Ange Postecoglou is already more successful than Mikel Arteta and now the Spurs boss could be the kingmaker in the Premier League title race
As Arsenal close in on the Premier League crown, Mikel Arteta must now face a manager who is more experienced and more successful.
Arteta gunners They will travel to Tottenham on Sunday April 28 knowing that nothing less than a victory will be enough if they are to maintain their title fight.
They occupy the top of the Premier League, but they know that Manchester City has the opportunity to overtake them with the two games they have left.
Still reeling for a Exit from the Champions League At the hands of Bayern Munich, the north London derby will be a test of resolve for Arsenal heading into the final stretch of the Premier League season.
A league win would represent a return to the top for Arsenal, who have not won a title since 2004, while it would be Arteta's first since stepping into management in 2019. However, that feeling of victory is something Spurs Boss Ange Postecoglou knows this very well.
Trophies
Given that he is relatively new to management, Arteta's trophy tally pales in comparison to that of his north London counterpart.
In fact, Postecoglou's managerial career has been much longer and more successful than that of his Arsenal counterpart.
He has spent 28 years as a successful manager, winning 21 trophies in his seven managerial roles during that time.
His accolades include winning the A-League in Australia (Australia's equivalent of the Premier League) as well as its predecessor, the National Football League in Brisbane Roar and South Melbourne respectively.
He also has international honors with the Asian Cup as Australia coach in 2015, while he landed the job at Tottenham for his work at Celtic, where he won the Scottish Premiership in successive years in 2022 and 2023.
Since becoming Gunners manager in 2019, Arteta has won three trophies in five years.
The former midfielder led Arsenal to FA Cup glory during his first season as manager at the club, before clinching the 2020 Community Shield a month later following a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Liverpool.
He won the trophy again in 2023.
But although his record does not equal that of Postecoglou, he is the only one of the two who has the possibility of increasing his record this season.
Postecoglou has not achieved the levels of success needed 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 achieve this in the coming seasons.
'Ange Ball against Arteta Ball'
Ange Ball has received his fair share of praise at times this season and his proactive, attacking style of football was particularly successful during the early months of the season.
But it's also a style that has caused the Spurs to lack any kind of consistency.
It is an approach that has allowed them to record such inconsistent results that one week they managed a 4-0 win over Aston Villa and just a few days later fell to a 3-0 win against Fulham.
Instead, it is Arteta's style that has once again taken Arsenal to the brink of a Premier League title.
No team has conceded fewer goals than Arsenal in the Premier League this season.
In fact, Tottenham have conceded almost twice as many goals as their north London rivals: 49 to Arsenal's 26.
Arteta's style may have faltered at a crucial moment in the must-win Champions League tie against Bayern Munich, but for the most part his play this calendar year has been outstanding and he heads to the N17 next. of defeating their London rivals Chelsea 5-0.
Arsenal have conceded just six goals in the Premier League since January. Tottenham have conceded 20 in the same period.
But the combination of Spurs' utter unpredictability and Arsenal's faltering success, Tottenham could easily be on the right side of a huge scoreboard or the wrong side once again.
Title race
For the Gunners, there is now no margin for error if they want to mount any kind of title challenge against defending champions Manchester City.
They must avoid the loss of momentum that cost them the title at the end of last season.
Despite victories against Chelsea and Wolves in their last two games, their title challenge suffered damage to their 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa and his trip to Tottenham will perhaps be an even greater test.
Spurs may be out of the title race, but they will still have a big influence on who ends up lifting the trophy at 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 in late April and travel to Liverpool in early May, with the chance to take points from both.
The results of the top three against Spurs will be crucial in deciding the final order of the Premier League, and it is the Gunners who will be put to the test first.
Historically, it is Arsenal that obtains better results in the most contested matches and Arsenal Fan zone supporters are more confident ahead of this weekend's North London derby, with 83 per cent of Gooners thinking they will take home bragging rights. Meanwhile, only 34 percent of Spurs fans believe they will win.
In the previous 208 meetings between the two teams, Arsenal emerged victorious on 86 occasions, while Tottenham only won 67 times.
In fact, their most recent Premier League outings reflect those statistics well with three of their last five outings.
The last time Spurs took 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.
Spurs will once again hope for a similar result, especially knowing that beating Arsenal could end up being a fatal blow when it comes to their title hopes.
After their meeting at the Emirates this season ended in a 2-2 drawThe second leg will be very close and the stakes could not be higher.