A 20th anniversary traditionally means not a gift of pastry (as one fan at Nottingham Forest this week seemed to think), but China. However Wenger has resisted any yearning for the Yuan and his stint in north London continues, at least till May 2017, the end of his current contract.
He has been in charge more than 10 years longer than any other league manager; the second longest-serving is League Two Exeter City’s Paul Tisdale. In the Premier League it is Eddie Howe, who has been at the helm at Bournemouth for nearly four years.
Over the two decades Wenger has steered the Gunners to nine major trophies, Chelsea scooped 18, with seven different coaches at the tiller.
The capital’s top two clubs do have something in common: losing at home to Liverpool this season. Jurgen Klopp’s men had the better of a seven-goal curiosity on the season’s opening weekend against Arsenal, who are currently unbeaten in four, while Chelsea were bettered 1-2 by the Merseysiders last time out in the league.
Since then the Blues managed a most remarkable comeback at the home of champions Leicester City in the League Cup, eventually winning 4-2. That was the first time in the Roman Abramovich era Chelsea have recovered from 0-2 down to win.
You have to go back to Frank Lampard’s last-minute opportunism on 17 August 2002 at Charlton for the most recent example. Our coach that day? The Foxes’ Claudio Ranieri. This was Leicester’s biggest loss at home for a year. Each of Leicester’s last five defeats at the King Power has now come against teams from the Smoke, including Chelsea, twice.
Saturday’s all-capital clash is the third of the campaign. Last season the Blues finished ‘mid-table’ of the five sides, and Arsenal fourth. The Gunners lost twice on home soil to their neighbours: West Ham and Chelsea.
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