Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain loves playing in such an attacking Arsenal team - but accepts they will always have to work at keeping it tight at the back.

Arsenal recovered from going behind in the north London derby to a breakaway Tottenham goal for Nacer Chadli as Oxlade-Chamberlain's close-range strike secured a 1-1 draw yesterday.

Arsene Wenger's side, however, had enjoyed plenty of possession and should have been ahead before a lapse in concentration from defensive midfielder Matheiu Flamini allowed Christian Eriksen to snatch the ball and set-up a swift counter.

Former Saints starlet Oxlade-Chamberlain accepts it is a part of Arsenal's game which can hurt them, but is worth it for what the Gunners offer going forwards.

"That is the risk you take when you play the way we play football," said England international Oxlade-Chamberlain, who joined Arsenal for £12m from Saints in the summer of 2011.

"We try to take control of games, we like to set the tempo, "We send a lot of bodies forward in a positive and attacking fashion and you do leave yourself at times a little bit vulnerable to the counter-attack.

"It is just important that when we do, we have got people in the team that are willing to take the responsibility of holding back and being there to stop counter-attacks.

"But, yeah, I do love playing in this team and the style of play that we do, as I think all the players could say.

"We do, though, need to obviously be careful and make sure we are defending at the same time as when we are attacking.

"It is something we have always worked on because it is an area I am sure teams look at to try and break us down, so we have got to be ready for that."

Arsenal head to leaders Chelsea next weekend, where they were thumped 6-0 last season, in what was Wenger's 1,000th match in charge.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, though, insisted that result would not make Arsenal any less cavalier.

"We do understand what happened there last season. Maybe we have got a point to prove there, we know this year we have got to step up in the big games and get some results in them," he said.

"We are really looking forward to that game and we definitely give Chelsea the respect they deserve, but, at the same time, I have belief in my team-mates and we do in ourselves to be able to go to a place like Chelsea and set the tempo and hopefully take control of the game.

"There will be times in the game I am sure when they have a spell, because they are a top team.

"They are going to have their time, we are going to have ours, we just have to make sure that when we do have our chances we make them count."

Chamberlain’s goal against Tottenham yesterday was only his sixth in the Premier League for the Gunners in 61 outings – 35 of which have come off the bench.

It was his third league strike of 2014, with the other two coming in the same game – a 2-0 Emirates win against Chelsea – last February.