For the first time in over 22 years, Ipswich Town head to our corner of north London for a Premier League encounter, which may mean you need a refresher about our past battles with the Tractor Boys!
We regularly met in the opening few seasons in the new division, while their last visit in 2011 saw us book a spot in the League Cup final after overcoming a first leg scare.
Take a trip down memory lane with these four classic encounters:
**September 11, 1993**
**Arsenal 4-0 Ipswich Town**
This was an afternoon where Kevin Campbell thrived as he netted our first-ever Premier League hat-trick at the expense of the Suffolk side. He kick-started the rout by providing the assist for Ian Wright’s well-taken opener on the half-hour, before powering in the rebound after his strike partner hit the goalframe with an audacious effort.
Campbell then powered in a downward header after an inviting Nigel Winterburn cross on 55 minutes, and nine minutes later his treble was complete when he drilled the ball into the bottom corner to maintain our strong start to the campaign, as we moved level on points with leaders Manchester United.
**April 15, 1995**
**Arsenal 4-1 Ipswich Town**
The following season was Wright’s turn to take home the matchball after we blew the Tractor Boys away at Highbury again. He matched Campbell’s achievement of being involved in all four goals by setting up Paul Merson to blast home the first of the afternoon on 33 minutes, and then Wrighty would go goal crazy by netting a nine-minute hat-trick just after half-time.
His first came when Ipswich failed to clear a Glenn Helder cross, and then some slack marking from a corner allowed our striker to bundle home another. A loose Alex Mathie backpass then allowed Wright in again, and although Craig Forrest saved his initial chip, he wasn’t to be denied another Gunners three-goal haul. Ian Marshall’s scrappy consolation was a mere footnote on Wrighty’s day.
**April 21, 2002**
**Arsenal 2-0 Ipswich Town**
We took a huge step towards clinching the 2001/02 championship thanks to this win, as we leapfrogged Manchester United and Liverpool to return to the top of the table with four games to go. It looked to be one of those days as we struck the woodwork four times through Thierry Henry, Martin Keown, Dennis Bergkamp and Freddie Ljungberg, while Martijn Reuser suffered the same fate for the relegation-battling visitors.
But finally their resistance broke on 68 minutes as Ljungberg eased the tension when his shot on the turn inside a crowded penalty area snuck past goalkeeper Andy Marshall, and 10 minutes later he met a Gilles Grimandi delivery and while Marshall produced a fine save, the Swede nudged in his 16th goal of an impressive campaign to take us one step closer to glory.
**January 25, 2011**
**Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich Town**
We went into the second leg of this League Cup semi-final trailing 1-0 after Ipswich had beaten us at Portman Road, and for an hour at Emirates Stadium they continued to edge closer to a spot at Wembley until a brilliant goal drew us level. Jack Wilshere’s superb diagonal pass picked out Nicklas Bendtner who skillfully cut inside before delivering a pinpoint finish.
Reeling from that, the visitors were caught napping two minutes later when Laurent Koscielny headed in a corner to put the fate in the tie in our hands, and we sealed a place in the final when captain Cesc Fabregas latched onto Andriy Arshavin’s pass before firing past Martin Fulop.
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