3. History repeats itself, but not always in a bad way
The last time we met the Seagulls at Falmer stadium, or as it’s more commonly referred to, The Amex in the FA Cup it was in the Fourth Round, Michael Oliver was the referee and the scoreline ended up the same. Three coincidences or history just repeating itself? However, on 26 January 2013 it was only Theo Walcott’s deflected goal in the 85th minute which ensured Arsenal would go through to the next round. Previously it was 1-1 when the half time whistle was blown and although Olivier Giroud took us ahead in the 56th minute Leonardo Ulloa equalised just six minutes later. Arsenal have not always fared well against the underdogs (see:Â wp.me/p3CM1b-2NZ). After this weekend’s shock knockouts (Chelsea v Bradford and Manchester City v Middlesborough immediately spring to mind) we’re clearly not the only team. Consequently as well as being the current FA Cup defending champions we’re also the only top flight Premiership team still confirmed in the competition (both Manchester United and Liverpool have will have to replay for a place). It’ll be interesting to see which underdog we’re drawn against in the Fifth Round. Whoever it is, they will be the underdogs and Arsenal need to ensure that history, which sometimes has a habit of repeating itself badly, doesn’t do so next time.