CHRISTMAS and New Year are some of the busiest times around for people, with travelling often making up a big part of that schedule.
That rule also commonly applies to football, with Arsenal being no different in terms of having a busy schedule.
But Arsenal have found some nice luck in their Christmas schedule with a surprisingly low amount of travelling on the itinerary for them over their next 13 games.
In fact, they will travel outside of London just ONCE before January 22, with three away games all coming in the capital.
Their clash with Brighton on January 4 2025 will be the only Premier League game that is not a London derby away from home.
Arsenal remarkably play nine games at the Emirates Stadium during the run, starting with Manchester United on Wednesday and ending with Dinamo Zagreb on January 22.
The run will see them rack up just under 250 miles of travel on the road.
Brighton alone will account for 177.4 miles of this overall figure.
Meanwhile, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Brentford will count for 21.2, 26, and 24 miles respectively.
Mikel Arteta and co might have feared travel fatigue from an unfavourable FA Cup third-round tie in tonight’s draw.
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However, they were spared any with new travel arrangements in tonight’s FA Cup third-round draw as they were drawn at the Emirates against Manchester United.
It means they will face Crystal Palace and Man Utd twice during the run.
After their 5-2 win over West Ham on Saturday, which in itself was a trip of 11.8 miles, Arsenal are nine points off of league leaders Liverpool.
The favourable fixture list of not travelling a lot could help them close that gap.
In the same period, Arne Slot‘s side travel to Newcastle, Girona, Southampton, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Brentford – none of which are exactly around the corner.
Regardless, Arsenal will be aiming to take advantage and chase down the leaders by the end of the season, though a nine-point lead at this stage of the season has never been lost before in Prem history.
WEST HAM and Arsenal served up one of the finest London derbies in recent memory on Saturday night, with SEVEN goals in the first half alone.
The Gunners sailed into a 4-0 lead in the opening 35 minutes before the Hammers reduced the deficit with two quickfire goals, including a sublime Emerson free-kick.
Bukayo Saka’s penalty on the stroke of half-time made it 5-2, becoming only the fourth Premier League match in history to see seven goals before the break.
A relatively lacklustre second half followed, with Mikel Arteta ringing the changes, particularly with Wednesday night’s showdown with Man Utd at the Emirates in the back of his mind.
The result pulled the Gunners up to second in the Premier League table, six points behind Liverpool ahead of Sunday’s huge showdown between the leaders and a struggling Man City.
Read how SunSport’s Charlie Pittock rated the Gunners stars.
