Arsenal face fixture nightmare after Premier League confirm major changes | Football

Arsenal face the prospect of being forced to play 10 games in the space of a month after the Premier League confirmed major changes to the Gunners shcedule.

Mikel Arteta’s side went into the international break in high spirits having risen to the top of the table on the back of eight straight victories, a run which culminated in a dramatic late win over Brentford a fortnight ago.

A daunting Champions League double header against Bayern Munich, meanwhile, was the reward for ousting Porto in a dramatic penalty shootout.

The return to fitness of Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey, Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu represents a major boost to Arteta, who will need to rotate his squad more than he normally would over the course of the coming weeks.

Arsenal are back in action next Sunday against Manchester City at the Etihad which kicks-off a daunting run of games.

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Arteta’s men will host Luton three days after their trip to the Etihad before heading to the south coast for a game at Brighton on the Saturday evening.

Bayern come to town on April 9 with the return leg eight days later, in between which Arsenal face Aston Villa at the Emirates.

Should Arsenal progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009, where they are due to meet either City or Real Madrid, they would then face the prospect of four more fixtures in the space of 10 days between April 20 and April 30.

Arsenal had been due to play Chelsea last weekend but the Blues involvement in the FA Cup quarter finals saw that fixture postponed.

The London derby will now take place on April 23, five days before Arsenal travel to the home of their local rivals Tottenham with Ange Postecoglou’s side likely to benefit from a two-week break.

Speaking in February, Arteta insisted he was not fussed by the prospect of a long break before a seriously congested Aprill.

The Spaniard said: ‘It is what it is. We knew that, it was an option and now we’ll plan to use that time in the best possible way.

‘Because that would mean that we’d then have a more congested period in April. The difference is three or four more days.

‘We’re going to have two-and-a-half or three weeks [without a game] and I don’t think that that is going to change the world.’

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