Are Tottenham Hotspur finished if they lose at Arsenal?

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Tottenham Hotspur visit Arsenal in a potentially season-defining game next weekend.

Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 with Leicester at White Hart Lane on Saturday as Mauricio Pochettino’s side failed to dig themselves out of this ever-increasing slump.

Spurs are now five games without a win in all competitions, but it is a funk which the Argentine manager needs to rectify by next Sunday. Their Premier League title hopes could hinge on it.

The Lilywhites make the short trip to the Emirates Stadium next weekend for what is an unenviable North London derby against a bang-in-form Arsenal side.

The Gunners have won seven of their last nine Premier League outings – the other two being draws – and Arsene Wenger’s men have netted 23 goals. Only Liverpool and Manchester City, who join Arsenal at the summit of the table, have scored more, with 24.

Saturday’s setback with the Foxes left Tottenham three points off the pace, but that deficit might well expand more over the coming weeks by virtue of their fixture list.

After visiting their local rivals, Spurs face West Ham, Chelsea and Manchester United in three of the four subsequent games, and losing to Arsenal would demoralise them a whole lot further.

If they lose at the Emirates, they would be six points behind their neighbours and the question then is whether Pochettino can stop the wheels from falling off completely ahead of those three potentially must-win games between November 19 and December 11.

The players’ heads dropped so damagingly toward the end of last season, with a 5-1 defeat at Newcastle – who were relegated, and who had 10 men – on the last day allowing Arsenal to finish above them – an unthinkable prospect just a few weeks previous.

Of course, Harry Kane could be back next weekend, and it would be a big boost, but the 23-year-old is not Superman despite what his goal return over the last two years suggests.

It is a very season-defining game next Sunday. Win and they’re right back in it, but lose and it might well be the first stop en route to exiting the title race for this season.