Before taking care of Premier League business with a trip to Leicester City at the weekend, Arsenal will discover their opponents in the Europa League round of 16 stage.
Having topped their group before Christmas, the Gunners avoided a knockout play-off round tie involving the eight runners-up and the eight teams that transferred over from the Champions League - including Barcelona and Juventus - after failing to secure a top-two finish.
With the second legs of the aforementioned knockout play-off ties to be played on Thursday, it means Arsenal are one step closer to knowing who they will be paired with in their attempt to reach a second Europa League final in the space of five years as the round of 16 draw takes place on Friday afternoon.
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The north London outfit's additional reward for topping their group is that they will be seeded for the draw and that means they will avoid the seven other group winners such as Real Sociedad, Feyenoord, Real Betis and Fenerbahce, and will be at home for the second leg.
Furthermore, Arsenal can't be paired with the other English club in the competition at the moment - Manchester United - as per UEFA rules, but the Red Devils must overcome Barcelona at Old Trafford to progress further in the competition with that tie delicately poised at 2-2.
Below are the confirmed teams for the Europa League round of 16 draw and those hoping to be involved.
Group stage winners (seeded)
Arsenal
Betis
Fenerbahce
Ferencvaros
Feyenoord
Freiburg
Real Sociedad
Union Saint-Gilloise
Knockout round play-off winners (unseeded)
Ajax / Union Berlin
Barcelona / Man United
Juventus / Nantes
Leverkusen / Monaco
Salzburg / Roma
Sevilla / PSV Eindhoven
Shakhtar / Rennes
Sporting CP / Midtjylland
With that out of the way, here is a look at what would be the best and worst-case scenarios for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta when the draw is completed.
Best case
As the lowest-ranked team that Arsenal could potentially draw, Nantes represents the best-case scenario if they are able to spring a surprise and eliminate Serie A giants Juventus. Although, having secured a 1-1 draw in Italy last week, the Ligue 1 side shouldn't be taken too lightly if they progress, but one would imagine it's a tie the Gunners would be happy with.
On the other hand, there's a strong argument that drawing Juve wouldn't be too bad. A points deduction means Max Allegri side's only realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season is by lifting the Europa League trophy in May, so what better incentive would there be for Arsenal to end such dreams and have the last laugh over Dusan Vlahovic?
Other possible favourable round of 16 ties for the north London outfit includes facing the winners of the Sporting CP/Midtjylland, Shakhtar/Rennes, or Ajax/Union Berlin games.
Worst case
Two teams immediately jump out for different reasons. The obvious one is Barcelona should they happen to overcome Man United as Xavi's side, despite struggling in the Champions League, are eight points clear at the top of La Liga, possess an array of attacking talent and have developed a mean streak in defence.
Furthermore, with Man United very much in the Premier League title race, it would probably work in Arsenal's favour if Erik ten Hag's side progressed as it will increase their fixture load.
Roma, if they overturn a 1-0 deficit against Red Bull Salzburg, are the other team that Arsenal may want to avoid and that's mainly because of the Jose Mourinho factor. Whilst the 'special one' may not be as revered as he once was, he would almost certainly relish the chance to deny the Gunners a European trophy.
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