Tottenham suffered a 2-0 loss to north London rivals Arsenal on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.
Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn has told Sky Sports that Tottenham are catching their north London rivals in terms of stature – but they have not overtaken the Gunners.
Arsene Wenger watched from the touchlines as his side earned a 2-0 win over Mauricio Pochettino’s men at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, keeping the Gunners 100 per cent Premier League home record this season intact.
Goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez saw Arsenal record only their second win against Spurs in their last eight meetings between the local rivals, but Winterburn still believes Arsenal are the dominant north London force.
Speaking to Sky Sports on Monday morning, Winterburn claimed Pochettino’s side have closed the gap between the two sides but believes Spurs lack of a trophy still means they are behind the Gunners – which is sure to rile up Spurs fans.
“I know I will upset a lot of Tottenham supporters… [but] the only time I’m really going to start worrying is when Tottenham start to win the trophies,” Winterburn said.
“If they can win the trophies and then keep finishing very high up in the league. If they win the Premier League, win the Champions League, FA Cups, and Arsenal are not doing that, then the real power shift has changed.
“For me, it [the potential] hasn’t changed, the gap has closed, there’s hardly any gap. I’ve said it for the last two seasons, Arsenal and Tottenham are very, very close at the moment and I’ll put Liverpool in there with them as well.”
Last season, Spurs finished above Arsenal for the first time since 1985 as they remained Chelsea’ main title challengers until the final few games of the season. They finished in second, while Arsenal failed to even make the top four.
However, Arsenal have won three FA Cups and three Community Shields since Spurs last won a trophy, which was the League Cup in 2007-08.
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