Tottenham Hotspur play host to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon in the last meeting between the North London sides at White Hart Lane, aiming to make certain of achieving the rare feat of finishing above their rivals.
A ninth Premier League victory on the spin for Spurs will make certain of holding off the Gunners no matter what happens in the final month of the season, while also derailing their opponents' bid to finish fourth.
Tottenham Hotspur
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Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino insisted after his side's latest victory, a tough 1-0 triumph away to Crystal Palace in midweek, that bettering Arsenal and claiming North London bragging rights is now the least of his worries.
Tottenham are still attempting to chase down Chelsea at the summit, clawing the gap back to just the four points after beating Palace with an improved second-half display a day on from the Blues battling past Southampton.
Not since October 1960 have the Lilywhites enjoyed a better run of league form, when putting together a string of 13-successive wins - no wonder Hugo Lloris and Christian Eriksen have warned the current pacesetters that the title race is far from over at this stage.
It was Eriksen who bagged that crucial goal in South London in midweek, picking out the bottom corner from 29 yards out and proving that Spurs can battle their way to victory as well as dismantling opponents with ease, as we have become accustomed to of late.
During their most recent winning run of eight matches, Pochettino's charges have scored 23 times and kept five clean sheets, going a long way to showing that they have learned from last season's near miss by fighting all the way this time around.
Heading into Sunday's showdown with Arsenal, Spurs boast their best Premier League tally of 74 points and their best top-flight return of any sort since 1984-85, requiring just one more victory from their remaining five fixtures to make this their most profitable season in four decades.
At home in particular the Lilywhites have been extremely impressive this term, winning 15 and drawing two of their 17 matches there in the league, but they now face two of their toughest tests as Manchester United are also still to visit in the final fixture to be staged at the famous venue.
All this leaves Tottenham 14 points ahead of rivals Arsenal and, while Pochettino and his players will not admit to it, seeing off their arch enemies this weekend to make sure of supremacy will surely provide reason to celebrate.
Recent form in Premier League: WWWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWLW
Arsenal
© SilverHub
Finishing below Tottenham for the first time since 1994-95, the year before Arsene Wenger took charge of the club, may fill supporters with dread, but failing to nail down a spot in the top four is the most damaging aspect of Arsenal's disappointing campaign to date.
A run of three wins in succession, all since Wenger reverted to a three-man backline for the first time in two decades, has given those disgruntled fans something to smile about but it may well be a case of papering over the cracks - again.
One of the most important victories of the Frenchman's long-running reign in North London arrived at Wembley Stadium last weekend, with a 2-1 triumph against Manchester City after extra time ensuring that the Gunners' season remains alive, keeping them on course for a third success in the competition in the space of four years.
If the FA Cup has been Wenger's saving grace in the past half-decade, combined with the safety net of qualifying for the Champions League, then going all the way once again this time around will likely signal the signing of another two-year deal.
The damage of missing out on the Champions League could be huge, though, particularly when negotiating fresh terms with key men Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, so Wenger will be desperate to close down two of Man United, Man City and Liverpool directly above his side.
Tottenham will compete in Europe's showpiece competition for a second season running next term, joining Chelsea in securing a top-four finish, leaving two spots for the remaining four heavyweight sides to battle for.
Arsenal trail United by four points and City by five, but it is arguably Liverpool who are most at danger of being caught right now, sitting six points in front after playing two games more than the Gunners. It is not quite in their own hands, but Wenger's men know that a run of wins will give them a serious chance of finishing in the top four for the 21st year in a row.
After a run of six defeats in nine games, or just three wins in 10, Arsenal have seemingly clicked back into gear - even if performances have been far from great - by putting together a run of three successive victories to improve the mood in the dressing room.
A tough run awaits Arsenal in the closing weeks, though, as they face Tottenham away this weekend, as well as home ties against Man United and Everton, before that crucial showdown with Chelsea in the cup final next month.
The campaign could still conclude on a relative high for the club, with fourth place and another piece of silverware in the cabinet -
building momentum with three more points at White Hart Lane is key to achieving that.
Recent form in Premier League: LDWLWW
Recent form (all competitions): DWLWWW
Team News
© SilverHub
Tottenham could be without Mousa Dembele this weekend after he limped off at half time against Palace with an ankle injury, while a late decision will also be made over wing-back Danny Rose.
Rose has not featured since the goalless draw with Sunderland in January, but should he pass a late fitness test then Pochettino may opt to start him ahead of Ben Davies, who has himself impressed since stepping in.
Harry Kane will lead the line once again as he aims to make it five league games in a row in which he has found the net against Arsenal, with the Englishman joining Gareth Bale in scoring an otherwise unrivalled five goals against the Gunners.
In terms of the visitors, it remains to be seen whether Wenger will prolong his experiment with a new formation, which should he do so will mean a 3-4-2-1 coming up against the same system at White Hart Lane.
If that is the case then it will be a shootout between individual players, but fitness concerns over Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny could see the Frenchman revert back to a flat-back four.
Rob Holding, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the latter of whom has impressed more than any other in the new system, were all left out for the 1-0 win over Leicester City in midweek and are in contention to return.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Rose; Eriksen, Alli; Kane
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Cech; Gabriel, Koscielny, Holding; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Monreal; Sanchez, Ozil; Welbeck
Head To Head
Tottenham have not suffered defeat against Arsenal in any of the last five league encounters, although four of those have ended all square.
Spurs, who have never previously gone six in a row without losing to the Gunners, may boast the best defensive record in the division this term but they have conceded in 22 of their last 23 home matches in this fixture.
Pochettino became the first Tottenham manager to remain unbeaten in his first five top-flight North London derbies with the 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium in November, meaning that Wenger has subsequently gone five matches without a win over Spurs for the first time in his career.
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Arsenal
Across 43 games in all competitions since the start of the year, Tottenham and Arsenal have drawn just five matches combined. Both teams are in need of victory on Sunday for different reasons - Spurs going for the title and their opponents holding on hope of finishing fourth - but this may be one of those occasions in which both teams simply cancel each other out in what will be a tense affair.
Daniel Lewis
