Key events
Preamble
Happiness is an illusion glimpsed in the aftermath of victory. Most of the time, watching our team play football is mostly a miserable, desperate, hard-faced experience – one that is entirely worth it for the moments of euphoria that little else can provide.
Nick Hornby nailed it in Fever Pitch when he remembered his first visit to Highbury.
What impressed me most was just how much most of the men around me hated, really hated, being there. As far as I could tell, nobody seemed to enjoy, in the way that I understood the word, anything that happened during the entire afternoon. Within minutes of the kick-off there was real anger (‘You’re a DISGRACE, Gould. He’s a DISGRACE!’ A hundred quid a week? A HUNDRED QUID A WEEK! They should give that to me for watching you.’); as the game went on, the anger turned into outrage, and then seemed to curdle into sullen, silent discontent… Entertainment as pain was an idea entirely new to me, and it seemed to be something I’d been waiting for. It might not be too fanciful to suggest that it was an idea which shaped my life.
This could be the greatest season in Arsenal’s history, the one in which they win the Premier League and Champions League, yet the last few months have had strong root-canal vibes. All things being equal, there will be a fair bit of misery and despair at the Emirates tonight. When you’re trying to win your first league title in 22 years, it’s the way it has to be.
Kick off 5.30pm
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