Good afternoon, and welcome to our liveblog. Here are the teams:

Arsenal: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Arteta, Wilshere; Walcott, Cazorla, Podolski; Giroud.

Substitutes: Mannone, Jenkinson, Santos, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Walker, Vertonghen, Gallas, Naughton; Lennon, Sandro, Huddlestone, Bale; Adebayor, Defoe.

Substitutes: Friedel, Dawson, Livermore, Townsend, Carroll, Dempsey, Sigurdsson.

Andre Villas Boas explains that Spurs “played well against Maribor with two strikers”. Hence, they’ve gone with a similar formation today.

Interestingly also, Naughton is preferred to Dawson, with Vertonghen moving to centre-back.

One of the key areas will be midfield, where Cazorla, Wilshere and Arteta will look to dominate Sandro and Huddlestone.

The omens aren’t particularly good for Tottenham today. They have only ever beaten Arsenal once at the Emirates (see below).

YouTube credit: LiamStarSpider

This game has invariably provided an abundance of goals and entertainment over the years… So expect a 0-0 draw now that I’ve cursed it.

YouTube credit: SwaggedHighlights

We’re underway…

It’s been a fast-paced opening, with more than a few strong challenges being made, unsurprisingly.

No goal attempts to report on yet though – there’s been no real pattern to the game amid this scrappy start.

GOAL FOR TOTTENHAM!

Defoe exposes Mertesacker’s lack of pace, sprinting past him following a through ball.

His shot is well-saved, but Adebayor is on hand to tap in the rebound (9 mins).

Bale makes a good run, before laying it off to Lennon, who drags his shot narrowly wide.

The Arsenal defence are struggling to cope with the pace of the Tottenham attack at the moment.

RED CARD FOR ADEBAYOR!

Looks a little harsh, judging by the replay. There didn’t appear to be any malice – Adebayor was just overly enthusiastic in going in for the challenge.

He seemingly went for the ball, but caught Cazorla’s ankle instead. The referee was perhaps a little too influenced by the crowd reaction there, but they do say you can’t make those sort of challenges in the modern game.

GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

Walcott beats Naughton down the right, and his cross finds an unmarked Mertesacker, who heads beautifully into the top corner (23 mins).

The German was exposed for the Tottenham goal, but he’s redeemed himself in an instant.

That sending-off appears to have sapped the confidence out of Tottenham’s play.

They don’t look the same side since going down to 10, and Arsenal are doing a good job of taking advantage of their current inadequacies.

As expected, it’s an enthralling encounter.

Cazorla has shot narrowly over bar. While a rare Bale-inspired Spurs counter-attack has resulted in Spurs earning a corner.

Arsenal look the far more likely side to score at the moment. They are causing Huddlestone and Sandro to seriously exert themselves in midfield at a level of intensity that they inevitably won’t be able to maintain for the full 90 minutes.

Walcott is also giving Naughton serious problems down the right.

GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

Arsenal have been playing some beautiful football, but it’s an ugly goal that’s put them in the lead.

An intricate passing move on the edge of the box ends with Podolski’s shot deflecting off Gallas and creeping into the corner of the net (41 mins).

GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

Great play from Cazorla, who keeps going despite a strong challenge from Lennon, and his cross finds Giroud, who slots it past the keeper with an uncharacteristic level of confidence (45 mins).

Surely that’s game over.

HALF-TIME: ARSENAL 3-1 TOTTENHAM

Half-time, and the scoreline is a clear reflection of Arsenal’s utter dominance since the sending-off.

Spurs will no doubt claim that the sending-off was harsh, but they’ll have no real excuse for the conspicuous lack of spirit they’ve shown ever since that incident, effectively throwing in the towel for the last few minutes of the half.

Arsenal, in contrast, have been increasingly impressive as the half progressed, passing the ball exquisitely at times.

It has been made easy for them however, as Tottenham have wilted all too easily.

Dempsey and Dawson have replaced Naughton and Walker for Spurs, as the second half gets underway.

Tottenham are playing with three at the back and two up front now, so they clearly think they can still get something from this game.

Tottenham have adopted a more positive approach in the second half, enjoying the majority of possession so far.

They won’t get anywhere though, with corners such as the two woeful attempts that Huddlestone has just delivered in.

Walcott has landed awkwardly on his shoulder, following a well-timed tackle from Dawson.

He appears to be okay, though.

Here are Arsenal’s second and third goals, along with the sending off:

YouTube credit: techhigh77

YouTube credit: LeagueCupHD

YouTube credit: LeagueCupHD

GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

Walcott plays it to Giroud, whose subsequent cross finds Cazorla, and the Spaniard makes no mistake with his finish (61 mins).

This could get embarrassing for Spurs.

Bale breaks down the right, but Podolski makes an excellent tackle to curb the Spurs attack.

Down the other end, Walcott goes through on goal, but his shot from a difficult angle is comfortably saved by Lloris.

Cazorla really looks like he’s enjoying himself now, and he’s just played a sublime cross-field pass to set up another Arsenal attack.

GOAL FOR TOTTENHAM!

Out of nothing, Gareth Bale is given space by the Arsenal defenders, and he hits a right-footed strike into the corner from about 25 yards out (70 mins).

Seconds later, Bale bursts through again, but he shoots when he should have crossed it to Defoe, blasting it wide instead.

Ramsey replaces Wilshere, while oddly for Spurs, their most creative central midfielder Huddlestone is replaced by the youngster, Carroll.

A virtual concession of defeat perhaps?

Podolski has been replaced by Santos, going off to warm applause.

I would say, given the lack of recent activity, that the game looks all but over, but you never know – stranger things have happened in the Premier League, particularly in this fixture.

Vermaelen hits it wide after being played through, following a series of slick Arsenal passes.

Tottenham have at least kept the scoreline somewhat respectable in the second half, though that’s also a reflection of the casual manner in which the Gunners have approached the second 45.

Here’s a look at Gareth Bale’s well-taken strike:

YouTube credit: Mark Lee

Oddly, Gary Neville claims the Spurs team have “done their fans proud”.

GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

Arsenal break and Oxlade-Chamberlain finds Walcott, who hammers it home from the edge of the box – it’s a much-deserved goal for the England winger, who has been superb (90 mins).

FULL-TIME: ARSENAL 5-2 TOTTENHAM

So that result takes Arsenal up to sixth, above Tottenham and one point behind West Brom and Everton.

They thoroughly deserved the win, dominating after Adebayor’s sending off, with Man of the Match Santi Cazorla pulling the strings in midfield.

They will be buoyed by that result, following their disappointing form of late.

Tottenham, by contrast, were really poor. Andre Villas Boas will be disappointed by the way they collapsed following Adebayor’s sending off.

They’ve now lost 4 of their past 5 Premier League games, and that win away to United earlier in the season looks to have been a false dawn.

Theo Walcott has urged fans to be patient with Olivier Giroud, but says the striker “showed what he can do today”.

(Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker scores the equalising goal – Adam Davy/EMPICS Sport)

Right, that’s it from me for now, but you can follow the 3pm kick-offs here.

Thanks for reading and commenting!