INJURY BOOST: Gabriel Jesus set to return for vital Arsenal fixtures as Mikel Arteta gets wish
If the past week taught us anything, it’s that things can change very quickly. On Wednesday night, despite the fact that Arsenal were joint top with a game in hand, it seemed as though their title race may well be run after a gut-punch of a defeat to Manchester City.
Just four days later though, they were revitalised. A 4-2 win over Aston Villa combined with City’s unexpected draw at Nottingham Forest means that they have restored a two-point lead at the top of the table, and with their game in hand over Everton to come, things are looking bright again.
Safe to say, there will be plenty more twists and turns between now and the end of the season as the Gunners look to claim their first Premier League trophy in nearly 20 years. But looking at the fixture list, it seems as though April is a month that could be decisive.
Now before getting into that month, it’s worth noting that Arsenal have a pretty crazy fixture list that sees them play seven times in 23 days in March. There is an international break in the final two weeks though, so the Gunners will be hopefully be well rested ahead of April if they can come through that unscathed.
It begins with a home tie against Leeds on April Fools Day that on paper, at least, looks easy enough. However, Arsenal will be wary of underestimating relegation-battling sides after suffering a shock loss at Everton earlier this month. A week later they travel to Anfield to play Liverpool. Again, the Gunners are probably favourites on paper given the form of Jurgen Klopp’s side, but they have not won away to the Reds since 2012!
That could then be followed by a quarter-final, first leg in the Europa League. While domestic competition will be the Gunners priority, the players want to win every trophy left available to them.
With sides like Barcelona, Juventus and Ajax all currently still in the competition – although that could change depending on the results of this week’s knockout round play-offs – that will be far from easy though. Intersecting a potential second leg would be a tough away trip to West Ham, where Arteta could get a good chance to do some first hand scouting on summer target Declan Rice.
If there is a Europa League quarter-final, second leg, then the Gunners will face Southampton at home on the Friday. Alternately, if there isn’t one then that game will take place on the evening of Friday April 21st.
That will be Arsenal’s first fixture in a week that could really make or break their title ambitions. On the Wednesday night they travel up to the Etihad Stadium to take on main rivals Manchester City for an 8pm kick-off in a potentially epic clash. Four days later they host Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in the Saturday late game.
While it is a relatively short turnaround, Arteta will at least be happy that he hasn’t been given another Saturday early kick-off after a Wednesday night match. The Spaniard called for his team to receive the same protection as Champions League sides who aren’t given these kind of quick turnarounds earlier this month, and it seems his wish has been met.
“I think that should apply to any competition,” Arteta said, when describing his desire to get rid of such quick turnarounds. “I think that [short gap between matches] is why one of the changes was made towards the Champions League teams. I think following the same principle, talking physiologically, it is very difficult in that period to get the best outcome and reduce the injury risk for players.”
On top of that, Arteta could also be bolstered by the fact that he could have Gabriel Jesus available to call upon in these matches. football.london understands the Brazilian is due back in March, meaning if his recovery progresses smoothly, he should be available for this season-defining month of April. Thus far Jesus is continuing well in his comeback, although the club remain hesitant to put an official timescale on his return.
“Doing really well,” Arteta said when asked how Jesus is doing. “He’s on the pitch, he’s been doing quite a lot of work on the ball already and so far his rehab is going well.
