London, England (My Sportsbook) - Arsenal is just five points back of leaders Chelsea with a game in hand as they enter a North London derby with Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
However, the Gunners have developed a habit of giving up late goals, which has prevented them from being in an even better position.
In one of the best games of the season last year, Arsenal took a 4-2 lead into the final two minutes against Spurs, only to concede a pair of late goals and settle for a 4-4 draw.
The issue has yet to be resolved this season, with the Gunners allowing a stoppage-time equalizer against AZ Alkmaar in the Champions League less than two weeks ago, while last weekend, West Ham scored twice in the last 15 minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw.
Despite his teams propensity for giving points away late, manager Arsene Wenger is not concerned with his defense and he believes that there are different reasons for the late collapses.
"It is not a concern at all," Wenger said when asked about the late goals. "You put three results together which for me had different reasons.
"Last year in the 4-4 draw [against Spurs] I believe we switched off. I don't believe at West Ham we switched off at all and I don't believe at Alkmaar we switched off.
"In the Champions League, if you look at the results, 50 percent of the goals are conceded basically in the last five minutes and at West Ham I believe we were really unlucky.
"We were focused but we were unlucky with the free kick and we were unlucky with the penalty. I don't believe either of those was the right decision."
Wenger has yet to announce who will start in goal for his team, but he admitted that he is tempted to put Manuel Almunia back into the lineup after the keeper has been out since September with a chest infection.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has a number of players out through injury with Aaron Lennon (ankle), Giovani dos Santos (ankle) and Luka Modric (fractured leg) missing out, while striker Jermain Defoe serves the final game of a three-match ban.
Redknapp may be without some key players, but he feels that his team has the ability to cause Arsenal some problems.
"We feel that certain parts of our play can cause them problems and we have to make sure we impose ourselves on them, not go there, sit back and worry about what they can do to us," Redknapp said.
"We've got to be positive and feel we can do that and win the game."
Chelsea tries to remain on top of the table when they travel to Bolton, second-placed Manchester United hosts Blackburn, while Liverpool attempts to build on its win over United with another against Fulham.
Burnley entertains Hull City, Aston Villa invades Goodison Park to face Everton, last-placed Portsmouth hosts Wigan, Stoke City squares off with Wolverhampton, West Ham faces Sunderland at the Stadium of Light and Manchester City, which is six points off the pace, meets Birmingham in the lone match on Sunday.
