Arsenal have been given the weekend off ahead of their crucial Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
The Gunners are getting extended time to prepare for that European semi-final showdown, which is their biggest of the campaign so far.
Mikel Arteta‘s side impressively knocked out 15-time European champions Real Madrid to set up a tie against the French giants.
And by having an extra few days to rest and train for it, they will be in tip-top condition for the monster meeting.
Why are Arsenal not playing?
The Gunners aren’t playing in the Premier League this weekend due to Crystal Palace‘s involvement in the FA Cup.
Oliver Glasner’s men have reached the semi-finals of the competition, and they take on Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday.
That was the original date for Arsenal vs Crystal Palace in the top-flight, but of course, it had to move due to the fixture clash.
It instead took place on Wednesday night, with the north vs south London derby finishing in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates.
The Gunners led twice at home against the Eagles, but they slipped to their 13th Premier League stalemate of the season, nine of which have come from winning positions.
Arteta addressed whether the upcoming PSG game was on his players’ minds during the contest, with the title race all but over.
He said: “Hopefully not, but we discussed that before Ipswich, and it wasn’t there, and today we still had six days to prepare that match, and I don’t want to use that.
“Obviously, we have missed a lot of players, a lot of players that haven’t trained at all, they weren’t able to do it today so we were very short.
“Credit to Palace, they are very well organised, they are a really good side, they made it difficult for us and everyone else, but today we weren’t at our best.”
However, Arsenal fans can take comfort from the fact that both of their quarter-final wins over Real Madrid followed top-flight draws.
Successive 1-1 draws against Everton and Brentford were preceded by the home and away Champions League victories against Real Madrid.
Arsenal won’t have played for six days by the time they take to the pitch to face PSG on Tuesday, April 29.
In contrast, their French opponents will play twice this midweek, as their Ligue 1 fixture against Nice is on Friday, rather than the weekend.
This has come as a result of PSG rescheduling their 1-1 draw with Nantes to Tuesday to allow the club extra rest ahead of their first-leg win over Aston Villa.
Arsenal’s season, meanwhile, hangs on their Champions League campaign as they look to go all the way in Europe.
Liverpool are on the brink of the Premier League title, so continental competition is their only chance of getting their hands on silverware.
The first leg of their semi-final against PSG comes at the Emirates next week, then the second leg is in Paris the following week.
talkSPORT and talkSPORT.com will keep you up to date with all the latest news and build-up to those ties.
