ARSENAL face an all-or-nothing North London derby as they look to shake off successive cup defeats.
Mikel Arteta's side have suffered a draw against Brighton, a Caraabao Cup semi-final defeat to Newcastle and a penalty exit at home to Manchester United in the FA Cup since they last won a match.
However, all is not lost as the Gunners have the chance to regroup and refocus their attention on the Premier League title challenge as they sit six points behind Liverpool.
However, their next match could be a season-defining match for them as they host bitter rivals Tottenham on Wednesday.
Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham have been in sticky form of late, beating Liverpool in the Carabao Cup before needing extra time to triumph over National League side Tamworth.
SunSport's Will Pugh and tactical guru Dean Scoggins have highlighted five areas where Spurs can beat Arsenal for the title this season.
Organized chaos
There is a perception at Tottenham that they play a very wild style of football, and while this is true to an extent, there is more than meets the eye within Postecoglou's system.
The Australian manager's unique, rigid attacking structure includes a left-handed and a right-handed set of players.
And in recent weeks, that system has adapted — believe it or not — amid a flood of mistakes from young and inexperienced players brought into the team due to an injury crisis.
The current list of treatment rooms means that the likely center back for this match will force Radu Dragusin to be paired alongside Archie Gray, with brand new goalkeeper Antonín Kinský in the net.
Spurs will look to undo their mistakes by playing even more from the back than before, with Yves Bissouma dropping into the space between them as they split to receive the ball.
In attack, Tottenham seem to function like a pair of wheels on either side of the pitch, but without much crossing over to the other flanks.
In this system, only the central defenders, midfielders and forwards are asked to remain in their main positions, often allowing them to dominate possession through overload.
Unfortunately, this system can leave Spurs susceptible to teams playing against them, as Arsenal did at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this season.
Underlap, overlap, free movement
Tottenham is a team that often does not look to create chances through an outside cross, but does score a lot with cutbacks.
This is often because Spurs rely heavily on underlaps, with the wingers hugging the touchline while the full-backs (against Arsenal, probably Pedro Porro and Djed Spence) turn centrally.
Spence, a right-footed full-back, has been particularly impressive in recent weeks replacing Destiny Udogie at left-back.
In a perfectly executed game plan, this pair of wheels allows the full-backs to move forward into a dangerous area before finding a cutback for a more central teammate.
One of the main sources of Postecoglou's frustration this season has often been the fact that Spurs gave the ball away and the wheel literally fell off.
But to that end, the former Celtic boss has changed his tactics.
The first change to the system was to give some ground and move the team deeper to accommodate the fact that Gray and Dragusin were not as fast as Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.
The full-backs are also not improving as quickly, with Porro in particular showing much more discipline in recent weeks.
The third change was the use of two pivots to collect and build up the ball instead of one, with Bissouma and another dropping in to advance the ball.
Real effort
It doesn't take a genius to understand that Bukayo Saka's absence from the Arsenal team has hit them hard.
The Hale End graduate has been a talismanic figure for the Gunners since joining the team, spearheading their last two title-challenging campaigns.
While most teams tend to distribute attacks more evenly across the pitch, Arsenal often played much more on the right, mainly due to Saka's excellence and his strong bond with Martin Odegaard.
Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Jesus both played in the role before suffering injuries themselves, which almost certainly means Raheem Sterling will be asked to play there against Spurs.
The former Liverpool and Manchester City star will be crucial for Arsenal if they are to get anything out of the match.
What Arteta will ask the ex-England international to do is pick up the ball while running, rather than with his back to the goal, allowing him to then make a diagonal run into an inside position.
Such a move could allow Sterling to switch to Kai Havertz in a nightmarish rotation for the Spurs defence, offer Odegaard a lay-off or try to find Gabriel Martinelli as he bombards the left flank.
Spence's presence against Sterling will create a unique opportunity for Arsenal to exploit, with Jurrien Timber potentially allowed to occupy whatever space remains on the outside.
Sterling, 30, has been flattered to deceive since joining the Emirates on loan.
He had an indifferent performance against Man Utd on Sunday but could have a turning point against Spurs as he finally gets the chance to prove he can help the failed Gunners achieve their goal.
Art stoppers
There is a perception at Arsenal that they have failed to reach the same heights as last season, having struggled to score in open play in many games this season.
Despite bowing out of the FA Cup, Arsenal still have the chance to reach a Carabao Cup final if they can produce a heroic performance against Newcastle at St. James' Park.
They can also close the gap at the top of the league if some results go in their favor, which could serve to reverse the club's current negative narrative.
Arteta has built the foundation of his team on being defensively sound, and is essentially set up in such a way that they have additional player screening to prevent counter-attacks.
Declan Rice and one of Mikel Merino or Thomas Partey are often the players tasked with this task, but the key to unlocking Spurs may have to come from Arteta taking the shackles off his team.
Although Arsenal have a dangerous attack on paper, the lack of movement from midfield – while often proving sound defensively – hurts their chances of finding open goals as there is not enough movement to worry the opposition defenders.
Consequently, this has led to their attack becoming stiff because it was too rigid.
However, to break down Spurs, Arsenal may need to unlock one of these screening players to make runs outside the defense and give the defense something to think about.
King Dom has come
Toothless Tottenham had to bring in talisman Dominic Solanke to beat Tamworth in the FA Cup.
There was much debate about whether he would be a better signing for them than Ivan Toney, but 11 goals and six assists this season have already proven that Solanke is the right deal.
But there are still many aspects of his game that don't get the credit they deserve, such as his effort, ability to track, press and overall world-class team ethic.
Solanke is often overlooked because of much of the off-ball work he does to open up space for teammates.
These exploits could include forcing a defender to mark him or pin defenders through his runs.
Against Arsenal he will probably target William Saliba in the air instead of Gabriel Magalhaes.
Spurs will look to use the England international as a key pivot up front, using him to play off the two wheels either side of their attack.
Solanke is often able to unlock defenses when he has runners like Brennan Johnson behind the defensive line, with this ability being integral to a number of goals via pre-asss.
The 27-year-old will be key to Spurs' defense against Arsenal, while his teammates know that if they can use him to his full potential, he will help them create a dangerous chance even if he isn't the one to finish. it out.
And it's thanks to people like Solanke that the last game Arsenal would want at the moment is Tottenham.
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