Arsenal hero Alan Smith has backed his former side in the race to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League.
The Gunners are currently fourth in the Premier League standings, sitting one point ahead of Manchester United, who have played three more times in the league.
Tottenham Hotspur are also in the mix, just three points behind their local rivals but the Lillywhites have played once more in the league than their fellow north London side this season.
Now, Smith has claimed that United should be running away from the likes of Arsenal and Spurs considering the money they have spent in recent years.
Speaking to Express Sport at the London Football Awards, Smith said: “When you look at the resources and the money that Manchester United have spent, you expect them to breeze into that top-four position.
“They continue be go up and down, you don’t know what you are going to get. So that is encouragement for the likes of Arsenal and Spurs, though it has been a bit turbulent there lately.
“The thing about Arsenal is they are very together, there are not many dramas coming out of there. Arteta seems to have a firm hold over that team.
“They have three games in hand over Manchester United and West Ham. If they were to win them, they would be in a great position.”
The Gunners could be set for a busy summer transfer window, with technical director Edu likely to try and bring in at least one midfielder and one centre-forward given both Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah are into the final five months of their contracts with the club.
When discussing their summer plans, Smith added: “It will be interesting to see what they do this summer but obviously they need a striker or two. But I do think that the recruitment side of the club are in much better order.
“You saw that with the signings of [Takehiro] Tomiyasu, Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, that they have got their act together so hopefully that bodes well for this summer.
"Arteta has got rid of the ones that he did not want, whether that is on loan or sold.
“Obviously the big one is Aubameyang, I never thought they would be able to find a club for him. So that has been a big gamble on Arteta’s part, considering what he has left behind.
“But as a manager you have to make big decisions and that was one of those but he must be hoping for no injuries to [Alexandre] Lacazette and [Eddie] Nketiah.
“But yeah, there is a lot of work for Arteta in the summer.”
