Abou Diaby believes that he knows the key for overcoming Tottenham in the north London derby this weekend and it is by blunting the attacking threat of their midfield.

The Spurs midfielders have been in good goal scoring form of late with Gareth Bale and Gylfi Sigurdsson providing the three goals that overcame West Ham earlier this week.

Abou Diaby
Abou Diaby in action in the Champions League against Montpellier. [Reuters]

With Moussa Dembele scoring the vital goal against Lyon in the Europa League and Lewis Holtby earning rave reviews for his performances since moving to White Hart Lane, Tottenham have a genuine goal threat from midfield.

This is not forgetting the sheer pace of Aaron Lennon on the right who has also been in excellent form this season.

With so many options, Diaby is aware that Arsenal must compete in the middle of the field as this is where the game can be both won and lost.

"If you have a strong midfield, it is 90 per cent you will win the game because it is the heart of the team," Diaby told the official Arsenal website.

"Tottenham have a new manager, with a new type of play and new philosophy and that has helped them a lot. They also have some very good players. All those elements make them really good at the moment."

The French midfielder has missed much of the season through injury but is now back to full fitness and is looking forward to coming face-to-face with Dembele.

"He is very good," added Diaby. "I played against him when he was in Belgium and he was quite impressive, but since he joined Fulham and then Tottenham he has shown very, very good quality."

Arsenal can move within one point of their north London rivals with victory at the Lane and Diaby knows this game has extra meaning, with both sets of fans desperate to be able to gain bragging rights.

The French midfielder said: "It would be really important for us [to win] because we could get closer to them. It's vital for us."