most memorable clashes with Spurs.
"They told me that after some defeats they couldn't even speak to each other for a long time."
Russia's captain, who joined the Gunners from Zenit Saint Petersburg in February, is hoping for a good response after Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead against West Ham United to draw 2-2 at the weekend.
He added: "Initially we easily got an advantage - we were 2-0 up and then we allowed West Ham to equalise from set-pieces. If we had won on Sunday, we would now be very close to Chelsea in the table."
