Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta expects more "twists" as the Gunners fight with north London rivals Tottenham for Champions League qualification.
Arteta's side seemingly turned a corner in 2022 as they surged to fourth in the Premier League, but consecutive losses against Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion have handed the advantage to Spurs.
Antonio Conte's team sit three points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal, who have played a game fewer, as the pair contest alongside West Ham for a place in England's top four.
But Arteta, speaking ahead of the clash with Southampton on Saturday, insists there should be more changes and drama expected as the season heads towards its conclusion.
Asked who was in control of the top-four push, he responded on Friday: "Whoever manages to win more games and play better.
"There's going to be some twists still for sure and the pressure and situation is going to keep changing between now and the end of the season. We have to be focused on us and what we have to do.
"Every game [is important], but obviously when you lose, the next game takes more importance and we know that."
Arsenal are set to visit Tottenham in the penultimate week of the season in what is being billed as a decider for the final Champions League spot, but Arteta does not feel more pressure despite the rivalry.
"I think it's related to our history and we want to be not fourth, but third, second or first, and that's what we have to do," he added.
"That's always within every supporter and anybody who has any connection with the club, so the moment you see the team doing better and having better aspirations, your tendency is to get excited about it and I think that's the right reaction."
Arsenal began their 2021-22 campaign with three consecutive league losses in August, and defeat at Southampton would reproduce the same unwanted feat.
Arteta's team are in much better stead now, but the Spaniard dismissed suggestions that the Gunners would have settled for fifth in the Premier League after their abject start.
"At the start of the season? You cannot take anything because you don't know how things are going to develop," he continued.
"You could ask me a week into the season or two weeks before, I could maybe give you a different answer, but no, no."
Alexandre Lacazette has not scored from open play in the league since a strike in December against Southampton, who he has been involved in seven goals in six top-flight appearances against.
Reports suggest Lacazette missed training in midweek, but Arteta assured there is a "good possibility" he will play, while he hailed Bukayo Saka, who is the only English player to have registered both 50-plus shots and 50 or more chances created in the competition this term.
"He's a great kid, and he has a really clear idea of what he needs to expect," he said of the England international. "The better he does, the more difficult they are going to try and make it for him, that's for sure.
"I think he needs the protection that all the players need at this level, nothing different, nothing special.
"The best players and the talented players are always going to be, closely looked at, and they are going to close the space and they are going to be tight on them.
"Bukayo has to recognise that is going to be the case. Referees have to recognise that as well, early in the game, and then try to protect them."
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 RB Leipzig: Sahin picks up much-needed comeback win
Borussia Dortmund fought back to beat RB Leipzig 2-1 and claim a morale-boosting Bundesliga win for under-pressure boss Nuri Sahin.
Dortmund bounced back from a three-game losing streak in all competitions despite having nine players missing for Saturday's clash at Signal Iduna Park.
Leipzig took the lead when Benjamin Sesko lashed home from a tight angle in the 27th minute, though Dortmund had spurned several gilt-edged chances by that stage.
Dortmund responded within three minutes, though, with Maximilian Beier pouncing onto a loose ball to prod in.
The turnaround was completed when Serhou Guirassy headed in from close range in the 65th minute.
While Leipzig suffered their first league defeat of the campaign, Dortmund sit fifth.
Data Debrief: Sahin's home fortress
Dortmund's troubles this season, at least domestically, have come mainly on the road, but they have been excellent at home and this win continued that form.
Sahin has won each of his first five Bundesliga home games in charge of Dortmund, a feat previously only achieved by Marco Rose (seven wins), who of course was in the opposite dugout on Saturday.
Udinese 0-2 Juventus: Old Lady youngsters inspire return to winning ways
Juventus ensured they returned to winning ways in Serie A after Maduka Okoye's own-goal and Nicolo Savona's strike earned them a 2-0 win over Udinese.
After back-to-back draws against Inter and Parma along with their Champions League defeat to Stuttgart, Thiago Motta's side put on a dominant display away from home.
Juventus took the lead in the 19th minute when Khephren Thuram's effort struck the post, but fortuitously bounced off the back of Okoye and into his own net.
Savona then doubled the visitors' advantage eight minutes before half-time, with the young Italian quickest to react to Kenan Yildiz's shot that rebounded off the post.
Udinese did, however, improve after the break, and almost halved the deficit through Lorenzo Lucca, but his effort struck the crossbar in the 83rd minute.
Juventus remain unbeaten in their first 11 Serie A matches this term, the first time they have reached this stage of the season without defeat since the 2020-21 campaign.
Data Debrief: The Young Lady?
Juventus maintained their impressive record against Udinese away from home, earning their third away win in a row without conceding a goal.
But they were helped by Savona, who is becoming a rising star at Juventus. The 21-year-old is the youngest Italian in the division to have scored at least twice this term.
Juventus are also the only team in Serie A this season to have more than one player born from 2003 onwards with two or more goals scored in the competition, in Savona (two goals, born in 2003) and Yildiz (two goals, 2005).
Wolves 2-2 Crystal Palace: Guehi leveller piles pressure on O’Neil
Wolves’ wait for a first win of the Premier League season continued as they were pegged back in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Trevoh Chalobah put Palace ahead on the hour mark, drilling into an unguarded net after Jorgen Strand Larsen inadvertently headed Will Hughes’ cross away from his own goalkeeper Jose Sa.
However, Chalobah’s missed interception allowed Matheus Cunha to tee up Larsen’s 67th-minute equaliser, then Wolves went ahead within five further minutes.
Joao Gomes stroked home following good work from substitute Goncalo Guedes but Wolves – and their under-fire head coach Gary O’Neil – were denied a vital win by Palace skipper Marc Guehi.
He was alive to convert at the back post after Daniel Munoz flicked on a corner, keeping Palace four points clear of Wolves in 17th, and the Eagles could have won it in stoppage time, only for Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s strike to be disallowed for Munoz’s foul on Sa.
O’Neil’s side remain 20th after Southampton recorded their first win of 2024-25 against Everton, ahead of a huge clash between the division’s bottom two clubs next week.
Data Debrief: Wolves’ wait goes on
After Southampton beat Everton at St Mary’s earlier on Saturday, Wolves remain one of just two winless sides in the Premier League, alongside Ipswich Town.
This is just the third time in their history that they have gone 10 games without a win at the start of a league campaign, after 1926-27 (10 matches) and 1983-84 (14).
O’Neil’s men are now winless in 13 league games dating back to last season, their second-longest run in the competition’s history, behind only a streak of 17 between February 2012 and August 2018.
At the end of a week in which Manchester United made Erik ten Hag the season’s first managerial casualty, O’Neil remains under severe pressure.
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