Arsenal travel plans suffer major disruption as weather forces club to take 200-mile bus trip

Arsenal’s pre-match preparations for Saturday’s clash against Leeds took a major diversion.

A 200-mile diversion, to be exact.

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The Gunners were due to travel up to Yorkshire on Friday ahead of Saturday’s fixture.

Instead of flying to Leeds, which would have slashed hours off the journey, talkSPORT understands Arsenal have travelled via bus.

It is understood the decision was made due to inclement weather, with thick fog also expected.

Arsenal had the choice of flying or taking the bus, but opted for the safer option amid weather warnings.

Having elected to take the bus, Arsenal will embark on a 200-mile trip to reach their destination.

It’s not the shortest of journeys, with the average driving time from London to Leeds estimated to be just shy of four hours.

Arsenal’s clash against Leeds is scheduled for 3pm on Saturday.

The match looms as a must-win for the Gunners given their lead at the top of the Premier League was cut to four points following a 3-2 loss to Manchester United last Sunday.

Should Arteta’s side drop points yet again, the gap could be shortened to just one point if either Manchester City or Aston Villa win their fixtures against Tottenham and Brentford respectively.

Arsenal go into Saturday’s fixture winless in their last three league fixtures.

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Prior to the United loss, Arsenal were held to scoreless draws against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Against the Red Devils, some Gunners supporters at the Emirates voiced their frustrations at another poor result.

However, Arteta moved to ease the fans’ concerns at his pre-match press conference on Friday and insisted the team is ‘on the right path’.

“Certainly when you lose a game, you have a lot of feelings because especially the group of players are so competitive and they seek for excellence and when you don’t reach it, you ask yourself questions and we did that,” Arteta said.

“But I think my role is to bring optimism and reality of where we are. 

“Our club has a long, long history and to find a moment when in February, we’re in the position that we are is very difficult to find.

“We are doing so many things so well and let’s focus mainly on that. 

“For sure we want to improve, we want to be better in every area, but with that sense of self-confidence and conviction that we are on the right path.”