Arsenal could be without several key players for the start of the new season

Death, taxes and Arsenal players missing key points of the season.

There are very few certainties in life, but you can always count on the Gunners to be missing a star or two when they need them most. Coming off their best league finish in a decade, you'd think Arsenal fans would be optimistic for what lies ahead. But with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all upgrading at manager over the summer - not to mention Tottenham's young team being a season older and Jurgen Klopp getting his first pre-season in Anfield - the Gunners know that they need to get off to a quick start if they are to have any chance of reclaiming the title. The Gunners finished last season strongly to pip Spurs to second place on the final day, but they might not be able to carry on that form into August as Arsene Wenger has confirmed that some of their biggest stars may miss the first few games of the new season.

"They need four weeks' holiday," Wenger told Arsenal.com when discussing Arsenal players who played key parts in this summer's international tournaments. "It takes you two or three weeks to regenerate… to recover completely, and they need to come back with hunger.  "I believe the club benefits from [our players'] experiences at the top level, and the mental experiences as well that they have gone through with such a huge pressure. Of course in the longer term you benefit from that."

This means that Euro 2016 finalists Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny, semi-finalists Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey and Copa America champion Alexis Sanchez won't be starting their pre-season until just before the Gunners' first game of the new Premier League season, when they host Liverpool on Sunday, August 14. And, by the looks of Sanchez's ankle, he might need more time than the rest. Still, Arsenal fans can probably expect to see the likes of Petr Cech, Jack Wilshere and new signing Granit Xhaka back in the team sooner rather than later after none of them managed to reach the quarter-finals of this summer's European Championships in France.