Can Arsenal keep themselves in the title race or will they crumble?

Arsenal have had a tough time in the Premier League in the last couple of months. It seemed like they found a breakthrough, after beating Sunderland Leeds, but two disappointing draws in a row have brought that illusion crashing down. Brentford put up one of Arsenal’s toughest tests of the season, forcing a 1-1 draw. Wolves then added insult to injury after rescuing a point in injury time. This has coincided with Manchester City beating Newcastle to move within two points of the Gunners. Now, it’s up to Arsenal to restore the five point advantage.

Form

Spurs are perhaps in their worst slump in form for a very long time, I’m not even sure it was this bad last season. They sit 16th in the league, just four points ahead of West Ham who are in the relegation zone. Aside from last season, this kind of territory is outside of Spurs’ remit. Actually, this is worse than last season as the relegated teams didn’t put up much of a fight. This season, West Ham are putting up that fight and are dragging everyone into a relegation scrap. This includes Spurs. The North London side haven’t won in their last five games, but that run extends further back. They haven’t won a Premier League fixture since December 28th, a 1-0 over Crystal Palace. This means Igor Tudor’s new team haven’t won a league game in 2026. In a more stark reality, they have only two wins, in the league, since the end of October. 18 games, two wins.

Within their last five fixtures in the Premiership, they’ve only scored six goals. They’ve conceded 10 across those five games, conceding two goals in each game. The most recent result was a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This leads on to Spurs’ home form which is the 18th worst in the division. They’ve won only two games on home soil. It’s on par with Burnley and only better than Wolves. Only four teams have scored less than Tudor’s men. This is a huge concern for the new manager, but it’s something he can address immediately. Winning against Arsenal will be the perfect start to his Tottenham career.

In terms of xG, it doesn’t look much better for the London side. In fact they should be sitting 17th, one place below what they are now. They’ve created just 27.4 xG, which is the fourth worst in the table. They’ve then conceded 37.6 xGA, which isn’t the worst in the division at all, but it’s not ideal. In total they should be sitting on 30 points, not the 29 they’re currently on.

Injuries/Absences

This is where things get extremely difficult for Spurs and especially Igor Tudor. There seems to be 10 definite players missing for Spurs. Cristian Romero is suspended. Ben Davies, Lucas Bergvall, Mohamed Kudus, Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Kevin Danso. Pedro Porro and Richarlison are big doubts. Dominic Solanke had an issue with his throat earlier in the week, but has trained since, likely meaning that he will feature.

Arsenal will just be missing Mikel Merino for definite. Leandro Trossard was cleared to return. Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz are big possibilities for the weekend. Max Dowman has consistently trained, but would unlikely be involved due to a large volume of players fit and available.

Player to Watch: Xavi Simons

There’s not been much to shout about over at Spurs, but one player that consistently catches my eye is Simons. I’ve watched a few of their games recently and the Dutch international is always the best player in their team. Simons will be absolutely crucial to any danger that Spurs provide. He’s lively, technically gifted and works hard. His season statistics aren’t exactly impressive, but you can always tell when a player is just superior to the quality he has around them. He’s being held back for sure, he’ll explode in a different setup.

Spurs Predicted Lineup

Igor Tudor has come from Italian football and they often deploy a three-at-the-back system. It’ll be unnatural for this Spurs side, but it seems like he’ll implement his formation straight away. Due to Spurs’ injury concerns, they’ll likely have to put Joao Palhinha and Radu Dragusin alongside Mickey Van De Ven. Archie Gray and Djed Spence will hold the width. Connor Gallagher and Pape Sarr will run the midfield. Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons will sit either side of Dominic Solanke, but it’ll likely work out that Simons will sit behind Muani and Solanke. That starting squad can cause damage, but the bench will be very weak and that’s how Arsenal could kill the game.

Arsenal Lineup

As I said in my previous post, this isn’t what I think Mikel Arteta will do, it’s what I’d want to see. I feel as though a two-pronged attack can be our cure for the season. We can use the 4-2-3-1 in the Champions League and cup competitions, but it isn’t working in the league. I think this formation increases presence on the pitch and will aid our press. There’s still plenty of quality in there. We have at least five players crashing the box at any moment, with both our full backs also providing an extra two men. That’s seven players in the attacking zone with our lone ‘6’, William Saliba and Gabriel protecting the side from the counter attack. As much as I was hugely disappointed in Gabriel Martinelli on Wednesday, he’s probably the best player we’ve got that can stretch the opposition. Viktor Gyokeres will have take up the battling role again, probably not getting so many shots off. It’s a big game, but I do feel as though the fatigue in Jurrien Timber and Martin Zubimendi could hold the side back. Christian Norgaard and Ben White have proven their quality, so I think we should give them a go.

Predicted Result: Spurs 1-2 Arsenal

I think the first half will pan out in a similar way to what we’ve seen recently. It starts slow, apart from Wolves, and we pick things up in the 2nd half. I’m undecided whether Arsenal go two goals ahead and allow a response from Spurs or we fight back from a goal down. New manager bounce is real. Spurs aren’t being given much of a chance due to the severity of injuries, so this is exactly the time they can put in one of the best team performances of the season. They’ve also had a little over a week off due to no participation in the FA Cup, so they’ll be refreshed. However, they’ve not got much outside of the starting XI, no way to change things up. Arsenal have options and can change their style if they need to. I would’ve been more confident had the Wolves result not occurred, but it did and my reservations are creeping back in. Can Arsenal prove me and everyone else wrong?