Arsene Wenger's side conceded late goals against AZ Alkmaar and West Ham before defeating Liverpool in the Carling Cup this week, with the Premier League clash against Spurs next up.

"You saw at the start of the (West Ham) game when they went 2-0 up that they play great football, as they always do," Crouch said.

"Hopefully we can keep that to a minimum and, as West Ham proved, you can come back and you can score goals against them. Hopefully we'll be tight at the back and get a good result."

Crouch is relishing Spurs' role as potential top-four gatecrashers, although he feels Arsenal are showing resilience to stay in the hunt after being written off by critics following the departures of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to Manchester City in the summer.

"I think at the start of the season a lot of people wrote off Arsenal," Crouch told the Tottenham Journal. "They've got a young squad but they seem to have shown everyone that they can still play.

"But I think we've also surprised a few people by the way we've started. We're in the top four at the minute and we want to stay there as long as we possibly can."

The fact that Arsenal are third and Spurs are fourth in the table has added spice to the occasion, with Crouch adding: "I am really excited, I've been fortunate to play in some big derbies, some big games.

"Obviously the Liverpool-Man United game that I saw the other day, I played in that and that was fantastic. I played in the Birmingham derby, I played in the south-coast derby. I've played in a few, but this is certainly one that you look for when you're somebody who watches football.

"I always look at the north London derby and see how passionate it is and see the quality of the game, so I'm really looking forward to it.

"I watched the game at the Emirates last season, it was an unbelievable game to be honest. I'm not sure it's good for the managers or anyone else concerned when you see a 4-4 game, but we'll take any sort of a win over our local rivals."

Spurs have not won on Arsenal's turf since 1993, when Darren Anderton was in the team. Anderton insists his former club can finally challenge for a Champions League place.

"I definitely think they'll be challenging," he told Sky Sports News. "They've got everything that they need to do that. Fingers crossed they're able to continue playing as they are, they don't pick up too many injuries along the way and they keep Ledley King fit for as long as they can.

"I think they'll most definitely be aiming to get into the top four - and I think they can do it."