It is no exaggeration to say that Arsene Wenger's reputation and legacy could hinge on this Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Wigan Athletic at Wembley.
The veteran French manager has supplied the Gunners with plenty of glory down the years, from the double-winning side of 1998 to the 'Invincibles' of 2004, but the longer his current trophy drought goes on for, the more those achievements are cast into shadow.
A defeat on Saturday would condemn Arsenal to a decade without silverware, and with the likes of Wigan, Hull City and Sheffield United joining the Gunners in the last four this season, failure to take advantage as such overwhelming favourites could be the last straw.
No-one does a collapse quite like Arsenal, however, and it wouldn't be out of character for the Gunners to end a miserable spell by seeing their last chance of silverware fade away.
Elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich was expected, but a 6-0 mauling by Chelsea saw them comprehensively dumped out of the title race, while last Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Everton has even seen a top-four finish taken out of their own hands.
From this point, the season could go one of two ways for Arsenal. Failure to win the FA Cup and qualify for the Champions League would make for a disastrous campaign and could be the cue for Wenger's exit, yet if they can end their trophy drought and finish in the top four then it must go down as a good season.
They have by no means had an easy route to the semi-finals, knocking out Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Everton along the way, so Wigan do not represent their toughest challenge in this season's competition.
However, the Gunners do have a number of injury concerns, with Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere among those definitely sidelined. Mathieu Flamini will also miss the game through suspension, while Serge Gnabry and Kieran Gibbs are both doubts.
The good news for Wenger, however, is that Aaron Ramsey is ready to start, and he is likely to replace Flamini alongside Mikel Arteta in midfield.
Wigan, meanwhile, are looking to complete the most unlikely of back-to-back successes in this competition having won in the Wembley final against all the odds last season.
They beat Manchester City on that occasion and emerged as genuine contenders to become the first team to win the trophy from outside the top flight since 1980 by repeating the feat of toppling City in the quarter-final at the Etihad last month.
That was the third Premier League team in a row to fall at the hands of Wigan in the FA Cup this season, and if they can make it four on Saturday then they will certainly fancy their chances of beating the winners of the other semi-final.
However, their league form has faltered in recent weeks as the Latics have perhaps had one eye on this match. They have won just one of their last five games and were beaten at home by struggling Millwall on Tuesday. Despite that, their playoff position is all but guaranteed now, meaning that they can focus their full attention on cup exploits.
The hero of last year's final Ben Watson will play no part due to injury, while Chris McCann is also out as manager Uwe Rosler is likely to go for a similar 5-4-1 formation to the one that did the job at the Etihad.
Recent form
Wigan: WLDDWL
Arsenal: DWLDDL
Possible starting lineups
Wigan: Al-Habsi; Perch, Boyce, Ramis, Barnett, Beausejour; McManaman, McArthur, McEachran, Gomez; Powell
Arsenal: Fabianski; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Monreal; Arteta, Ramsey; Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski; Sanogo
Sports Mole says: 1-2
Barney Corkhill
