Arsenal: 4 areas of concern in the race for top four

4. Tottenham

The main obstacle standing in Arsenal’s way is Arsenal. Followed shortly by Tottenham.

Of all the teams still in the race for a top four place, Spurs are the Gunners’ biggest challengers. They may be three points behind having played one more game, but their Premier League run-in is the easiest on paper and they also head into this final stretch with Harry Kane in frustratingly fine form.

• Manchester United (A)
• Brighton (A)
• West Ham (H)
• Newcastle (H)
• Aston Villa (A)
• Brighton (H)
• Brentford (A)
• Leicester (H)
• Liverpool (A)
• Burnley (H)
• Norwich (A)

Of those matches only three are against sides in the top half of the table. They are not out of it no matter how hideously inconsistent they are. But even if Everton should apologise for their atrocious performance on Monday, Spurs still scored five past them to make it nine scored in the past two games.

They have a world class striker finding form, one of the finest managers in Antonio Conte, and Emerson Royal is no longer playing for them.

Are they flawed? Heavily. Their defensive shape and covering is woeful, they’d find it hard to deal with Arsenal’s third man runners, and they don’t boast Champions League quality in a number of areas. Looking at the table at who will be running Arsenal close, however, and it’s undoubtedly them just up the road.

Can one be too worried, and not using history as a lesson? Perhaps. But getting too far ahead at this stage is a recipe for severe disappointment should the unthinkable happen.

Tottenham won’t be a concern if Arsenal take care of their own matters, yet if asked who is closest to pipping the Gunners, it would be them.