ALL eyes will be on Arsenal’s mouthwatering north London derby against Tottenham this Sunday – and Mikel Arteta couldn’t have asked for much more when it comes to juggling a midweek Champions League fixture as part of his preparations.

The Gunners exploited naive and gung-ho tactics from PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night as they celebrated their return to the big time after a six-year absence by strolling to a convincing 4-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium.

The routine win meant the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all given an early night to conserve their energies for this weekend’s pulsating Premier League showdown.

It also allowed some forgotten faces to get much-needed minutes, and Arteta admitted that he got “really emotional” after hearing the reception the Arsenal fans gave Emile Smith Rowe before his brief cameo appearance. The Hale End graduate has not had a single minute of action this season, and the supporters got so excited by Smith Rowe’s introduction in the 69th minute that they rose to their feet in unison to applaud the midfielder onto the pitch.

The moment wasn’t missed by Arteta, who pulled plenty of positives from what was a relatively easy night of European football.

He said: “We could manage the minutes of some of the players, especially because of where they were coming from and with the national teams where they played a lot of minutes.

“As well, [it allowed us] to give players minutes that were fully deserved. I was really emotional when I saw the reception for Emile as well. He’s a player that hasn’t played much yet, and to get the reception that he got was well deserved and I’m so happy for him.”

Arteta praised his players as a “joy to watch” after a ruthless return to the Champions League put confidence sky-high ahead of the clash with Spurs.

Saka opened the scoring after just eight minutes against PSV, pouncing on a rebound after keeper Walter Benitez could only push Martin Odegaard’s shot into the England winger’s path.

Arteta was quick to acknowledge that the benefits of bagging an early goal could well be felt on Sunday. The Gunners boss said: “Every opponent brings different challenges and when you score early in a game, probably that helps. That hasn’t been the case too much this season. Certainly, when you see this team running, full of pace, it’s a joy to watch.

“Winning always helps, and when you see that dressing room and how happy they were at the end, if tomorrow I tell them to train they will train, for sure.

“Now we have to prepare for a big game again, a really special game for us, and we’ll try to do it in the best way.”