It was a soggy, but successful, outing in West Yorkshire for Mikel Arteta and co. on Saturday afternoon. As the rain fell in Leeds, so did the goals, with Arsenal banishing the demons of last weekend’s defeat to Manchester United in some style.
But the win also marked something that could perhaps be considered even more important than getting back to winning ways. That’s because a quick glance at Arsenal’s fixture list would suggest they hold a secret weapon over Manchester City, Aston Villa and the chasing pack.
Just three times between now and the end of the Premier League season will Arsenal have to leave the boundaries of Greater London for a match, but not only that, their trickiest away trips already look to be out of the way. In the league, Arsenal have to travel to Brentford, Tottenham, Brighton, Wolves, City, West Ham and Crystal Palace.
The north London derby and potentially season-defining clash with City aside, there aren’t that many testing (again, on paper) away matches for Arsenal to play. In fact, compared to last season’s corresponding results, the capital club only dropped points in two of the matches: Brighton and City.
Both of those were draws, so assuming Arsenal keep a straight bat and win the majority – if not all – of their remaining home matches, it means their challengers will have to be near-perfect in the remaining matches to stand a chance of catching them. Of course, this isn’t foolproof, and Arsenal could easily come unstuck in matches where little-to-no danger seems apparent.
But Arsenal’s schedule has also presented another bonus for Arsenal, given they’ll be playing at home after every Champions League knockout match away from home. That runs right through to the semi-final, should they make it that far.
These benefits certainly don’t guarantee success, but they do help pave the way for what could be a memorable season for Arsenal.