These are our remaining Premier League fixtures I think (I'm mentally back-converting dates from a table that shows them all in Australian eastern standard time, which is annoying).
Palace Wednesday 23 April
(PSG Tuesday 29 April)
Bournemouth Saturday 3 May
(@PSG Wednesday 7 May)
@Liverpool Sunday 11 May
Newcastle Sunday 18 May
@Southampton Sunday 25 May
(Hypothetical CL final Saturday 31 May)
We are going to run out the league season with three early Sunday kickoffs, that is if I'm reading the fixtures correctly which I might not be.
The first two of these Sunday kickoffs will be massive matches against Liverpool and Newcastle.
The result at Anfield will go further than anything remaining to us outside of European competition to set the tone for the season overall. By the time we visit them Liverpool will already be champions unless numberwang. It's possible that we go out of the Champions League to PSG a few days earlier, in which case a follow-up loss at Anfield to the confirmed champions could be deeply unpleasant.
The result when we host Newcastle might then alter the top four (or five).
Now's a time we can push on a little at the margins of dignity if we pull in 6 points from Palace and Bournemouth. These are both well organised opponents we can't expect to roll over, but both clubs are also playing for little more than pride now.
No doubt we'll rotate our starters to the maximum for Bournemouth on Saturday week: that match is book-ended by the home and away ties of our PSG semi-final. There is no urgent need to rotate for Palace as afterward we have a generous 6 days till PSG.
Calafiori has a chance to feature for a few minutes according to what I've read. I would also guess Partey will start, given he is suspended for the first leg of the semi-final.
Saka is leggy and should either be on the bench or taken off early if Arteta has any sense.
I would expect something like:
Martinelli Merino / Trossard Saka / Nwaneri
Rice Ødegaard
Partey
Skelly Kiwior Saliba White / Timber
Given Partey's suspension for PSG and Jorginho's injury, we might see an experiment or two with midfield, maybe Arteta will try Rice or another player at 6 for instance, maybe Trossard starts on the left or up front, maybe Merino goes and plays in midfield for a change … the certainty is we have a very threadbare selection for Europe.
If I were Arteta I would be tempted to rest Timber for White, and maybe give Skelly a break too, and maybe give Rice a break, and so on. Or just generally put all our guys in cotton wool if the match is going our way.
This is not the most enthralling of prospects, but it's not a bad way to whet the appetite for the continuation of our best European campaign in many a long year.
