Tottenham lost 1-0 to Brighton in the lunchtime kickoff on Saturday, hours before Arsenal also lost 1-0 to Southampton. Spurs had the chance to increase the gap between them and Arsenal and the Gunners had the chance to catch up to their north London rivals, however, both sides couldn't salvage any points.
This leaves the Lilywhites in the fourth spot, on 54 points and Mikel Arteta's side currently sit fifth and three points behind, after Man United's defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday. Arsenal do have a game in hand, which will be played at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and will be a key chance for them to be level on points with Tottenham, if they can secure three points.
It was only a matter of months ago that Spurs were around seventh in the table and fighting to try and climb their way up. Now Antonio Conte has had time to work with his side and settle in, improvements seem to have been made both on and off the pitch.
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Once the north London sides both play their fixtures on Saturday, they will both have five games left to play, with one of them being the rescheduled North London Derby. The tie between the two sides earlier in the season, saw Tottenham produce a lacklustre performance, which ended in a 3-1 defeat at the Emirates.
Aside from the Derby and their two fixtures this week, Arsenal will face West Ham, Leeds, Newcastle and Everton. Spurs travel to Brentford on Saturday and then their remaining matches are against Leicester, Liverpool, Burnley and Norwich.
As the last few months have already shown, the table can look very different as each week goes by. The North London Derby is set to be a big three points which both teams will want and need, to keep their hopes of a spot in the Champions League next season, very much alive.
Ahead of Tottenham's defeat to Brighton, Conte was asked if he was feeling confident about the top four battle. "Yeah but I started to think about our position, but my team was able to stay in the race," he admitted in his pre-match press conference.
"Not only one week ago, two weeks ago. In the right moment I understood this team was able to stay in this type of race.
"I said to you with honesty and I say to you now that the team is ready, ready to fight until the end in this race. This race is not easy, it's very important because to finish in the top four would mean a very good result for the club," the Italian added.
However, Conte's side could find themselves with an advantage, once this week of games are out the way. All games on the final day of the season are being played Sunday, May 22 at 4pm.
Aside from the final day and the North London Derby, Tottenham's other three fixtures will be played before the trio of matches that Arsenal play on the same weekend. Could this land more pressure on Arteta's side?
Who knows how the table will look at the end of the weekend, but if Spurs are playing their next few games before their north London rivals, they will just be striving for three points, for themselves. This focus on their own results is something that Hugo Lloris highlighted after their 4-0 victory at Villa Park, which came after Arsenal and Man United had lost games earlier in the day.
"We were aware about the other results because at this moment of the season it's very important to stay focused on ourselves and keep our mind very cold," the Tottenham skipper admitted.
When the time comes for Arsenal to play their matches, after Spurs' games, they will have the pressure of Tottenham's result on their shoulders. If the Lilywhites have just won a game, the Gunners need the three points to prevent a further gap in the table.
If Conte's side have just lost a match, Arsenal will need to win so they can either match or overtake Spurs. Therefore whatever the result, Arteta's side will have that added 'scoreboard' pressure.
Lloris' point of not getting distracted by other teams results is needed for focus in the final weeks of the season, however, it is unlikely not to be at all influenced by how rival teams are doing in their matches. That is why Tottenham may just have a slight benefit in playing their games before Arsenal's.
