BOLTON, England (AFP) - Arsene Wenger has always regarded visits to Bolton Wanderers as events to endure rather than enjoy but the Arsenal manager cannot afford to be sniffy as he prepares for Saturday's latest trip to the Reebok Stadium.

His season is in melt-down. Last week's critical defeat to Chelsea extended Arsenal's winless streak in domestic competition to six games, their worst run in nine years and a sequence which has all but snuffed out their hopes of winning back the Premier League after a four-year hiatus.

They are now six points behind the leaders Manchester United, with just seven games remaining.

Their hopes of rescuing the campaign now rest on a Champions League quarter-final tie with Liverpool, a distinctly uneasy scenario for Wenger given Rafael Benitez's prowess in European competition.

The French manager's hopes of dispatching the Merseysiders hinge on his side rediscovering something approaching their best form before next week's first leg at the Emirates Stadium, a point that makes this latest journey to Bolton all the more untimely.

The Reebok has often been a graveyard for Arsenal's ambitions.

It was in this wind-swept corner of Lancashire that the north Londoners effectively threw away the 2002-03 Premier League title, allowing Bolton to fight back from two goals down to secure a draw and hand the initiative to Manchester United.

Since then, Arsenal have lost three out of four league matches at this ground, with each defeat prompting bitter comments from Wenger over Wanderers' physical style of play.

Bolton are a less daunting proposition now that Sam Allardyce is no longer their manager but with the Lancastrians desperate for points in their battle against relegation, Wenger will be bracing himself for an arduous afternoon.

Wanderers may be in the midst of a wretched run themselves - Gary Megson's side have gone eight games without a win and four without a goal - but any hint that Arsenal are not prepared to scrap will be seized upon by players who like nothing more than bloodying the nose of the great and good.

"Arsenal have stuttered a little bit and I think it's a good time to be playing them," said Bolton striker Kevin Davies.

"Arsenal are a team we've got results against in the past and this is the one we're obviously looking forward to now.

"We always seem to raise our game against the big boys so if we can get an early goal, who knows?"

This promises to be an acid test of Arsenal's spirit, which has suffered a series of knocks in the last two months.

The squad still appears to be nursing a hangover from seeing their team-mate Eduardo da Silva suffer an horrendous broken leg at Birmingham City.

Meanwhile there have been reports of a split in the camp, with captain William Gallas apparently being criticised by team-mates for failing to provide sufficient leadership.

Senior players moved to quash those rumours last week, with Gilberto Silva, the Brazil midfielder, insisting: "I have said before sometimes if something does not work well, like the last few weeks with our results, some people try to create problems.

"But I am sure that at the moment we don't have any problems in the dressing room. There is support for everybody.

"We have a chance still in both competitions. A few weeks ago we were five points clear and now it is not a comfortable situation but we do have a chance. The most important thing is to win our own games. If we win our seven games then we have a chance, but we cannot afford to slip up."