Travel has been a major part of Arsenal’s season.
In their first 11 Premier League matches, Mikel Arteta’s side faced the other teams who finished in the top seven last season, with five of those six games coming away from home. They have also experienced a three-game week comprising solely of away matches, with trips to Tottenham Hotspur, Atalanta and Manchester City in September. Before the November international break, they had four consecutive away matches in 12 days.
Last week, The Athletic assessed how Arsenal’s difficult fixtures have affected their start to the season but Arteta and his players should now have much more time for preparation and recovery. Their fixture list remains busy but their schedule has them leaving London just once in two months — and even that does not involve going far. After returning from their trip to face Sporting CP in Portugal this week, Brighton & Hove Albion away on January 4 could be the only time they play outside the capital until they travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Girona at the end of that month.
The only other possible games outside London would come in the Carabao Cup if they beat Crystal Palace and are drawn away in their semi-final first leg (and even then, London sides Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur are potential opponents) and the FA Cup, in which they are yet to discover their third-round opponents. That period covers 14 or 15 games.
Compared to the opening 11 league matches of the season, when they travelled 715 miles, their next 10 will require approximately 159 miles of travel. In the Champions League, hosting Monaco on December 11 and Dinamo Zagreb on January 22 also helps.
Other than the New Year trip to Brighton, Arsenal’s away matches in this period are: West Ham (November 30), Fulham (December 8), Crystal Palace (December 21) and Brentford (January 1). These represent four of Arsenal’s five London derbies in the league during this spell, with the last coming against Tottenham on January 15. Their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Palace on December 18 will take that to six in all competitions.
Arsenal’s recent record in London derbies offers further reassurance. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, they have played 28, won 19, drawn six and lost three in the capital in all competitions. They went 17 London derbies unbeaten from August 2022 until November 2023 before losing back-to-back games against West Ham and Fulham in December. Since then, they are unbeaten in seven London derbies, winning six and drawing one.
With West Ham and Fulham away their next London derbies, they have two opportunities to pick up points against opponents they slipped up against 11 months previously (although they did later beat West Ham in their away fixture last season).
From a logistics standpoint, not much changes in how Arsenal prepare for away games. The matchday squad still tend to stay together overnight in a hotel the day before London matches, so those routines can be established. It may seem like a minor detail, but Arteta spoke recently about how useful those nights in a hotel can be in preparing for the next day’s game.
Asked about captain Martin Odegaard’s influence in his pre-Chelsea press conference, the Arsenal manager said: “He’s always very close and active with the team. He knows his role and responsibilities. He tried his best but not having him in the squad, in the hotel with us on many occasions, it is different.”
Arsenal fans will not have much travelling to do during December and January (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
The main benefits of the lack of travel will come after matches, particularly with recovery.
Following late kick-offs away from home, long coach journeys or flights can mean not getting home until the early hours of the following morning. Supporters who travel to these away matches will recognise how sleeping patterns can be affected.
Even if this seems like another small detail, returning home from a 5:30pm kick-off away to Palace will feel much better than some of the trips already undertaken this season.
The geographical spread of Premier League teams means Liverpool and Manchester City have to travel greater distances than Arsenal. By comparison, in this upcoming period, Liverpool have six away matches in their next 10 league games. One of these is the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, but they also travel to Newcastle United. Their Premier League travel will rack up to 1,172 miles in that period, with a trip to Girona in Spain on December 10 too.
Manchester City also have six away games in their next 10 in the league, the first coming at Anfield. Overall, their league travel will stand at 906 miles, with a Champions League visit to Juventus in Italy on December 11.
More or less travel is not simply going to translate draws and losses into wins or vice versa. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City all need to apply themselves just as well as they would in any league game to secure points for themselves. From an Arsenal perspective, however, after an intense start to the campaign, the upcoming schedule could be at least one factor in them turning the tide of their season.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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