Arsenal’s match against Chelsea, scheduled for Saturday 16 March, will have to be rearranged after Chelsea secured safe passage to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
A late goal by Conor Gallagher earned Mauricio Pochettino’s side a 3-2 win over Leeds United which means they’ll now face Leicester City.
As a result, Arsenal have a 19-day gap between the Champions League last 16 second leg with Porto on 12 March and a crunch showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad on 31 March.
It should mean Mikel Arteta’s players get some time off before the Interlull kicks in from 17-25 March, which is no bad thing. At the same time, we’re in a good flow at the moment and the situation will likely leave us playing catch-up on title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.
If Arsenal do beat Porto to progress in the Champions League, finding a gap in the schedule to play the Blues looks tricky. At this point, the earliest date would be a midweek date squeezed between a trip to Wolves on 20 April and the north London derby at Spurs on 27 April.
There’s a decent chance the Wolves match will need to be rescheduled. Gary O’Neill’s team have drawn Coventry in the FA Cup quarter-finals and will fancy their chances of making the semis, which take place on 20 April.
As soon as we hear anything, we’ll let you know.
“Semi-final second leg with Porto” I love speaking things into existence, blogs, but you might want to correct that 😀
Heh. Oops!
Another trip to Dubai doesn’t sound like a bad idea, *wink wink *
Ben White’s tan = Samson’s hair
Aim for 9 points before the 19 day break we’ll have and then be super refreshened before the City match. Good in many ways!
Let’s just make sure we’re on it for the Sheffield game.
Why will this leave us “playing catch-up on title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.”? Both teams will also be playing FA Cup games over that weekend.
I don’t believe “the situation will likely leave us playing catch-up on title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City”, as they’re both still in the FA Cup so they will also have a large gap between Premier League fixtures.
We have a 19 day Premier League gap, but Liverpool and Man City will each have a 21 day gap between March 10 and 31.
It’s actually quite shocking that there’s a 3 weeks gap in March, which should be coming into the most exciting time of the season.
It’s a real pain.
And possibly not great for arsenal in terms of fixture congestion afterwards as our squad is probably thinner than pool and city.
How we use the long break and who we get back from injury during it will be quite important
Totally – it’s less us playing catch up, more who can deal better with the fixture congestion in April & May. If all three teams do well in Europe it could be weekend/midweek for like 6 weeks in a row
International games, always messing with the football season. You’re quite right, feels silly that there is 3 weeks without Premier League.
One game at a time. Only thing that we should focus on is Sheffield United and getting those 3 points.
Aren’t Liverpool and City in FA cup action too? Their league game will be rescheduled too, no?