The first international break of the year is upon us and Mikel Arteta will be hoping it's a better experience than the last one.
Cast your minds back to November 2022 when the Premier League season paused for the World Cup and less than a month later Gabriel Jesus returned home earlier than expected after suffering medial ligament damage to his knee whilst in action for Brazil. It required surgery and sidelined him until the beginning of March.
Credit to Arteta and the Gunners for keeping their title push on track during the 25-year-old's absence and now that he's fit again, it has strengthened the belief that the Premier League trophy could very well be heading back to north London for the first time since May 2004.
READ MORE: The 18 senior Arsenal players confirmed for international duty after William Saliba withdrawal
That is because Arsenal have entered the March international break eight points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, albeit having played one game more than Pep Guardiola's side, following a comfortable 4-1 win over Crystal Palace last Sunday and the focus is already on the final 10 fixtures of the campaign.
But can anything happen over the next week or so to worry Arteta ahead of the Premier League clash against Leeds United a week on Saturday? Well, football.london takes you through what would be the best and worst-case scenario for the Gunners during the international break.
Best case
Arteta has already outlined what he wants from his players selected to represent their respective nations over the next week: "That they [the international players] really look after themselves in this period," the Spaniard told reporters. "We will look after the players that are with us here. That they come back with the same mindset and hunger from before to go into Leeds, which is the only important game right now. We know it."
That's a clear message to the likes of Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Granit Xhaka, whilst the international break should be useful for Emile Smith Rowe and Jakub Kiwior in particular as they need game time and are likely to get it with England U21s and Poland respectively.
Then when taking into consideration that Arteta has promised to look after Ben White, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson and Jesus - the senior players not called up for international duty - it bodes well for when Premier League action resumes.
Now, whilst Takehiro Tomiyasu has been ruled out for the rest of the season, naturally, fans are eager to discover when William Saliba will be available for selection after suffering a back injury against Sporting CP. Ideally, the Frenchman can use the break to return to full health before the Leeds game.
So the best-case scenario coming out of the international break for Arsenal is that all 14 players report to London Colney next week unscathed, full of confidence and ready to face Leeds in the very first game back and for Saliba to be available for selection after injury.
Worst-case
The obvious one. Injuries. The one fear most - if not all - managers will have for any international break is getting their players back in the shape they left in. Arteta is no different and, not for the first time his biggest concern is likely to be around the fitness of Thomas Partey.
Whilst swooping for Jorginho in the January transfer window has proven to be good business, it's evident that the Gunners' engine room is a different prospect without Partey so the thought of another setback in Ghana's Africa Cup of Nations qualification double-header against Angola would be far from ideal.
But it's not just the 29-year-old that Arteta will be hoping is wrapped up in cotton wool. There's a strong argument that Arsenal's best starting XI when everyone is fit includes Zinchenko, Xhaka, Odegaard and Saka so an injury to any would represent somewhat of a nightmare scenario.
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