Premier League: Top four still very much on for Arsenal

All smiles: Santi Cazorla has recaptured his early season form

Arsenal have been labelled a club in crisis recently but Christian Crowther reveals things may not be as bad as all that for the Gunners...

Having endured a nightmare few days where they exited the FA Cup before being beaten by Bayern Munich, many observers declared the demise of Arsenal.

While there are still lingering issues for debate, not least the position of their manager, a cursory glance at the form table suggests that they may not be sunk so deep in crisis after all.

Looming on the horizon is Sunday's north London derby but, as the Gunners approach this famous fixture, they actually bring the second-best form in the Premier League, bettered only by Manchester United.

Arsene Wenger's much-maligned troops are actually unbeaten in five league matches, picking up four wins, one of which was a 5-1 thumping of West Ham at the Emirates.

Summer signings Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski have been in particularly inspiring form, notching four and three goals respectively across the last eight games in all competitions.

Tottenham themselves enter Sunday's game off the back of three straight league wins, though the Lilywhites have only won one of the last four encounters with the old enemy, so Arsenal's price of 3.211/5 to win holds serious appeal.

In the back of their minds, Andre Villas-Boas' players also know that they let a huge lead over Arsenal slip last season, so they will be the ones carrying the extra pressure into the weekend clash.

The way the table is shaping up actually means this fixture, as important as it is for local bragging rights, may not actually be worthy of the winner-takes-all tag that it will be labelled with.

Most observers have spent the season inferring that Wenger's side will miss out on fourth spot but, the way Chelsea are going, Arsenal may yet spring an ambush on those Champions League spots without needing to overhaul Spurs.

The Gunners are only two points behind the European champions heading into this weekend's fixtures and, under Rafa Benitez, Chelsea are a side who can't string a run of Premier League wins together.

You can back Arsenal at 2.0811/10 to gatecrash the top four at present, odds sure to shrink if they beat Tottenham.