James Maddison is poised to play a significant role for Tottenham on Sunday when they travel a short distance to take on rivals Arsenal in the first North London Derby of the season.

Since moving to Tottenham in a £40 million transfer from Leicester City this summer, James Maddison has been a revelation for the club. With two goals and two assists already to his record in five games, the midfielder is quickly establishing himself as one of the summer’s top additions.

He quickly established himself as a fan favourite at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and was given the vice-captaincy by Ange Postecoglou shortly after joining the team. Maddison quickly assumed the number ten jersey as Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich in a £100 million transfer. He has also taken the mantle of Tottenham’s creator-in-chief very seriously.

Spurs have not lost in their first five Premier League games and are currently second in the standings, two points behind Manchester City, the only team in the league with a perfect record.Maddison has been essential to Spurs’ strong start, but the going will get tougher for them over the next several weeks.

On Sunday, the 26-year-old will play in his first-ever North London Derby as unbeaten Spurs travel a short distance to face their equally unbeaten fierce rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Liverpool will play the following weekend. Additionally, Madison has already learned one crucial lesson about the derby from chairman Daniel Levy.

Along with Postecoglou and the new captain Son Heung-min, Levy participated in a fans’ forum where he fielded tough questions about topics like ticket costs, the idea of a European Super League, and Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho’s potential hirings. A question regarding signing Madison was also posed to him.

James needs to understand that he cannot arrive at the training facility in a red car, Levy added, with the North London Derby just around the corner. I have told him. He’ll pick it up eventually.