Cast your minds back to last month. Initially, the Gunners were scheduled to face Everton on Saturday, 16 September but as a consequence of the UEFA Champions League group stage draw - involving Newcastle United - their trip to Goodison Park was pushed back 24 hours.
That may not have been ideal for many supporters in terms of travel plans, but the change was great news for Arsenal's Brazilian contingent, in particular, as there was no denying that of the 16 senior players called by their respective nations in September, Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli had the longest trips.
And with Brazil taking on Peru in the early hours on Wednesday (September 13) morning (UK time), the aforementioned trio were among the final batch of Arsenal players to return from international duty when Arteta was reunited with his squad at London Colney ahead of the Everton game.
Admittedly, this affected preparations as the Gunners boss didn't have much time with his stars on the training pitch: "Today is the first time that we can do a little bit because for some players it was a lot to do as well," the Spaniard said in the pre-match press conference on the Friday.
"So it's just managing that, we knew that from the start. Don't try to give them too much information and make sure that everybody is clear on what we're doing, why we're doing it and our way of playing. That's it."
Whilst the Brazilian trio did not have too much time to prepare for Arsenal's afternoon kick-off that Sunday, they did benefit from an extra day's rest as a result of the game being rescheduled. Ultimately it was Gabriel and Martinelli who started at Goodison Park, although the latter limped off with a hamstring injury.This time, however, there's been no change. Presumably because of the Champions League tie away at Sevilla a week on Tuesday, the Gunners are in the Saturday evening slot in their first game after the international break. And it's against a resurgent Chelsea side at Stamford Bridge.
Not only will the scheduling affect Gabriel and Gabriel Jesus as Brazil are in action against Uruguay in Montevideo at 1am on Wednesday (UK time), but Thomas Partey and Kai Havertz too with Ghana and Germany in action Stateside against USA and Mexico respectively.
Regardless of whether any feature in their respective nations' friendlies, the long journeys back to England in addition to being among the last to return from international duty will take its toll and they won't have the luxury of an extra day's rest ahead of the London derby.
How this impacts Arteta's team selection remains to be seen. Having said that, he should have Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu on standby if there are any issues with Gabriel. Furthermore, he could opt for Jorginho in midfield once again thus allowing for Partey and Havertz to be effective from the bench as they were in the 1-0 win over Manchester City and he might be in a position to welcome Bukayo Saka back from injury to replace Jesus.
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