Van der Vaart: Spurs can surpass Arsenal

The midfielder, who recently arrived at White Hart Lane following an £8 million move from Spanish giants Real Madrid, revealed that fellow countryman and Gunners striker Robin van Persie filled him in on the rivalry between the two North London clubs, but insists that Spurs' squad is just as good as Arsenal's.

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"Arsenal have a great team, a lot of great young players," Van der Vaart said in The Mirror.

"But I think our squad is not worse than Arsenal's so I think we have a good chance to win against them.

"And not only win the game against them but also, over the whole season, we can aspire to beat them."

The two teams will meet at White Hart Lane in the Carling Cup on September 21, with their first league meeting set to take place on November 20 at Emirates Stadium.

"I already spoke with Robin and he said it is the greatest derby in the world," said the former Ajax midfielder. "We will see, I'm looking forward to playing in the derby."

The 27-year-old made his Premier League debut in Saturday's 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion, playing a substantial role as Spurs opening the scoring through Luka Modric.

By Vaishali Bhardwaj

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