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As Arsenal close in on a Premier League crown, Mikel Arteta must now face a manager who is both more experienced and more successful.
Arteta's Gunners travel to Tottenham on Sunday 28 April knowing that nothing less than a win will be enough if they want to sustain their title challenge.
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They sit top of the Premier League, but know Manchester City have the chance to overtake them with their two games in hand.
Still reeling from a Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich, the north London derby will come as a test of resolve for Arsenal as they head into the final stretch of the Premier League season.
A league triumph would represent a return to the top for Arsenal, having not won a title since 2004 while it would be Arteta’s first since taking the step into management in 2019. That winning feeling, though, is something Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou knows all too well.
Trophies
Given he is a relative newcomer to management, Arteta’s trophy count pales in comparison to that of his opposite number in north London.
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Indeed, Postecoglou’s management career has been both much longer and far more successful than his Arsenal counterpart’s.
He has spent 28 years as a successful manager, picking up 21 trophies across his seven management roles during that time.
His accolades include winning the A-League in Australia (the equivalent of the Premier League down under) as well as its predecessor, the National Soccer League at Brisbane Roar and South Melbourne respectively.
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He also has international honours with the Asian Cup as Australia boss in 2015, while he got the Tottenham job for his work at Celtic where he won the Scottish Premiership victory in successive years in 2022 and 2023.
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Since becoming manager of the Gunners in 2019, Arteta has won three trophies in five years.
Jason Cundy criticses Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou for not having a 'plan B' and believes Spurs won't win silverware playing their style of football
The former midfielder led Arsenal to FA Cup glory during his first season managing at the club, before also clinching the 2020 Community Shield a month later after a dramatic penalty shootout win over Liverpool.
He won the trophy again in 2023.
But although his trophy haul does not match that of Postecoglou, he is the only one out of the two who has any remaining chance of adding to his tally this season.
Postecoglou has not quite achieved the levels of success necessary to win a title in his first season with Tottenham and it remains to be seen whether his style of football will be effective enough to do so in seasons to come.
'Ange Ball vs Arteta Ball'
Ange Ball has garnered its fair share of praise at times during this season with his attacking and proactive style of football seeing particular success during the opening months of the season.
But it is also a style that has seen Spurs lack any kind of consistency.
It is an approach that has allowed them to register results so incongruous that they will come away with a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa one week only to slump to a 3-0 victory to Fulham just days later.
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Instead, it is Arteta’s style that has taken Arsenal yet again to the brink of a Premier League title.
No side has conceded fewer goals than Arsenal in the Premier League this season.
Indeed, Tottenham have conceded almost double the number of goals that their north London rivals have - 49 compared to Arsenal’s 26.
Arteta’s style may have failed at a crucial moment in their must-win Champions League tie against Bayern Munich, but the majority of their play in this calendar year has been outstanding and head to N17 having thumped London rivals Chelsea 5-0.
Arsenal have conceded just six goals in the Premier League since January. Tottenham have conceded 20 in the same time period.
But the combination of Spurs’ sheer unpredictability and Arsenal’s wavering success, Tottenham could just as easily be on the right side of a huge scoreline as on the wrong side of it once again.
Title race
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For the Gunners, there is now no room for error if they are to mount any kind of title challenge against defending champions Manchester City.
They must avoid the loss of momentum which cost them the title towards the end of last season.
Despite wins against Chelsea and Wolves in their last two games, damage was done to their title charge in their 2-0 loss to Aston Villa and their trip to Tottenham will be perhaps an even bigger test.
Spurs may be out of the title race, but they will still have a huge say in who ends up lifting the trophy come the end of the season.
Arsenal are not the only title contenders they will face before the end of the season.
They also host Manchester City at home at the end of April and travel to Liverpool at the start of May, with a chance to take points off both of them.
The results of the top three against Spurs will be crucial when it comes to deciding the final Premier League top order - and it is the Gunners who will first be tested.
Historically, it is Arsenal who fare better in the hotly contested match and Arsenal Fanzone supporters are more confident heading into this weekend's north London derby with 83 per cent of Gooners thinking they'll take home the bragging rights. Meanwhile, only 34 per cent of Spurs fans think they will win.
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In the 208 previous meetings between the two sides, Arsenal have emerged victorious on 86 occasions whilst Tottenham have only won 67 times.
Indeed, their most recent meetings in the Premier League well reflect those statistics with three out of their last five meetings.
The last time Spurs took home the three points against the Gunners was in May 2022, when goals from Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son gave Tottenham a decisive 3-0 victory.
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Spurs will be hoping for a similar result again, especially knowing that beating Arsenal could end up being a death blow when it comes to their title hopes.
After their meeting at the Emirates this season ended in a 2-2 draw, the return fixture is set to be a hard-fought game where the stakes could not be higher.