Believe it or not, matchday four in this season's Champions League group phase is upon us, and there are a number of teams on the verge of qualifying for the last-16 - thus potentially avoiding Arsenal in the Europa League.
As previously explained, due to the World Cup taking place in the winter months instead of the summer, the group stages in all three of UEFA's club competitions this season will be completed in eight weeks instead of the usual 12. There will be two more rounds left following this midweek's action.
Of course, it's only matchday three for Arsenal on Thursday after their second group stage game against PSV Eindhoven was postponed last month due to the severe limitations on police resources and organisational issues related to the ongoing events surrounding the national mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II".
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However, things will be back on track from next week as the aforementioned fixture has already been rescheduled for October 20 - at the expense of the Premier League showdown with Manchester City - which means the Gunners' fate in the competition remains on course to be decided in the PSV double-header.
For the latter to happen, Arsenal must need to keep their 100 per cent winning record intact when they face FK Bodo/Glimt away from home on Thursday evening. Mikel Arteta's side were 3-0 victors in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium last week and know a repeat scoreline will set up the PSV games nicely.
Should the Gunners beat Bodo/Glimt and then take at least four points from back-to-back games with the Dutch side, they'll be assured of a place in the Europa League knockout round, although the incentive is to top the group to avoid two extra games when the competition resumes in the new year.
With that said, winning the Europa League is one avenue for the North London outfit to seal a return to the Champions League next season. They'll be keeping an eye on the action today and tomorrow as it will become even clearer which teams won't threaten their chances of reaching the final in Hungary and potentially lifting the trophy in May 2023.
As is the case in the Champions League, the eight teams who finish third in their respective groups will drop down into the Europa League and face the eight group runners-up in a knockout round play-off tie, with the winners progressing to the round of 16.
If Arsenal are still in Europe after Christmas, it's looking likely that they will avoid ties against Man City, Real Madrid and Napoli, with the trio one victory away from sealing a place in the last-16 of the Champions League. Bayern Munich - the Gunners' old nemesis' - are also on the verge of qualification but must beat Viktoria Plzen and hope Barcelona fail to beat Inter Milan.
Furthermore, the winner of the Paris Saint-Germain vs Benfica could qualify for the knockout round, but only if Juventus are beaten by Maccabi Haifa. Liverpool and Chelsea can take a big step towards booking their place in the Champions League last-16 by beating Rangers and AC Milan, respectively. They, along with Tottenham Hotspur, can't achieve qualification during this midweek's round of fixtures, so there's still a chance of them joining Arsenal in the Europa League.
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