Arsene Wenger called February a 'big month' for his team, but then the Arsenal manager is not prone to hyperbole.
Starting with Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at Anfield, Arsenal play Liverpool away and at home in the Barclays Premier League and FA Cup respectively, as well as hosting Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Sunderland at the Emirates.
It does not get much better in March, with Stoke City, Bayern Munich, Tottenham and Chelsea away and Swansea City and Manchester City at home. That is a frightening run of 11 games for anybody, whether you're currently top of the pile in England or not.
It is also crunch time for Arsenal; the time when Wenger and his team will prove the persistent doubters wrong or crumble under the relentless burden of pressure. You feel this could finally be Arsenal's chance to reclaim the title, in a season of managerial change with no truly dominant team, but the next eight weeks will be crucial to determining whether or not they can take it.
In some ways, the two Champions League fixtures against Bayern Munich, the champions of Europe, should be the least of Wenger's worries. Arsenal have progressed to the knock-out stages of the competition for the 14th consecutive year but are they going to win the whole thing? Probably not.
Yet they still have every chance of winning the Premier League and, given the top four have been matched in the fifth round of the FA Cup, lifting the trophy at Wembley on May 17 could be well within their grasp if they can beat Liverpool on February 16.
The Champions League fixtures should perhaps then be seen as a bonus, a chance to continue a winning run, rather than a potential sacrifice of domestic glory. Play without fear against Bayern Munich, as in the second leg last season, and see if you can beat them again.
Arsenal, after all, are still top of the Premier League table. They are two points clear with just 14 games to go. They boast an excellent back four, with the settled defensive central pairing of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny particularly impressive in front of Wojciech Szczesny this season
So why the nervousness and hand-wringing from fans and persistent pessimism from pundits?
The old adage was that Arsenal did not have the mental strength to win against the so-called 'lesser' clubs; the teams that tried to put up two brick walls and played for a draw.
But Wenger's side have been flat-track bullies this season, and it is actually their record against the top clubs that is less encouraging. Arsenal beat Liverpool convincingly at home, 2-0, but have been beaten by and drawn against Chelsea at the Emirates in the Capital One Cup and the League, and were hammered 6-3 at Manchester City.
Wenger has yet to beat a side managed by Jose Mourinho in 10 attempts while, of 11 matches against the top 10 sides in the Premier League, Arsenal have only won five and lost three.
Chelsea, by comparison, have won seven of 12 and lost just twice. Arsenal also still have to go to Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham, although Arsenal have already beaten their north London rivals twice at home this season in the League and FA Cup.
The January transfer window certainly did not seem to help, either, with the bizarre nature of Kim Kallstrom's beach volleyball injury in no way compensating for Arsenal's failure to sign another striker. Where the arrival of Mesut Ozil last summer sent Wenger's side bouncing into the new campaign, January's deadline day rather petered out.
Olivier Giroud has been excellent this season and the versatile Lukas Podolski is now fit, but Nicklas Bendtner is not a good enough replacement for either. Managing Giroud's fitness during this testing period will surely be crucial to Arsenal's chances, as will rotating that wonderful array of attacking midfielders including Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Serge Gnabry.
Yet, with Theo Walcott due to miss the rest of the season, Aaron Ramsey not expected back until the beginning of March and Mathieu Flamini currently suspended, there suddenly seems extra reliance on Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta to get fit and stay fit.
This is a 'big month', all right. In fact, make that two enormous, crucial months. Come April 1 Arsenal will either be laughing their way to the Premier League title - or the joke will be on them.
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