Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has hinted at simplifying the process of training for certain sequences of matches due to the more congested schedule. Instead of preparing for each individual opponent, they will prepare to play against a similar system.

From his first interview before the start of preseason:

You can look at it many different ways: Sequence of matches. I always look a lot at the type of opponent we’re going to play, what kind of formation, what kind of managers, can we have some consistency over a few weeks? The difficulty is when you look there, there’s not an easy game there.

[…] In the Champions League this season, we’re going to have to prepare many more games because in the group stages we were repeating matches; this season, this is not going to happen. So our analysts and ourselves as coaches we’re going to have very very different demands.

So we’re going to put things in place to try to be more efficient, to simplify the messages as well because the preparation of games is going to be really short, so we’re going to have to maximize that time to give as much clarity and belief to the players to go and execute what they have to do to win the game.

Every team that has a similar schedule will likely have to adapt in a similar way. This could have two different outcomes.

One is that it might make things more predictable than before. For example, when Arsenal faces a high-pressing opponent like Bournemouth in matchweek 8, they’ll have one strategy to counter it. However, if they then face similar teams like Liverpool and Newcastle in subsequent matchweeks 9 and 10, they may struggle to adjust. Since Liverpool and Newcastle play similarly to Bournemouth, they’ll have a chance to prepare and counter Arsenal’s approach, which is likely to be similar to the one they used against Bournemouth.

Two, this might force Arsenal’s staff to think less. They’ll be less likely to overthink things. If the strategy works, it might be easier to get into a rhythm because they’ll be forced to stick to one tactic due to the lack of time to find different solutions that would include more drastic changes from game to game.