Match Insights
- Arsenal have 86 wins, 62 draws and 66 losses when playing Chelsea. We last played them in the League Cup semifinal tie, beating them 4-2 on aggregate. After the second match Cucurella said to the press: “I don’t respect Declan Rice and his team; they won because they cheated”. Rice, when asked to respond said, “We just played better football.”
- Arsenal are on a ten match unbeaten run against Chelsea in all competitions.
- Chelsea haven’t won at the Emirates since August 2021.
- Today’s center official is Darren England.
Saint Tots
- The 55th Saint Totteringham’s Day is likely here! If Spuds didn’t win this morning, or if we win today, then Tottenham cannot mathematically end above us in the final table. Be sure to celebrate with the traditional lasagna!
- Arsenal Philadelphia member Mark Bullen is selling copies of his awesome painting depicting Arsene Wenger as Saint Totteringham. You can find them here (use code SPURSY for a discount): https://www.markbullenstudio.com/st-totteringhams-day
Champions League
- The final draw to create the knockout bracket was done Friday morning. Our round-of-sixteen opponent is Bayer Leverkusen. We will play them away on the 11th of March, and then home on the 17th. (We will always get second legs at home because we finished top of the league phase.)
- Piero Hincapie in on a 1-year loan (with option to buy) from Bayer Leverkusen.
- Our draw was extremely favorable. Assuming we continue our streak of wins, we would face Bodo Glimt or Sporting in the quarterfinals, and then probably Barcelona (but maybe Spurs!) in the semifinals.
- Due to the UCL schedule, the PL home match against Everton planned for Sunday March 15 has been re-scheduled to Saturday March 14.
January 14: Ben White scored the first goal in the away leg of the EFL Cup semifinal against Chelsea.