After both were involved in engrossing stalemates at the weekend, Preston North End and Arsenal now vie for a spot in the EFL Cup quarter-finals at Deepdale on Wednesday evening, a matchup between the only two clubs in English football to ever complete a top-flight Invincibles season. The Gunners humiliated Bolton Wanderers 5-1 to progress to round four, while their Championship hosts came out on top against Fulham in one of the most epic penalty shootouts English football has ever seen.
However, Arsenal defence already missing the banned William Saliba came under serious siege when his potent partner Gabriel Magalhaes also picked up an untimely injury, and Liverpool finally broke through the Gunners’ rearguard through Mohamed Salah right at the death.
Seventeen-year-old gem Ethan Nwaneri was responsible for two of Arsenal’s efforts on that evening as the Gunners avoided back-to-back third-round exits in the EFL Cup – a tournament they have not won for some 31 years – but West Ham United ended their journey in round four last term.
Arsenal also have some road wrongs to right after Bournemouth condemned them to their first domestic loss of 2024 away from home earlier this month, and Arteta can empathise with his opposite number Paul Heckingbottom when it comes to throwing away leads, albeit not quite to the same degree.
Preston North End faithful can at least reflect on a time where their side were on the correct end of an astonishing scoreline – they booked their spot in the fourth round of the EFL Cup with a record-breaking 16-15 penalty-shootout success over Fulham.
An unremarkable tally of 14 points from 12 games leaves Preston North End languishing in 16th place in the rankings, though, and each of their last three knockout fixtures versus Arsenal has ended in defeat, most recently a 2016-17 FA Cup tie where Olivier Giroud struck an 89th-minute winner.
• Full Match 720p 50fps : 1fichier Mega PixD Swiss GoFile