Arsenal may not get another chance to mount a real and genuine push for the title this season. With Liverpool dropping points to Nottingham Forest, not only is moving up to second spot possible on Wednesday, so is closing the gap to the top.

A win over Tottenham would see the deficit cut to just four points, albeit having played a game extra. Given Liverpool have started to show small signs of vulnerability in the last two weeks, it is surely an opportunity which cannot be passed up. Arsenal haven't been able to put up a sustained run of pressure on the Premier League leaders and know that their charge must start now.

North London Derby matches don't need the added narrative to get people going but this one lacks the jeopardy of a fully-fledged title race or top-four battle to really turn things up a notch. For Arsenal, the battle is that a defeat here to their arch-rivals would almost certainly put a stopper on their ambitions to overthrow Liverpool, or at least that is how it feels given the clunky nature of recent performances.

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Here, football.london has taken a look at what can be seen from pre-game preparation pictures.

Happy Havertz

It has been a tough week for the Arsenal striker. He was heavily criticised and compared to Alexander Isak in the Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle United as his weaknesses were put on show against a truly elite centre forward.

Matters got worse in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United. Havertz missed a handful of huge chances and his own penalty in the shootout. His wife revealed afterwards that she had received vile abuse due to the performance of her spouse.

Arteta addressed the issue well on Tuesday and Havertz appears to be getting on with things well despite the toll this must have. He is seen smiling next to a happy William Saliba and looks like he is about to cause some mischief. In the image on Arsenal's website he loads the ball up high in his right hand, potentially threatening to throw it playfully at his teammate.

Arteta response

In a similar manner, Arteta has had to put up with a bruising spell as head coach. His success is being questioned and tactical ploys are under the microscope.

Nevertheless, he cuts a cheerful figure in the images, cracking a laugh and a huge grin during the session. For Arsenal, keeping spirits high and not letting the recent run get to them will be key against Spurs.

Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli also let out a smile in separate images whilst Declan Rice looks to be enjoying his run so much that he just can't help but give off a beam of his own. All is good in the hood for now but there is nothing like derby day to test that spirit.

Injury issues

Currently sidelined for Arsenal are Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri, and now Gabriel Jesus. Raheem Sterling and Martin Odegaard are back to fitness after illness, as is Havertz, but the impact is still being felt.

Last week Arteta said that he had trained with less than ten senior players, such was the extent of the problems. Those have eased slightly but a group of academy hopefuls still had to fill in.

Seen here are Louis Zecevic-John, Louie Copley, and Cam'ron Ismail among other, less visible, others. Myles Lewis-Skelley was also involved.