The size of the first-leg win gave Mikel Arteta the opportunity to rest some key players on Wednesday evening as he prepares his side for Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Chelsea. Arsenal are 15 points behind league leaders Liverpool but have the chance to reduce that deficit to 12 points as the Reds are taking part in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United on Sunday.
Chelsea and Arsenal drew 1-1 when the sides met at Stamford Bridge back in November with Gabriel Martinelli and Pedro Neto scoring within 10 minutes of each other in the second half. Kai Havertz did have a goal chalked off by VAR in the first half.
PGMOL confirm referee for Arsenal v Chelsea
Chris Kavanagh has been named as the match official for Sunday’s game in North London in a decision that has the potential to irk Arsenal supporters. It was Kavanagh who sent off Declan Rice against Brighton back in August as the Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw.
Rice was shown a second yellow card early in the second half for knocking the ball away as he picked himself up to get back into a defensive position.
"I was amazed," said Arteta after the contest. "Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be. In the first half, there are two incidents and nothing happens. Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan [on the back of his leg], he turns around, he doesn't see the player coming and he touches the ball. By law, he can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is a red card so we play 10vs10. This is what amazed me. At this level it's amazing."
Audio of the incident was released a few weeks later, and Kavanagh was heard saying: "I don't like it, but he's knocked the ball. Second yellow, for me. I had no choice, he knocks the ball away. As [Veltman's] about to kick it, he knocks the ball. I have no choice. He's put me in an awful position. Dec, you need to go I'm afraid."
Kavanagh record in charge of Arsenal and Chelsea
Kavanagh has taken charge of Arsenal 22 times in his career, with the Gunners winning 10 of those games, drawing five and losing seven. He has produced two red cards for Arsenal players in those games, with the first sending off for Eddie Nketiah back in a 1-1 draw with Leicester City in 2020.
He has been in charge of Chelsea on 19 occasions, with the Blues winning 11 times, drawing three games and losing fifth. He has awarded the Stamford Bridge outfit five penalties, including three in a 3-2 win over Leeds United back in 2021. He last awarded the club a penalty in a 2-1 loss to Manchester United last campaign, although that spot-kick was missed.
This season, he has taken charge of Chelsea four times and Arsenal for three games. His other two games in charge of the Gunners came in the 1-1 draw with Fulham back in December and the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in January. Across all competitions he has been involved in, he has averaged a foul count of 23.04 per game along with 5.5 yellow cards. He has produced five red cards in total, four in the Premier League and one in the Europa League.
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