Arsenal seek fun factor as Frank searches for home comforts

Arsenal travel to Leeds on Saturday desperate to prevent a English Premier League (EPL) wobble becoming something more serious as Manchester City and Aston Villa wait to pounce.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are still four points clear at the top of the table but have picked up just two points from their past three games.

Beleaguered Tottenham boss Thomas Frank needs his team to replicate their impressive European form when they host City while Crystal Palace aim to stop the rot.

Mikel Arteta promised ‘beautiful’ things lie ahead despite a stumble in the Premier League race that has given the chasing pack hope.

The league leaders suffered their first home defeat of the season against Manchester United last week after draws against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Former United captain Roy Keane believes the Gunners are “feeling the pressure” as they chase a first Premier League title since 2004 following three successive runners-up finishes.

Arteta has pledged his team will “live and play with enjoyment, with a lot of courage and with the conviction that we’re going to win it”.

But to fully enjoy the ride, the Spaniard needs more goals from his forwards to reduce the team’s striking reliance on set-pieces.

Analysts Opta still give Arsenal an 81 percent chance of winning the Premier League but if results go against them this weekend their lead could be cut to a single point.

A trip to face Daniel Farke’s resurgent Leeds offers plenty of potential pitfalls.

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Thomas Frank’s team are enduring a miserable domestic campaign -- 14th in the table with just two wins in their past 14 matches.

But it is a different story in Europe -- with a 2-0 win in Frankfurt on Wednesday giving them a fourth-placed finish out of 36 teams in the Champions League group phase, and a spot in the last 16.

Former Brentford boss Frank, who has been booed by Spurs fans in recent weeks, will be painfully aware that winning the Europa League last season was not enough to save predecessor Ange Postecoglou’s job.

But the club’s Champions League form may at least buy the Dane some time.

Only Premier League basement side Wolves have a worse home record this season than Spurs -- who have mustered just two wins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Supporters are running out of patience regardless of European distractions.

Palace relegation scrap:? Early last month Crystal Palace were riding high -- fourth in the Premier League and still basking in the glory of their FA Cup final win.

But the mood has changed radically, with captain Marc Guehi now at Manchester City and manager Oliver Glasner announcing he will be leaving at the end of the season.

The Austrian vented his frustration at club bosses earlier this month following their decision to sell defender Guehi, saying the team had been “abandoned completely”.

It was the latest high-profile departure following the transfer of talisman Eberechi Eze to Arsenal in the summer transfer window.

Glasner has since said he has cleared the air with chairman Steve Parish and is “100 percent committed” to the club until the end of the season.

But Palace are winless in their past 11 matches across all competitions as they prepare to travel to struggling Nottingham Forest.

They remain eight points clear of West Ham, in the relegation zone, but the Hammers are showing clear signs of a revival while Palace appear unable to pull themselves out of their tailspin.

Slot warns Liverpool can’t afford mistakes: Arne Slot said Liverpool ‘cannot afford a lot of mistakes anymore’ as his team battle for a top-four Premier League finish following the collapse of their title defence.

The Reds are sixth in the table, two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United ahead of Newcastle’s visit to Anfield on Saturday.

In a congested table, just five points separate United from Sunderland, in 11th spot. Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are three points behind Liverpool.

Agence France-Presse