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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jamie Kemble

Gary Lineker takes aim at Arsenal and Tottenham after West Ham take commanding lead

Gary Lineker has taken a dig at Arsenal and Tottenham amid disappointing performances from each of the North London clubs this week.

Tottenham dominated headlines on Thursday night after they blew a two-goal lead in the Europa League to crash out at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb, missing out on a quarter-final.

Arsenal suffered no such embarrassment, edging through against Olympiacos despite losing 1-0 on Thursday night, after wining 3-1 in the away leg.

But the Gunners have followed that up with a disastrous first-half performance against London rivals West Ham United in the Premier League, going 3-0 behind within 32 minutes.

WEST HAM V ARSENAL: MATCH IN PICTURES

An own goal from Tomas Soucek did get Arsenal back into the game, going in at the break 3-1, but it's a very poor start from Mikel Arteta's men as they attempt to salvage their European hopes.

A defeat to the Hammers would see Arsenal finish the weekend sitting five points behind Liverpool and Everton in sixth and seventh, respectively, but with the Toffees having a game in hand.

Arteta's men would be left in 10th place and with their hopes of finishing in the top six very much hanging in the balance with just nine games remaining after today.

Though, Match of the Day presenter and former Spurs striker Lineker has joked the Gunners are not in a top six race, instead trying to finish below Tottenham in the table.

He joked on Twitter: "It appears that Arsenal and Spurs are having their own fight to finish the lowest. Arsenal seem determined to win it."

Arsenal will be desperate to turn things around in the second half, and indeed in their remaining nine games, but they face an uphill battle with the likes of West Ham, Liverpool and Everton all above them, perhaps leaving the Europa League as their best chance of sealing qualification to Europe ahead of next season.

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