Having squeezed in a Carabao Cup penalty shootout win over Crystal Palace in midweek – alongside a turkey dinner and all the trimmings – there has been little rest for Arsenal, who are back in action tomorrow against Brighton.
After spending Christmas Day top of the table, Arteta’s side could find themselves playing catch-up by kick-off, with Pep Guardiola’s in-form Manchester City hosting Nottingham Forest in the early lunchtime fixture.
The hope is that Kai Havertz can provide some festive cheer with a long-awaited return. The Germany international has barely featured this year following hamstring and knee surgeries but is now back in full training and could offer renewed competition for Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus up front.
“I think it will be a matter of days, not weeks,” said Arteta on Tuesday when asked about Havertz’s return.
“Let’s see in the next steps how he responds to that. But he is, again, a player that we missed a lot, a player that brings the team into a different dimension. So, I am really happy to have him back soon.”
There is similar hope around Gabriel Magalhaes, who has been working his way back from an adductor problem, with initial optimism that the defender could be available for next weekend’s visit by Aston Villa. That timeline, however, remains uncertain.
“We have to wait and see. He hasn’t trained yet, so he’s still doing his rehab,” said Arteta.
“But hopefully as quickly as possible [he can be back], because we know the situation now we have in the backline.”
As tends to be the case, Arteta was full of praise for Arsenal’s next opponents. On the challenge posed by Brighton, he said:
“It’s a club that I admire a lot, and what they’ve done over the last 10 years is incredible. They have different managers, and now Fabian [Hurzeler] has come in and brought some very different ideas as well.
“A lot of energy, a really, really committed team and look very, very together. A lot of quality. They can play in different ways. They have versatile players. So it’s going to be a tough match.”
Four Premier League fixtures in a row represent a rare chance to go full gas in the hope of ending a 24-year wait for a top-flight title. After that comes an FA Cup trip to Portsmouth, before Champions League football and a Carabao Cup semi-final double-header with Chelsea are layered into an already demanding calendar.
Fighting on four fronts brings talk of four trophies – fanciful, perhaps, but it is Christmas. If you can believe in a bearded man delivering presents to every house in one night, you can probably allow yourself to dream a little.
“We know that in every competition we play, we can win it,” says centre-back William Saliba.
“But we have to show that on the pitch and we have to start winning trophies now. The mood is good, but we know that we are still in December and things can happen quickly in football, so we have to stay focused and keep believing in ourselves and keep working, because what matters is at the end when we are holding the trophies – and not before.”