UK Edition
Arsenal face exhausting end to Premier League season with five games in 14 days
Arsenal will end the season with an testing run of five games in just two weeks after the dates for their rescheduled fixtures against Southampton and Sunderland were confirmed.
The trip to St Mary's to play Southampton was originally set for Feburary but was postponed due to the League Cup final, and has now been moved to Wednesday May 10, three days after Arsenal host Manchester United and three days before they travel to Stoke.
The Sunderland game, rearranged due to Arsenal's involvement in the FA Cup semi-final at the end of April, will now take place on Tuesday May 16, three days after the Stoke game and five before the final day of the season, when Arsenal go to Everton.
This brutal run of fixtures comes after a seven-break following the north London derby on April 30, but that is the final match of four crammed into a 13-day stretch for Arsenal.
Arsenal could see another fixture added to their schedule if they beat Manchester City to progress to a third FA Cup final in four years. That match will take place on Saturday May 27.
Arsenal's squad, already missing Santi Cazorla, Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, David Ospina and Lucas Perez through injury, will be tested to its limits as Arsene Wenger looks to finish in the top four for the 21st consecutive season.
The Frenchman is facing mounting calls to end his reign as manager at the end of the season, with Champions League qualification looking unlikely after Monday's 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.
During the game Arsenal's fans aimed chants at the players and displayed banners voicing their discontent at Wenger's management, while many stuck around after the game to hurl abuse as the team bus departed Selhurst Park.
Arsenal travel north to play Middlesbrough on Monday, with the gap to fourth place City currently at seven points, though Wenger's side do have a game in hand.