Arsenal are suddenly feeling the pressure at the top of the Premier League table. The Gunners have won just twice in their last seven matches, with the most recent result the 2-2 draw with bottom club Wolves on Wednesday night, having been 2-0 up.
The gap to second-placed Manchester City is now just five points, with Pep Guardiola's side holding a game in hand over the Gunners.
Now, Arsenal have the small matter of a North London Derby against fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur to come on Sunday afternoon, coming up against a Spurs side with a new manager in charge in interim boss Igor Tudor.
Drop points again and it really would be advantage City in the title race that has been in Arsenal's hands almost since the beginning of the season.
Is Mikel Arteta The New Mauricio Pochettino?
Mauricio Pochettino
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino
Talk has ramped up in the wake of that Wolves draw about Arsenal's mentality for the fight at the top of the table, having finished as runners-up in each of the last three seasons.
And with the game against Tottenham to come this weekend, plenty of similarities have been drawn with Spurs' record under Mauricio Pochettino during the Argentine's time in charge from 2014 to 2019.
Tottenham finished third in the Premier League in 2016, challenging surprise winners Leicester City for the title all the way until the end of the season. A year later, they went one better and finished second behind Chelsea, again challenging all the way until the end of the campaign against a relentless Blues side who won 30 of their 38 games.
Spurs finished third again the next year, although were a long way off Manchester City's 100-point haul, but they then reached the UEFA Champions League final in 2019, only to be beaten by Liverpool in Madrid.
Pochettino is seen as one of Tottenham's most successful managers of the modern era, without having won anything, and there are talks that he could return to the club as permanent manager this summer.
Tottenham Under Pochettino Were Very Different To Arsenal Under Arteta
Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley - Premier League
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 15: Harry Kane celebrates with Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur after scoring their team's first goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 15, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Independent journalist Miguel Delaney asked in a piece on Friday: "Are Arteta's Arsenal in danger of being an upscaled Pochettino's Spurs?" Delaney is right in that it would be a very much upscaled version, because of the money the Gunners have spent.
He is not the only one to suggest this, with talk on social media akin to that perspective.
Given Pochettino and Tottenham failed to win anything during their best spell, it is easy to see why the comparison has been made. Getting Spurs into the conversation at the top of the table was an incredible achievement for Pochettino, given the lack of transfer spend and the young squad that he had to work with.
The Argentinian got the best out of young players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Son Heung-min, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose, enjoying the prime of some of their careers. In those two seasons where Spurs were battling for the Premier League title, Pochettino had to deal with no money being spent in the January transfer window. With Tottenham so close to a first Premier League title, no new players were signed mid-season in either 2016 or 2017 and over the summer transfer windows of the three campaigns from 2015/16 to 2017/18, the biggest outlay was on defender Davinson Sanchez at £42million.
Son had arrived the year before for £22million and Moussa Sissoko alongside Sanchez for £30million.
When taken into context with Arsenal, it is like chalk and cheese.
Arsenal Have Spent Big On New Players
declan rice-2
Over the last three years Arsenal have splashed out more than £585million on new signings, spending more than £100million on Declan Rice and splashing out upwards of £50million on five other players - four of them in the most recent summer transfer window.
Of course, this spend has been necessary, to keep up with the spending of the likes of City and Liverpool, who are both responsible for winning the Premier League title between them in the last eight seasons.
Mikel Arteta has been backed in the transfer market and now he has to deliver. Otherwise he is in danger of emulating Pochettino's greatest achievement down the road in the white half of north London - no silverware - at a much greater cost.