After an emphatic 4-1 over Crystal Palace, Arsenal opened up an eight-point lead heading into the international break. This pause in the season though is something Gunners fans will be wary of.
Last year they found themselves in a good position to finish in the top four before a knee injury sustained by Kieran Tierney while on Scotland duty derailed their progress. Even as recently as the last international break they lost Gabriel Jesus for months to a knee injury sustained at the World Cup in Qatar. As the next 10 days tick by, Mikel Arteta admitted that he will be hoping for better luck this time around.
"I want to think positively," the Arsenal boss said after the Palace victory. "Touch wood, but I want to think positive. They’re going to have to play games, they have to do it in the way that they do it here or possibly even better with their country. We are in contact with all of them, they know how to look after them and hopefully it will all work out."
