LONDON - Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal must contain Dimitar Berbatov if they are to continue their mastery of north London rivals Tottenham.
Spurs have won their last three matches and Wenger believes the improving form of Berbatov has underpinned the club's resurgence.
The Bulgaria striker was on Friday the subject of a hands-off warning from Tottenham, who are anxious to block interest in their prized asset from Manchester United.
Wenger holds Berbatov in high regard and believes shackling him at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday will ensure Juande Ramos' first north London derby ends in defeat.
"It seems, especially in the last two or three games, that when Berbatov plays well, so do Tottenham," said the Gunners boss.
"The quality of Tottenham's performances recently can be linked with the gain in form of Berbatov.
"His intelligence, his technique and the quality of his movement have impressed me. He is one of the Premier League's better strikers.
"I've known him from a long time, from his time at Bayer Leverkusen.
"But I did not try to sign him because we had Thierry Henry, (Emmanuel) Adebayor and young strikers who are coming in now.
Arsenal have endured just one defeat to Spurs since Wenger's reign began in 1996 and are heavy favourites to continue their dominance of the fixture on Saturday.
But Wenger has a healthy respect for Ramos, who has endured a solitary defeat since replacing Martin Jol 11 matches ago, and claims the Spaniard's influence is already apparent at White Hart Lane.
"We like to play football and Tottenham are a team that want to play as well," Wenger said.
"I have no suspicion that it will be a bad-tempered match.
"Tottenham are a side who are at their best when they play football. They're not at their best when they're being aggressive.
"They're playing with confidence - playing good football is linked with confidence.
"The new manager coming in has released the pressure on the players. They've had a few good results and that helps.
"I think Ramos can achieve something at Tottenham. He has the experience and plenty of resources.
"He has the chance to do it because Tottenham already had a good team before he came - they have finished fifth for the last two seasons.
"Martin Jol paid the price for a bad start to the season, but if you finish fifth in the Premier League for two years then you have a good team."
Arsenal were paired with holders AC Milan in Friday's draw for the last 16 of the Champions League and Wenger accepts the Italian giants are a formidable challenge.
But they are struggling in mid-table of Serie A and Wenger believes discovering the secret of their transformation when they play in Europe will enable him to plot their downfall.
"What is interesting about AC Milan is the way they can be average in the domestic championship yet raise their game for occasions," Wenger said.
"That's something that is really surprising. They look invincible in Europe but beatable in Italy.
"We must analyse what gets them there for the special occasion.
"On paper, it's the hardest draw we could have had, but I don't think there's a lot of difference between Inter and AC Milan because Inter are dominant in the championship.
"They play each other on Sunday and that will be a good opportunity to look at them."
