Arsenal vs Tottenham: Can either side win the Premier League title after north London derby draw?

Arsenal expect to win the Premier League title this season, and after the near-miss six months ago, Tottenham’s ambitions aren’t that far behind. That much is obvious from sitting inside the Emirates Stadium over the last few months, where frustrations begin to rear their head within half an hour of kick-off.

Having watched the two sides play out an entertaining-yet-frustrating 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, it’s difficult to identify which of these teams will go on to challenge for the Premier League title. The obvious answer is Arsenal, their strength in depth clear to see in their substitutions compared to those made by Mauricio Pochettino, but will they end the soon-to-be 13-year title drought? Not on this performance.

The cutting edge that Arsenal have displayed in previous matches of their 16-game unbeaten run deserted them against their north London rivals, who even managed to score the goal for Arsenal when Kevin Wimmer headed Mesut Özil’s free-kick into his own net. Alex Iwobi bore the brunt of the frustrations, missing two first-half chances that you feel others in the Premier League would not.

Those ‘others’ are the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Eden Hazard, three players who have found their form this season in the most spectacular of ways. As a result, Liverpool sit top of the Premier League a point above Chelsea, with Arsenal now two points off top and Spurs just starting to fall away three points further behind.

That Arsenal were able to bring on Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shows that they have a large and talented enough squad to challenge for the title this season, and this is all without Danny Welbeck, Per Mertesacker and Lucas Perez – the trio of long-term injuries that Arsene Wenger currently has to work around.

On the other hand, Spurs were without Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Erik Lamela through injury, and also Moussa Sissoko due to his three-match suspension for elbowing Harry Arter of Bournemouth. This meant Pochettino had to bring the hapless Vincent Janssen off the bench, along with Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks – three players who do not strike fear into sides facing exhaustion from 70-plus minutes of a London derby.

The question for Arsenal then is do they have enough individuals capable of proving the difference in these type of games? There’s no doubt Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil do, but where else is that star quality? Theo Walcott has displayed it on occasion but these moments are all too rare for him to be relied upon, while Ramsey has not yet shown the levels he displayed in the 2013/14 season – or indeed his performances for Wales at Euro 2016 – for his club this calendar year.

One draw should not detract from the fact that both of these sides are capable of pressing on and challenging for the title. The problem is though that this season the opposition is not Leicester City, but a much improved Chelsea and Liverpool side as well as a Manchester City that will get better the longer Pep Guardiola spends with them on the training field. With that in mind, this will provide a well-timed wake-up call for two sides who, for their impressive unbeaten runs this season, are in need of upping their levels even further.