Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is aware of the quality of Tottenham winger Gareth Bale ahead of today's derby.
Wenger yesterday admitted he looked at Bale when the Welshman was with Southampton.
Wenger said: "It will certainly be important to keep Bale quiet.
"Many people in Europe discovered Bale because of his hat-trick in Milan but the English all saw him finish last season like a cannonball.
"He was exceptional against us and then against Chelsea in the space of three days. He made the difference in those games. I'm not surprised, he is an exceptional player.
"Also, he has exceptional physical qualities. You can see how he is able to run back and forth as much as anyone else out there.
"We watched him at the time he played left-back but we had Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy already so we did not go for him.
"But Tottenham also have Van der Vaart, Modric, Defoe, Pavlyuchenko.
"Tottenham have many good players in their team and for us it is important we produce a good team performance and not to focus on one player or single a player out in their team.
"We should just focus on our performance. If our performance is right, then we have a good chance to win. When you see inside the club everyone is focused on the next game and when the next game is Tottenham, is it a bit special.
"Tottenham have always had good teams, good players like Anderton and Ginola.
"It is the first time they have finished in the top four since I was here, so it means their achievement last season was better than before."
