2017 hasn’t been a good year so far with Arsenal and the past two months in particular have admittedly been woeful, with the Gunners slipping to sixth in the Premier League and exiting the Champions League at the Round of 16 stage on the back of a 10-2 aggregate defeat against Bayern Munich.

Arsenal missed the chance to draw level with Manchester United in the Premier League, with both sides dropping points this weekend, and Arsene Wenger’s side now have a huge challenge ahead of them to finish in the top-four.

Sat seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and eight points behind Liverpool in third, the Gunners have two games in hand, against Southampton and Leicester City, and need to ensure that they return from those clashes with maximum points.

Arsenal still need their rivals to drop points but the Gunners can be hopeful of that happening, as Manchester United still have huge games to play whilst Liverpool have struggled against lower-end opposition throughout the season.

City, meanwhile, have Chelsea and Manchester United in their upcoming fixtures, so Arsenal need to ensure they’re in a position to take advantage should the opportunity arise- which means starting a solid run immediately. Unfortunately, with Spurs boasting a 12 point advantage, overhauling their arch-rivals could be a step too far.

With the Gunners facing off against West Ham, Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Leicester before the end of April, Arsenal need to secure the maximum return from these fixtures before a huge North London derby clash with Tottenham at the end of the month.

For Arsenal to have any chance of clawing their way back into the top-four, the Gunners need to ensure they’re still in the hunt by the time they take the short journey across London to White Hart Lane- and that means Arsenal cannot afford to drop any points from their upcoming fixtures.

Considering Arsenal smashed five past West Ham at the London Stadium earlier this season and saw off Crystal Palace with a 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium on New Year’s Day, the Gunners can be optimistic of securing two crucial wins during the next week.

Arsenal will need to improve in their matches against Middlesbrough and Leicester, as the Gunners drew 0-0 with both of the Premier League strugglers earlier in the season, but victories in the next week will boost their confidence ahead of these fixtures.

Make no mistake, Arsenal cannot afford any further slip-ups and need to make a statement of intent ahead of the finale of the window. They can look to last season as inspiration however as in the last 10 games of the campaign a year ago they went on an unbeaten run which culminated in them just pipping arch-rivals Tottenham for 2nd place – something they would love to repeat again.