Mikel Arteta will be watching the international break with baited breath as his Arsenal stars set about their final hurdle before the true sprint finish in the Premier League. With just 10 games to go the title is theirs to lose and a commanding eight point gap over Manchester City gives them a buffer to play with too.
Pep Guardiola's men do have a game in hand to cut the gap back down to five points but even that has been the distance between them for much of the year. Only a momentary blip appeared to cause much fright on that front.
Now things are approaching the appropriately-coined 'squeaky bum time' and every small decision across matches will have a massive impact on what happens to the league. For Arteta, the two-week break could have come at a better time.
