The last time Arsenal played a North London Derby at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was probably the lowest point of Mikel Arteta's time in charge.
The Gunners slumped to a 2-0 defeat that sent Jose Mourinho's Spurs top of the Premier League and left them staring down the grim barrel of a relegation battle.
It was a drab display lacking in creativity or conviction in the final third as Arsenal struggled to turn sustained possession into anything other than speculative and ineffective crosses.
Fast forward from December 2020 to August 2021, and you have to ask, what has really changed?
In fairness quite a bit actually.
Most obviously, the Gunners have made new signings in the shape of Ben White and Albert Sambi Lokonga since then.
Both excelled on their North London Derby debuts, with White showcasing why Edu had been moved to spend £50million on him with a classy display both in and out of possession and Lokonga looking to be something of a steal with his progressive passing.
The duo are part of a tactical evolution Arteta is trying to oversee aimed at getting his team winning the ball high up the pitch and operating close to the opposition goal.
When they get there though, it is still the same story.
After a slow start on Sunday, Arsenal eventually wrestled control of possession but could do precious little with it.
Their best chances in the opening period came from Alexandre Lacazette shots on the edge of the box that had been fashioned more out of luck than design.
Without any clear plan of how to get the ball into the box, it was constantly shifted out to Kieran Tierney, whose crossing, although accurate, yielded just one real chance of note - a volley just outside the six-yard area that Lacazette skewed wide.
The most threatening moments came more from individual brilliance than any real cohesive attempt at attacking with Emile Smith Rowe's jinking dribble on the edge of the box forcing a good block from Eric Dier and Nicolas Pepe's quick shift of pace creating a decent crossing opportunity in towards a worryingly empty box.
Meanwhile, a decision still doesn't seem to have been made on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the Gabon forward struggling again on the left-wing as he concluded his pre-season campaign without a single goal in six matches.
With the Premier League opener against Brentford just four days away the lack of discernible progress here will be a real cause for concern.
The lack of options on the bench to change this will also have be a worry for Arteta.
Willian, signed last summer to be the creative force that Arsenal clearly needed, was not even part of the squad, while Joe Willock also missed out ahead of his expected move to Newcastle.
Martin Odegaard and James Maddison have both been linked as the Gunners look to bolster their squad with two signings and hope to get a deal done for one of them before the transfer window closes on August 31, but for now football.london understands the focus is on the undeniably pressing need to sign a back-up goalkeeper.
For his part, Arteta insisted that he was happy to work with the players he had at the moment.
"I don't know what will happen," he said. "Again I repeat myself. We train with the players we have available.
"We try to do the right things to improve the team in the areas that are needed. At the moment we came so far and there's still a window that is open."
In fairness, you would hardly expect the Spaniard to say anything different given the impact publicly criticising a whole group of players would have on squad morale.
The Arsenal attack also isn't quite as doom and gloom as it may seem from this analysis so far, particularly when you consider the bright cameos of Bukayo Saka and Flo Balogun and the fact that Gabriel Martinelli has returned to the squad after winning gold at the Olympics for Brazil.
But with difficult fixtures against Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City to come before the end of the transfer window, leaving their business so late is a gamble from the Gunners.
Of course, circumstances play a part, but without much obvious improvement in the final third, there have to be some concerns over their ability to challenge for a return to Champions League football this season.
