Arsenal hoping to make most of games in hand but Tottenham face a decent run-in

Eight wins in their last ten Premier League matches have seen Arsenal slashed to 8-13 for a top-four finish and their main market rivals, 5-1 chances Manchester United and 3-1 shots Tottenham, will take points off each other on Saturday.

The Gunners have recently found a level of consistency that their top-four rivals can only dream of and Mikel Arteta's men have been particularly efficient in seeing off the division's middle to lower-ranked sides.

Arsenal have won nine and drawn two of their 11 home games against sides lying sixth or lower in the table and they have four such fixtures still to come - against Leicester, Brighton, Leeds and Everton.

Their final three games of the campaign are against teams battling the drop and they will be hoping their opponents know their fate by then so have less to play for.

Five of Arsenal's final seven away games are against teams currently in the top half so their pursuers will be keeping their fingers crossed that Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Southampton and West Ham can make life awkward for them on their own turf.

Spread-betting firms project that Arsenal will finish on 69 points, four points clear of Spurs and six ahead of Manchester United. Both of those clubs still have to play the Gunners and probably each need to win those games to harbour realistic ambitions of bridging the gap.

The Red Devils have 47 points, having played three more games than Arsenal, meaning they are likely to need more than 20 points from their remaining ten matches to make the top four.

That is a tough ask considering they still have Liverpool and Chelsea on their schedule, as well as matches against the two north London clubs, and United have little margin for error in their other remaining fixtures.

Of the three, Spurs have the most favourable run-in on paper. They have only one game still to play against the top three and, after Saturday's Old Trafford showdown, eight of their final 11 matches are against opponents who are currently in the bottom half.

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