Mikel Arteta's Arsenal collapse vindicates Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea struggle after injury crisis

A lot of fun was had on Chelsea Twitter when Mikel Arteta decided to cry foul on Arsenal's fixture schedule following last month's defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League.

"Thank you very much to the Premier League... it's not fair what they've done." The Arsenal boss cried. Of course, Arteta needed quick reminding of how comparatively light Arsenal's fixture schedule has been this season. No European football to speak of, knocked out of the FA Cup at the third round stage, the most taxing thing to contend with was a Carabao Cup semi-final.

When you contrast that with Chelsea, whose 6-0 win over Southampton was the Blues 22nd game in 2022, the 52nd in the entirety of 2022. And when you factor in how Thomas Tuchel has had to readjust his plans after devastating injuries, Arteta's recent complaints should not be taken that seriously. (Do I even need to bring up the fiasco that was Arsenal getting their game with Spurs called off?)

Chelsea's next six Premier League fixtures compared to Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal

Tuchel has been operating for over half of this season without his first-choice wingback Ben Chilwell. Injured in November against Juventus and has missed 32 games since his season-ending ACL tear. Almost the entirety of a Premier League campaign.

Anyone who has watched Chelsea closely under Tuchel understands how vital Chilwell is to the way the Blues build-up play, use the width of the pitch and create overloads in the attack. All these traits were on show preceding his injury.

But without Chilwell to call on, and a demanding schedule, Tuchel has tried all types of options in that role. The naturally suited Marcos Alonso, wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic. Even Saul Niguez