Keown believes there is “not too much between the two teams” and Arsenal will be without Declan Rice for the trip to Tottenham after he was sent off in their 1-1 draw against Brighton. Club captain Martin Odegaard is a doubt after he picked up an injury while playing for Norway.
New signing Riccardo Calafiori also suffered an injury scare while on international duty with Italy, while Mikel Merino is also likely to miss the game.
“I like what Spurs are doing, I like the way they play, the unity in the stadium, the togetherness,” former Arsenal captain Keown told talkSPORT.
“It’s a difficult situation. I think maybe now they will be concentrating more on themselves. The last time Arsenal went there it was more about stopping Arsenal from becoming champions. Now maybe the new manager is setting a new culture and they have got their own trophies they want to win.
“It’s been a long time. We have to respect Spurs. It’s difficult. You want to go there with your best players but they’re not there. Calafiori is another one who has picked up an injury, [Mikel] Merino, the new signing, the one who would have come in for Rice, it’s not been a lucky start for Arsenal.
“What they have to do now is make their own luck and go into that cauldron and come out with some points. There’s not too much between the two teams while there has been this period without a trophy.”
However, Keown is still backing the Gunners to win the derby, adding: “I’m always going to go with Arsenal. But if you earn anything at Spurs now, when you go away from home, they won’t lose too many games and you earn everything you get now to play at Spurs.
“I think it probably would [be a shock if Tottenham won]. I think it would be a huge blow, that’s for certain but I don’t see that happening. I think Arsenal are still good enough, when you look at how many goals they’ve conceded in recent times, the number of clean sheets away from home.
“Their away record: that’s when you start to look at Arsenal and think they’ve got that pedigree of champions because their away record is quite phenomenal.”
