Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Arsenal told they ‘will slip up’ as pundit explains why Tottenham top-four finish is nailed on

Ben Davies, Cristian Romero, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Lucas Moura

Tottenham will pip north London rivals Arsenal in the derby and consequently win the battle for a top-four Premier League finish, according to Jamie O’Hara.

The two sides have become the clear frontrunners to take the final place in the top four alongside Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Manchester United, West Ham and Wolves also fancied their chances earlier in the season. However, the trio have now dropped off.

As a result, Spurs and Arsenal are fighting to secure Champions League football for next season.

They both have four games left, including a huge north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And according to pundit O’Hara, both teams will slip up along the way. However, he insisted that Tottenham‘s experience will see them past Mikel Arteta’s side.

“I think that Spurs are going to nick it,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.

“We’ve got to get through Liverpool which is a tough fixture and I’ll be surprised if we get anything from that. But both Arsenal and Tottenham are where they are because they have inconsistent performances.

“If we’re talking about winning all of our games between now and the end of the season, we’d be like Chelsea and Liverpool.

“We’ll slip up and Arsenal will slip up. We’ve got the north London derby which will be the biggest north London derby in recent times and that is a huge, huge fixture.

“I just fancy us, under the lights with the players that we’ve got and the front three that we’ve got. If we step up I think we can turn them over, I really do.”

O’Hara predicts Tottenham top-four finish

Son Heung-min, Antonio Conte, Lucas Moura, Tottenham v Vitesse November 2021

Arsenal had a poor start to the season and sat bottom after three games with no points. Still, boss Arteta oversaw a resurgence and a top-four finish would prove a massive moment for the Spaniard.

Tottenham, meanwhile, changed managers in November. Antonio Conte has only recently begun to see the fruits of his work. And O’Hara backed Spurs to overcome their inexperienced rivals.

“This is a young Arsenal side and credit to them, no one expected them to be where they are and it was a big performance against West Ham and they’re a good young team,” the pundit added.

“But I think that Spurs have just got a little bit more experience than them and when the pressure’s on, we might just find a way to get it done.”

Arsenal and Spurs have proved inconsistent throughout the season and have recently recovered from poor spells.

Spurs, Arsenal recover from poor spells

Arsenal lost three Premier League games in a row from the start of April. What’s more, they only scored one goal in that spell.

But, a thumping 4-2 win away at Chelsea set them back on the right path to three successive victories.

Tottenham, meanwhile, lost 1-0 to Brighton before drawing 0-0 with Brentford.

In both matches, they lost the attacking verve they had shown in victories such as 5-1 against and 5-0 against Everton.

However, a 3-1 win over Leicester on Sunday has similarly got Conte’s side back in good shape ahead of their trip to Liverpool.