Arsenal have never finished below Spurs in all of the 20 years that Wenger has been in charge at the club. But this year he faces that prospect for real, with Tottenham six points ahead of his side in second place.

And by the time Arsenal kick-off against Crystal Palace tomorrow afternoon, they could be 16 points behind Premier League leaders Leicester.

But a defiant Wenger has vowed to fight to the end, insisting that this young team will learn from this season and that he wants to keep the core of this squad together.

"We are not behind Spurs yet," he said. "But Tottenham have been behind us for years and they have survived. Let's be realistic. From the outside people could say this core group needs changes. But we have to analyse it in an objective way.

"This team has won many games and the quality of many games was at the top level. Yes, we drew 3-3 at West Ham last week but we played well. We have to correct the aspects of our game that were not convincing.