Arsenal are stepping up their plans for the upcoming break as domestic football steps aside for the first ever winter World Cup in Qatar. The Gunners' final game before the mid-season interruption comes away at Wolves on November 12, with their Premier League return pencilled in for December 26 at home to West Ham, but with a potential Carabao Cup fixture set for December 21.
The likes of Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Matt Turner are likely to be involved for their nations, but there will also be some players left behind. This leaves Mikel Arteta with the task of keeping them fresh and fit for their immediate return to action in the league.
"It’s a completely unprecedented season," Arteta said on the upcoming tournament. "Not only because we are going to be playing a lot of weeks with two or three games, but especially because we have the World Cup coming up. We don’t know how that’s going to affect us, so we have to look at the overall picture. The preparation and the organisation is being done in regards to that."
