Arsenal will discover their fixture list for the 2023/24 Premier League season later this week and of course, football.london will have you covered.
Whilst the forthcoming announcement is a straightforward one - the Gunners will play the other 19 teams in the division home and away over the course of the campaign - the ordering of the fixtures could be key to Mikel Arteta's side's hopes of challenging for the title once again.
Having lead the way after facing Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Bournemouth, Fulham, Aston Villa and Manchester United in their opening six fixtures at the beginning of the campaign just gone, Arsenal will be hopeful the fixture generator produces a similar outcome this time around.
But who will the Gunners be paired with on the opening weekend of the new season? If the recent years are any indication, they'll be away from home without having to leave the capital having faced Palace, Brentford and Fulham in three of the last four campaigns, losing just one.
Therefore Arteta's side could be afforded a chance to avenge the 2-2 draw against West Ham United - one of several results that proved costly in the 2022/23 Premier League title race - and this would mark an immediate return to the London Stadium if Declan Rice seals a £92m transfer in the summer window.
Alternatively, the Gunners can return to the scene where the title race was decided - away at Nottingham Forest - welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Emirates Stadium in an attempt to end a run of three straight losses in this particular fixture or kick off the new campaign by facing one of the promoted teams.
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With that in mind, shortly after 9am on June 15 (Thursday) when Arteta and Arsenal fans take the first six games of the 2023/24 Premier League season into account, it's looking highly unlikely that a daunting trip to Anfield to face Liverpool will be at the very top of the list.
This is because the Merseyside giants, as per the Liverpool Echo, have made a request to the Premier League to play the first game of the 2023/24 season away from home as the £80m Anfield Road expansion project enters its final weeks.
Progress with regard to the club's 7000-seat increase has gathered pace in recent months and is on course to be completed in time for the new campaign. However, the club have asked if they can play their first match of the new term away from home to give them an additional few days to ensure all runs smoothly.
If this request is granted then Arsenal are guaranteed to avoid a trip to Anfield - where they've not won in the league since 2012 - on the opening weekend of the new season. Although, the chances of this fixture taking place at the Emirates Stadium can't be ruled out as this was the case back in August 2016.
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