The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is set to kick off in five weeks during what is an unusual 2022-23 league campaign across the football world with the Premier League having to endure an uncharacteristic winter break in the process.
Unlikely some other top-level competitions like the Bundesliga, the Premier League remains the most intense competition in Europe given the annual grueling winter period, but the World Cup presents another difficult situation entirely, one that Arsenal and Liverpool have found a solution for after both club’s confirmed friendlies against Serie A champions AC Milan as part of their heading to Dubai for winter quarters during the break as reported by John Cross.
🚨 Liverpool & Arsenal have already agreed to play AC Milan during their warm-weather training camps in Dubai. Arsenal have arranged to base themselves in the Middle East so players can fly in from Qatar once their World Cup campaigns are finished. [@johncrossmirror] #afc
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) October 13, 2022
With a winter camp in the region, ideal conditions will be satisfied for both clubs in terms of their ability to remain fit during an unfamiliar period for Premier League clubs, but most importantly, both Arsenal and Liverpool will be able to receive players back from international duty with little effort given limited travel commitments from Qatar to Dubai.
At the time of writing, the pair of Premier League giants are set to lose a combined eighteen players at the very least that will jet set off to their respective national team camps come mid-November, and with recovery time at a premium given how deep each player may go in Qatar, limited travel and adaptation back into club life could be a difference maker for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Arsenal stands to lose, at minimum, Aaron Ramsdale, Matt Turner, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey, Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Jesus, while Liverpool will wish the best to Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Thiago, Diogo Jota, Darwin Núñez, and Roberto Firmino.
As fitness concerns coming out of a frustrating World Cup reality remain a constant, any measure that clubs can take for players coming from a high-intensity mid-season competition and going back into the most intense league competition in Europe could make the difference.
