Former Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger believes that Tottenham Hotspur have what it takes to maintain a Premier League title charge during the 2023-24 season.
Throughout the majority of his Gunners tenure, Wenger and Arsenal had their bitter rivals' number more often than not and famously clinched their most recent Premier League title at White Hart Lane in 2004.
Arsenal finished above Tottenham in the top flight for 21 years running, but Wenger's penultimate season in charge saw Tottenham finally usurp their long-time adversaries under Mauricio Pochettino.
Since Wenger and Pochettino exited their North London posts, Spurs have enjoyed mixed success against Arsenal under Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, but the most recent meeting in September saw Ange Postecoglou's side come from behind twice to rescue a 2-2 draw.
Ten games into the new Premier League season, Tottenham and Arsenal are the only two teams in the top flight without a single loss to their name, but Postecoglou's men hold a two-point lead over the Gunners at the top of the table as they revel in their record-breaking start to a top-flight season.
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With 26 points from a possible 30, Postecoglou - who has won back-to-back Manager of the Month awards - has enjoyed a better start to his Premier League career than any other head coach before him, surpassing Guus Hiddink's 25 for Chelsea in the 2008-09 campaign.
Not since their 1960-61 double-winning season - when they last won the top flight - have Tottenham enjoyed such a strong start to a campaign, thanks in no small part to a raft of astute acquisitions to replace the goals of Harry Kane.
Following an eighth-placed finish in the 2022-23 season, which condemned them to a first campaign without European football in 14 years, Spurs splashed the cash on James Maddison, Manor Solomon, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario and Brennan Johnson, as well as bringing youngsters Alejo Veliz and Ashley Phillips to the club.
Vicario, Maddison and Van de Ven have shone for Tottenham during their debut campaigns, while Destiny Udogie, Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma have also stolen the spotlight with several eye-catching performances as Postecoglou implements his high-intensity, attacking brand of football.
In addition, newly-appointed captain Son Heung-min has rediscovered his best form after a troubled 2022-23 season, and Wenger believes that Tottenham have a genuine chance to go all the way this year.
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"I like always to say what I feel, really. Deeply, I believe Tottenham will be one of the contenders for the league," the 74-year-old told beIN Sports.
"They bought Maddison, who is a great player. He is that llink from low midfield to high midfield and added some technical creativity to the team
"They bought Van de Ven, who I find absolutely exceptional. They had weaknesses there and last season [Hugo] Lloris had not the best of seasons as well. And the movement from Son into the middle looks very good."
Tottenham are one of six teams to have been present in every Premier League season since its establishment in 1992, alongside Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United.
The Lilywhites' best finish in the top flight so far came in the 2016-17 season, when they collected 86 points to finish second in the table, seven points behind champions Chelsea.
Ben Knapton
