Arsenal now know their opponents for the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. The Premier League leaders will face League One side Wigan Athletic at Emirates Stadium over the weekend of Saturday, February 14th.
It is their first meeting against lower league opposition at home in the FA Cup since they beat Leeds United 1-0 in 2020.
Wigan’s FA Cup prestige
Wigan famously won the competition back in 2013, beating Manchester City 1-0 with Ben Watson scoring a header in the 91st minute to give the relegated Latics their greatest ever moment.
Previous meetings
It will be the first time that the two sides have met in a competitive fixture since the 2014 FA Cup semi-final, when the Gunners won 4-2 on penalties at Wembley. Current manager, Mikel Arteta, played and scored in the shootout in that semi-final.
Arsenal have only lost once at home to Wigan since 2005, a pair of goals from Franco Di Santo and Jordi Gomez giving the visitors a 2-1 win back in April 2012.
They last visited the Emirates in May 2013, when goals from Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, and a brace from Lukas Podolski secured a 4-1 win. Shaun Maloney scored what proved to be a consolation goal for the visitors.
Fixture schedule
The home draw will also ensure that Arsenal will not be playing outside of London between February 3rd and March 4th. The cup tie will occur between two away games, a trip to the G-Tech to face Brentford, and the North London Derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Wigan’s form
Ryan Lowe’s side are 15th in League One, three points clear of the relegation zone and only nine points behind Bolton Wanderers in sixth place.
They’ve only won seven out of 24 matches in the league this season and are on a run of three defeats in their last five matches
They advanced into Round 4 of the tournament with a win on Friday evening over Lowe’s former side, Preston North End.