Thomas Vermaelen insists Arsenal are now firm favourites to finish third in the Premier League after clawing back a 10-point deficit on Tottenham Hotspur.

When the two teams met at the Emirates Stadium on 26 February, Tottenham could have gone 13 points clear of their north London rivals with a victory. Instead Arsenal won 5-2. Their 1-0 win over Everton on Wednesday night was their sixth successive league success and Vermaelen believes they hold the upper hand in the quest to finish behind the Manchester clubs in third place.

"We are always confident [of staying third], especially if we keep winning games as we are," said Vermaelen, whose goal at Goodison Park was his second in as many games following the Belgian's injury-time strike in the 2-1 win against Newcastle on 12 March. "But we won't be looking at Tottenham, only ourselves. That's the important thing for us, not what other clubs are doing.

"Yes [Arsenal are favourites to finish third], we just have to keep the focus on our own performance. At the moment we have had some good results against some difficult teams. We have shown good mentality."

Finishing third will not only maintain Arsenal's edge in the north London rivalry – Spurs have not finished above their neighbours in the league since 1995 – but also save the club from having to compete in a two-legged play-off to reach the Champions League, which next season takes place on 21-22 and 28-29 August. The fixture could prove a major headache for the clubs involved given many of their players will return to pre-season training later than normal having taken part in Euro 2012.

"Being in the Champions League is very important to the club, and we know that finishing third gives you straight qualification for it," added Vermaelen. "Finish fourth and you have to play a qualifier. But it's not going to be easy, we know that, because there are still a lot of games to play. We'll stay focused and see how far we go."

Spurs's decline is particularly untimely for Redknapp, given it comes during a period when the 65-year-old is being heavily linked with the England manager's job. "We're all disappointed to have had a blip at this time of the season but we've got to come out of that now, we've got to keep going," he said. "Arsenal can think it's all over. It's not all over. There's a long way to go yet. There'll be twists and turns. It's all to play for still."