manager Andre Villas-Boas admits he knows all about the importance of the north London derby.

Spurs visit Arsenal this weekend in Villas-Boas' first derby game since his arrival at White Hart Lane in the summer.

And with just a single point separating the London rivals in the Premier League table, the Portuguese boss knows how important the game is, not only for the teams involved, but for the fans as well.

He told Sky Sports: "People have been speaking about it quite often, between the staff and the chairman.

"You understand the importance of it. This is a game where passion is extremely high. It is a game which represents three points.

"But in the league it represents more than that in the history of north London derbies."

Villas-Boas also believes Tottenham are slowly closing in on Arsene Wenger's Arsenal and hopes they can achieve the same kind of success as their rivals in the future.

"Arsenal have accumulated recently an amount of trophies, which is important, including being Premiership champions," he added.

"I think recently they have also obtained more Champions League qualifications. This is a step up to where we want to be in the future.

"We have been within their reach for the last couple of years, so we are certainly getting nearer in terms of what we are doing as a club."

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