Arsenal needs a favor from Tottenham in the title race. Current form suggests it won't happen

Four straight losses. The team’s worst run of results for 20 years. Two clean sheets since the end of October.

Those looking at Tottenham to provide a late twist in the Premier League title race are, given the current evidence, going to be disappointed.

Manchester City’s May 14 trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, for its next-to-last game of the season, appeared to many the last possible stumbling block for the champions in their bid to reel in Arsenal and secure an unprecedented fourth straight title.

After all, not only have Spurs plenty to play for — they're still just about fighting for Champions League qualification — but they haven’t lost, or even conceded a goal, against City in their four league meetings at Tottenham’s new stadium since it opened in 2019.

Arsenal, though, is surely losing hope of a favor from its north London neighbor.

Similarly, Tottenham fans might be starting to lose hope that Ange Postecoglou is the man to bring a winning culture to the club without a trophy since 2008.

It all started so well for the first-ever Australian to coach in the Premier League.

Tottenham was top of the league in early November, unbeaten and playing the kind of attacking football its supporters always crave. No manager had ever taken 26 points from his first 10 games in the Premier League before Postecoglou came along with a high defensive line and an aggressive, front-foot style.

Postecoglou, it seemed, was the perfect antidote to Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, pragmatic and defense-first coaches whose spells in charge of Tottenham promised so much but ended so sourly.

Fast-forward six months and it feels like the season cannot end soon enough for Spurs, who are limping to the finish line, and Postecoglou, who is beginning to understand the size of the task he took on almost a year ago.

“We need change. Change has to happen,” Postecoglou said ahead of Tottenham’s 4-2 loss at Liverpool on Sunday. It was a fourth defeat in a row, something that hasn’t happened since those grim final days of Jacques Santini at Spurs in late 2004.

Over the past month there has been a 4-0 loss at Newcastle, a 3-2 home loss to Arsenal when Tottenham was three goals behind at halftime, a 2-0 loss at Chelsea and then the defeat at Anfield that saw a lethargic-looking Spurs fall 4-0 down after 59 minutes.

And this is the team Arsenal hopes can halt the City juggernaut next week?

Tottenham should still seal fifth place, and qualification for the Europa League, because either side of the visit of City are matches against Burnley and already-relegated Sheffield United — the bottom two teams in the league.

Spurs are seven points behind fourth-place Aston Villa and four ahead of sixth-place Newcastle.

It raises the question of whether the first season under Postecoglou has been a success.

Spurs fans likely would have taken a fifth-place finish after seeing England captain and record scorer Harry Kane leave for Bayern Munich last August. With Hugo Lloris and Eric Dier also departing during the season, a huge amount of experience was lost and it's in these tough final weeks of the season where that lack of senior leaders in the squad has been exposed.

It also seems that, as a whole, the fan base is still behind Postecoglou and his refreshing outlook, even if his insistence on sticking to his attacking principles can come across as naive as it is bold.

“I believe what I believe down to my core. I’ll stand on the highest ground, die a noble death, believing in what I believe,” he said.

“Maybe the Premier League is a step too far. Who knows? Maybe, maybe — but I will still be on that hill, wounded, my dying breath saying, ‘I believe, I do believe.’”

Whether Postecoglou will bring more balance to his managerial philosophy next year remains to be seen.

For the moment, Arsenal will just be praying that Tottenham — the team it wants to see lose any normal week of the season — can pull off an improbable victory over City to change the course of the title race ahead of the final round on May 19.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tottenham's Brennan Johnson applauds supporters at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou applauds to fans at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's Pedro Porro splashes water on his face during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou gestures as he leaves the pitch at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's Richarlison reacts in disappointment at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers weren't ready to have their season end. Now, they're going to the limit in their second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks.

Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a goal and two assists, Connor McDavid added three assists and the Oilers beat the Canucks 5-1 on Saturday night to avoid elimination and force a deciding Game 7.

“The boys were ready from the start, we obviously knew what was at stake tonight,” Edmonton forward Dylan Holloway said. “There was probably a bit of nerves, but once we kind of got settled in we played our game and rolled all four lines and got going there and never looked back.”

Dylan Holloway, Zach Hyman and Evander Kane also scored for the Oilers, and Stuart Skinner stopped 14 shots.

“We played faster, we played cleaner, we were better with the puck, better coming through the neutral zone," McDavid said. "We did a great job of getting on top of them on the forecheck and keeping pucks alive.

“Nothing to be satisfied or excited about, we just bought ourselves another day and I would expect the same level of urgency and desperation from our group. I would expect Vancouver to play a better game as well and I would expect it to be a highly-competitive, great Game 7.”

Nils Hoglander scored for Vancouver, which is trying to make it to the Western Conference final for the first time since 2011. Arturs Silovs finished with 22 saves.

“We knew obviously this was going to be a difficult test to win tonight,” Canucks forward Brock Boeser said. “Obviously, they got a couple of goals that obviously sucked and took the wind out of us. I think the belief is in this room.”

Game 7 is Monday night in Vancouver, with the winner advancing to face Dallas in the Western Conference final.

Edmonton started the scoring at 8:18 of the first period as Leon Draisaitl fed it up to Holloway and he danced through the defense before tucking it between Silovs' legs for his third of the playoffs.

“What an unbelievable effort,” Hyman said. “For a guy who came up really for the playoffs to do that, he’s had big moments here, but it’s a huge goal to settle the team down to get us up.”

Draisaitl has picked up at least one point in all 11 playoff games this season.

Less than two minutes later, the Canucks evened it up as Elias Pettersson sent a pass from behind the net out front to Hoglander, who snuck his first of the playoffs past Skinner just past the midpoint of the period.

The Oilers looked to have scored with 1 second remaining in the first on a point shot from Bouchard, but the goal was called off due to McDavid making incidental contact with Silovs.

Edmonton went ahead for good at 7:14 of the second as McDavid spotted Hyman in the slot and his shot deflected and bounced up and over Silovs and into the Vancouver net for his 10th of the playoffs. McDavid came into the game having only recorded one assist in his previous three games combined.

McDavid picked up another assist with 8:40 to play in the second as Bouchard scored his fifth goal and 17th point of the postseason on a long shot from the point. The Oilers' captain became just the 10th player in NHL history to record 20 playoff points in three consecutive seasons with his second assist.

The Oilers made it 4-1 just 3:25 into the third period as McDavid picked up his third assist, sending a backhand pass to a hard-charging Nugent-Hopkins, who scored his third of the playoffs.

Edmonton put the game away with just under 7 minutes left as the draw came back to Kane and he unleashed a wicked wrister for his fourth of the postseason.

Boeser is confident the Canucks can rebound for Game 7.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily what you dream of as a kid, but it’s definitely an opportunity for our group,” he said. “Obviously, we can play better and we all know that. ... We’ll regroup and look at what we can do better and it’s just going to come down to who wants it more next game.”

Skinner returned in goal for the Oilers after Calvin Pickard started the last two games.

Draisaitl became just the fourth player in NHL history to record 60 assists in 60 playoffs games and the third in league history to get to 100 points — behind Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Vancouver Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs (31) makes a save on Edmonton Oilers' Derek Ryan (10) during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers' Stuart Skinner (74) and Evan Bouchard (2) celebrate the team's win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers' Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard, from left, celebrate a goal against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs (31) looks away as Edmonton Oilers celebrate a goal during the third period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Elias Pettersson (40) is stopped by Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner (74) as Cody Ceci (5) defends during the third period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers celebrate the win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers rough it up during the third period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)