By Bulldog Drummond
In my earlier piece I looked at a run from 1960 to 1970, in which Arsenal’s form was truly awful. We might now contrast this with the spell from December 1995 to March 2004. That was a spell of 26 games in which we lost just two.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 16 Dec 1995 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 4 Sep 1996 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 3-3 | Premier League |
| 5 Apr 1997 | Chelsea v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 21 Sep 1997 | Chelsea v Arsenal | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 28 Jan 1998 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | League Cup |
| 8 Feb 1998 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 18 Feb 1998 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 3-1 | League Cup |
| 9 Sep 1998 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 11 Nov 1998 | Arsenal v Chelsea | L | 0-5 | League Cup |
| 31 Jan 1999 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 23 Oct 1999 | Chelsea v Arsenal | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 6 May 2000 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 6 Sep 2000 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 13 Jan 2001 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 18 Feb 2001 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 3-1 | FA Cup |
| 8 Sep 2001 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 26 Dec 2001 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 4 May 2002 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-0 | FA Cup |
| 1 Sep 2002 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 1 Jan 2003 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 8 Mar 2003 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 2-2 | FA Cup |
| 25 Mar 2003 | Chelsea v Arsenal | W | 1-3 | FA Cup |
| 18 Oct 2003 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 15 Feb 2004 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | FA Cup |
| 21 Feb 2004 | Chelsea v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 24 Mar 2004 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | UEFA Champions League |
That also included 17 in a row without defeat.
Now to look at the most recent games starting with the last FA Cup match (the 2017 final) between the two what we find is…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 27 May 2017 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | FA Cup Final |
| 6 Aug 2017 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 1-1 | FA Community Shield |
| 17 Sep 2017 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 3 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 10 Jan 2018 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | League Cup |
| 24 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | League Cup |
| 18 Aug 2018 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 19 Jan 2019 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 29 May 2019 | Chelsea v Arsenal | L | 4-1 | Europa League Final |
| 29 Dec 2019 | Arsenal v Chelsea | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 21 Jan 2020 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
That is 11 games starting with the 2017 final and we have won four. There have been four draws and Chelsea have won just three. So not quite such a dominant force against us. Mind you they did beat us 4-1 in the last cup final we played against them, so a revenge is due for that.
There is also the issue of Chelsea’s owner who most certainly seems to have become an absentee landlord since the government refused to give him a visa to allow him to work in the UK. Work on the Chelsea stadium has been stopped – seemingly abandoned, the owner has not made an appearance at the ground, and indeed according to the Chelsea manager, a Mr F Lampard, the owner has not been in touch with the club to wish the players good luck.
Mark Lawrenson for the BBC doesn’t give us a team prediction (the Corporation never does) but does say, “I am expecting a good game, though, and it is Arsenal who I think will edge it. That’s not to say Chelsea are not dangerous too. I just feel like Arsenal have got more momentum and confidence at the moment, but otherwise it is difficult to split the two sides. Prediction: 1-0.”
So what about the teams?
The Evening Standard goes with
Martinez;
Holding, Luiz, Tierney;
Bellerin, Ceballos, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles;
Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang
The Mail has now admitted in a new article that Tierney can play central defence, so dropping the “forced to play” approach of the earlier piece, turns its attention to saying this could be the last Arsenal game for Aubameyang. Attack, attack, attack, attack attack (that’s the Mail attacking Arsenal, not a prediction for Arsenal’s performance).
The Guardian also doesn’t seem to want to forecast a team. What has got into these people?
The Express goes with exactly the same team as the Standard. But the Sun does manage to give us an alternative by slipping Saka into the team.
Martinez;
Holding, Luiz, Tierney;
Bellerin, Ceballos, Xhaka, Saka
Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang
The Metro has no team prediction – it really is all rather strange. So instead of that here is the road to the final.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Round |
| 6 Jan 2020 | Arsenal v Leeds United | W | 1-0 | FA Cup 3 |
| 27 Jan 2020 | AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | FA Cup 4 |
| 2 Mar 2020 | Portsmouth v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | FA Cup 5 |
| 28 Jun 2020 | Sheffield United v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | FA Cup 6 |
| 18 Jul 2020 | Arsenal v Manchester City | W | 2-0 | FA Cup S-F |
| 1 Aug 2020 | Arsenal v Chelsea | FA Cup Final |
The next season starts on 12 September, which raises the question, what happens in the next 43 days (apart from another 100 mindless transfer rumours)? Do the players go on holiday? Do they have a mini-break and then return for training? Are there any pre-season friendlies? I think we should be told!
Try and have some fun this afternoon. I find turning the commentary off helps. Anyone got a spare ticket?
Oh.
- How the media is manipulating supporters’ thoughts before the Cup Final
- Arsenal v Chelsea injury news and surprising away form stats.
- The value of the Arsenal players, and the Arsenal team
It is not who plays but how the team plays. Arsenal are back in their home of success.
This is our FA cup its another historic marker despite the strange displacement of historic tradition by the corrupt PGMOL, the officiating lapdogs of the geriatric FA.
Come On you Super Gunners
Get in there Lewis!! Lewis Hamilton the gooner in pole at Silverstone. His 91st pole!! What an amazing driver. Super Happy now for the FA cup to make it a perfect day.
A win-win for us today.
Of course, I want a victory for the club, today. And, I think Sr. Arteta has picked a solid side.
But, if we don’t, notwithstanding the downer of losing (and lost revenue blah, blah, blah), the upside will be the additional time for the gaffer to train the team to play the way he wants without the distraction of endless meaningless matches the length and breadth of Europe.
So, Up the Guns!
that one was on the midfield. One pass to bypass our defensive midfielders and then they didn’t track the forwards.
50/50 on the penalty for me…but I’ll take it! Well done Auba
Similar foul to Aspilequeta’s was by Luiz but Luiz got a red card. The red is given by nature with a hamstring pull.
An earlier barge in midfiled where Chelsea won the ball was called shoulder to shoulder by Taylor. Hope he remembers when similar happens the other way.
The ‘offside’ given when Pepe scored should have been shown with VAR checking because the player had come back before the ball was passed.
The Chelsea goal was scored because the Arsenal players stood off Chelsea in case of a dive to give Taylor the op of penalty.
We’ve strung together some nice moves. The goal that was disallowed for offside was one of them.
Some absolute bollocks being given by the commentators as to why the card was yellow not red. Apparently it was in the box so it is yellow – that is unless it is Arsenal when David Luiz got his red card inside the box.
Beautiful, Auba!!
Great fun by Hector
Beautiful by Auba but what about the card for the foul on Bellerin!!
the commentators in Germany bitching that it ought to have been a foul on Bellerin… !!!!! like the advantage rule does not exist and the goal is illegitimate ! Stupid idiots.
On the other hand they have been raving about the 2 german recruits so no need to wonder whom they prefer…
Sweet Jesus….73 minutes, 4 yellows among which a yellow red against Chelsea….none against Arsenal….. is this the Twilight Zone ?!?!
We need Nr 3
Kovacic unlucky…shouldn’t have been a yellow
Anthony Taylor my word he’s an Arsenal fan
Rudolf got a red nose sticking it in a Taylors Arsenal
Just heard the fake crowd singing “ The referees a wanker “ strange
Arteta turns to the phylosopy of Sockrates!! We are red !!
Frank the plank goes away empty handed his team battered and bruised. Revenge for the Europa loss and now we are back in the shit show Europa Cup
Woo Hoo!!!!!!
The commentators are all becoming VAR experts as they always were.
Chelsea must be coaching wrongly for all these injuries!! (eat your words you dickheads).
The game is not over yet because Rileys boys are still in control.
After we scored our second, I couldn’t see Chelsea scoring except from a set play…even before they went down to 10 and then 9 men. They were unable to work out how to penetrate our defense. Strange because they opened us up pretty easily for their goal.
WOO HOO , HOO ! Well done guys . And congrats on our 14th win.
While their red may have bern harsh , yet they did get away with much too.
Just glad that MA has won something in his first season. Hope that we continue to play
well in all empty stadiums !
WOW! What a great win. Well done boys! Well done Arteta. Beating Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea in some 14 days. That is the top 3 from the PL! Let Arteta do his work next season for a whole season. Happy FA cup day! Number 14! Arsenal are THE FA CUP TEAM!
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The second yellow was unfair but so was the disallowed goal against Palace. The truth is the officiating is poor. A select bunch of blind idiots called pigmob.
Taylor is now due for a visit to Siberia. The injuries were all down to poor diets and insufficient muscle management. There were no nasty tackles by Arsenal.
Arteta is magic and his team love him as much as we do.
@Menace,
Not sure I agree with you on the second yellow. I saw him coming in sliding, the ball was gone when he hit, it was dangerous. Or I should say it looked dangerous to me. nd you can find moes like this which cost Arsenal players a card this season
Not sure the offside goal was offside….and pigmob are incompetent anyway.
2 fouls one yellow for Arsenal
14 fouls and 6 yellows for Chelsea (one of them a yellow/red)
With numbers like that many PL games would have ended with less than 20 players on the field…. justincredible who from game to game the refereeing is so different.
It’s shinier this end of Seven Sisters!!!
PROUD