This time last year, Mikel Arteta was planning a mid-season trip to Dubai that would breathe new life into Arsenal's season.
But now he is banking on the comforts of home over the next six weeks to give them an edge in the title race. As the Gunners prepare for Monaco's Champions League visit to the Emirates tomorrow, their three domestic rivals are flying here, there and everywhere as the hectic festive fixture list unfolds.
Between returning from the 5-1 win over Sporting Lisbon at the end of November and the visit to Wolves at the end of January, Arteta's team will have covered less than 200 miles in fourteen games.
And despite a number of key injuries, going no further than Brighton is light work compared to the league leaders Chelsea, Manchester City and Arne Slot.
Chelsea left Tottenham on Sunday evening having established themselves as bona fide title contenders, but with the fear of a trip to the south-eastern tip of Kazakhstan in the back of their minds.
Enzo Maresca will keep some of his biggest names at home for Thursday's Conference League match against Astana, but those making the 13,500km round trip to Almaty face an exhausting turnaround.
Sunday's Premier League match at home to Brentford has been postponed to 7pm so they can maximize recovery time. Still, flying across five time zones will take a heavy mental and physical toll.
So far, Maresca has divided its squad into two: one for the league, one for the cups. But these demands may call for more fusion and last week he said his second string “there will be plenty of opportunities to shine.”
Chelsea plan to train at home early tomorrow morning before embarking on an eight-hour flight if the wind is in their favour.
By then, Liverpool will already be home from a visit to Girona, where a win should guarantee a bypass around the new Champions League play-off round.
But Slot's team, who are awaiting a new date to play Everton after Saturday's postponement, face three return flights of more than 400 miles between December 18 and 29 after suffering a difficult evening in Newcastle last week, while Arsenal beat Manchester United at home.
Mid-January brings trips to fifth-placed Nottingham Forest and Brentford, who have the best home form of anyone so far, as well as hosting Arsenal and City in the first two weeks of the new year.
Rubbing salt in City's wounds, Pep Guardiola's players learned that Storm Darragh had grounded the club's plane home after Saturday's draw at Crystal Palace.
That left them on a coach not far from five hours away thinking about why so much is going wrong for a lean team already out of fuel.
Today they fly to Juventus as they need a win to maintain their hopes of a play-off bye with a Manchester derby next weekend.
A dejected Guardiola may have reiterated that his players are deflated at Selhurst Park. And while Christmas is nice, the prospect of traveling to Brentford, Ipswich and Paris in eight days next month could drain the battery again.
The existence of seven London clubs in the Premier League means that the further north you are, the more distance you have to cover during a season. But this scheduling quirk is one that Arsenal must use to their advantage.
“I think it can help,” midfielder Jorginho said last week. “We have to try to use our strength at home to win as much as possible.”
However, if you don't capitalize on this short-term advantage, their path to glory will become longer.
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