Former USMNT defender Janusz Michallik thinks it’s key Arsenal are back ahead of Tottenham in the table, but says it’s too early to hope for anything more.

The Gunners’ last-minute winner against Burnley saw them move ahead of Spurs and Liverpool into the top-four, closing the gap on Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

But Michallik told ESPN via the Express that it’s difficult to get invested in the team, because they’ve had such differing results so far. He explained: “I don’t think anyone gets excited when it comes to Arsenal because of the consistency.

“But I think it’s one of those wins that you take, I think it’s significant that they are in front of Spurs. In the last couple of weeks I think we were all talking about Pochettino and how great he has been, everything was about him. 

“They are two similar clubs obviously, so I think this is big. I don’t think there is any reason for us to go negative at Arsenal right now. Yes the collapse may still come but it hasn’t (yet), so at the moment they will be happy going fourth.”

Firstly, I’m not sure about the comment on Arsenal and Spurs being similar clubs. The Gunners have more in common with a club like Aston Villa, who have won more than two league titles in their entire history.

I suppose Tottenham are close geographically speaking, but so are West Ham or Leyton Orient, and I wouldn’t say they’re similar clubs either.

In terms of the current teams on the pitch, Tottenham have clearly gained on Arsenal compared with the massive divide that existed 10 or 15 years ago.

But the Gunners were dominant in the recent match at the Emirates, and thus I think the relative positions in the table reflect their current fortunes well.

As for consistency, that’s up to Arsenal to prove. They’ve put together a very consistent run at the Emirates, so this next week is just about keeping that going against Huddersfield and Manchester United.