Arsenal fans set for almost 20 DAYS without football with Chelsea clash to be moved after FA Cup draw

ARSENAL face a near THREE WEEK run without a game due to an upcoming clash set to be rescheduled.

The Gunners were due to face Chelsea in the Premier League over the weekend of March 16/17.

AP

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal will have a near three-week break between games[/caption]

However, the Emirates showdown will now have to be played on another date, leaving Mikel Arteta’s side with a lengthy lay-off between matches.

Chelsea beat Leeds United 3-2 in an FA Cup thriller last night to book their place in the quarter-finals.

The Blues will now face Leicester City in the last-eight – but the cup quarters will be staged on the same weekend as when they were set to face Arsenal.

Now Premier League chiefs will be forced to find a new date for the London derby – leaving the Gunners without a fixture for 19 days.

One date being mooted for the re-arrangement is said to be the week of April 22, which would fall between away trips to Wolves and Tottenham for the Gunners.

Arsenal host Porto in the second-leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on March 12, where they will be looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit after Galeno’s late strike last week.

They will now have a free weekend after that before the international break begins.

Arteta’s side are then scheduled to return to the Premier League with a bumper title match.

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They travel to reigning champions Manchester City in what promises to be a pivotal game on March 31.

While they wait for confirmation on the new date to face the Blues, Arteta will now no doubt be planning for the lengthy break.

However, he will be hoping that they repeat the incredible form that has followed the mini-winter break.

Arsenal travelled to Dubai last month and have returned from that with a six-game winning run that has also produced 25 goals.

That has moved them third in the top-flight, two points behind leaders Liverpool and one behind second-placed Man City.

Meanwhile, three of Arsenal’s April fixtures have been selected for television and now have new kick-off times.

The home game with Luton Town has been moved back a day and will be at 7:30pm on Wednesday 3 April and screened on TNT Sports.

The Gunners will then have two consecutive weekends in Sky Sports’ 5.30pm Saturday slot.

They firstly head to Brighton on April 6 before hosting fourth-placed Aston Villa on April 13.

Those two latter fixtures could also be either side of a potential Champions League quarter-final should they overcome Porto.

But Arsenal’s game with Villa could also be switched to Sunday if Unai Emery’s side advance past Ajax to reach the next round of the Uefa Conference League.

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