Arsenal fans seem to be the butt of everybody's jokes at the moment.

Seeing the Gunners reduced to Thursday night football is about as amusing as it is bizarre. In 21-years in charge at Arsenal, it's the first Arsene Wenger has been absent from the Champions League after a dismal fifth place finish last campaign.

It means the north London side face gruelling evening trips to the likes of Belarus and Serbia or even more far flung nations such as Israel and Kazakhstan if they reach the knockout stages.

That could, of course, all change next season if the Gunners were to scramble back into the top four but the early signs aren't exactly promising.

Wenger's men were humbled by Stoke City and Liverpool with their finest performance so far - versus Chelsea - ultimately proving fruitless. Arsenal are currently stewing in twelfth place after five games.

Gary Lineker mugs off Arsenal

And supporters will have to wait until Monday to see their side traverse the challenge of West Brom at the Emirates. The game arrives just four days before the trip to BATE Borisov, whereas last season's top four are all playing on Saturday. 

In terms of Premier League fixtures, it actually has a surprising amount of ramifications for the club. On game weekends directly preceding and following European fixtures, Arsenal are almost always detached from the five-team cohort of Champions League sides.

Naturally, it provides yet another avenue with which to poke fun at Arsenal who are becoming castaways from the other top clubs in every way possible.

Trust Gary Lineker to arrive on the scene, then. The BBC presenter took to Twitter to indulge in the fact Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and both Manchester clubs will appear on Saturday's Match of the Day programme.

It's an exciting prospect for the presenter as much as the fans. Check out Lineker's tweet below:

However, in dubbing the star-studded line-up as the 'title contenders' and not the big clubs or simply listing them, he was subconsciously trolling Arsenal.

Just in case that wasn't blatant enough for fans, though, he produced a simple but brilliant response when somebody protested in reply that Arsenal were actually playing on Monday.

See his response below:

Well that settles that. 

He was also keen to take a light-hearted dig at Newcastle by making the exception that the Magpies were not playing on Saturday but 'title contenders' themselves. Here it is:

It was a funny way to pull the legs of Newcastle fans getting a little too overexcited in fourth place after three wins on the bounce. Class stuff from Lineker, yet again.

Do you think Arsenal will regain their place in the top four this season? Have your say in the comments section below.