Yesterday we learned our fate for the Europa League, after the draw was made, in which we will face up against Slavia Prague in April in the quarter finals of the competition. The will not be an easy opponent, but what we have learned about them in the last few days, are that they are an opponent who I hope our players have an added incentive to go out and beat them over two legs because what has emerged over the last couple of days with regards to the language used against Glen Kamara (ex Arsenal academy graduate) in their game on Thursday is, frankly, unacceptable.

It is disgraceful to the highest order and I just hope that this helps give added motivation to us. I myself have read what was said, seen the footage, as well as read the weak and pathetic response by Slavia Prague to this allegation. I don’t believe a word of it. But then again, they have form as a club, having denied racist chants from Slavia fans against Lukaku in 2019 and even suggesting he should apologize for even mentioning it.

They have also been found guilty of racist chants towards a Sparta Prague player in 2019. So what do we expect from their players when their fans are like that?

I really hope we smash them. Like, properly smash them.

If we do, we also know what the Semi Final will look like as well, as we will face off against either Unai Emery’s Villareal or the conquerors of the Scum Dinamo Zagreb. If we can navigate Slavia, you just know it’s going to be Unai at the Emirates, right?

On paper you’d have to say it is the more favourable draw. Arsenal can still find new and inventive ways in which to cock it up, as we know, but avoiding the side of the draw with Man United, Roma or Ajax until the final is certainly the more preferable of the options. If we make it to the final it will 100% be United though. I feel that in my veins.

But this is all worries for the future, because we have a couple of week’s until European football resumes and before then we’ll be playing West Ham away tomorrow and Liverpool at home over the Easter Sunday. In terms of that West Ham game though, there hasn’t been too much that I can see has come out from it. Mikel Arteta spoke after the Olympiakos game and talked about how he knows David Moyes well and knows exactly how he will prepare for us and there are some interesting titbits about the game and background stats on the official website here. I think it will be interesting to see what we do if West Ham do sit deep at home and hit us on the counter, especially given how we’ve struggled against that for large parts in the season. BUt a more detailed look about West Ham will follow tomorrow.

In the meantime, what we have been treated to is the supposed kit leak from Footy Headlines of the away Arsenal kit for next season, and I gotta tell ya, I am a bit of a fan of it, I have to say. It’s simple, I like the shade of yellow (which, weirdly, matches the colour of my office at home I’ve just had painted) and I LOVE that Adidas have gone simplicity in the design for the Arsenal crest. And look, I know it isn’t the original crest cannon because the one in the early 90s and that stood in the stadium in places like the West and East Upper entrances in Highbury, but with what Arsenal have as a badge now and the clear nod to our history with it’s simple design, I think it is a fantastic way in which Adidas are connecting the old with the new at Arsenal. I loved the first kits they released when they re-signed with us last season. I’ve been less enamoured with this season’s kits and so haven’t bought them, but the home and away kits that have been leaked look pretty good to me, so I suspect I’ll be making a purchase in the summer, that’s for sure.

There’s not really a lot else going on today in terms of Arsenal interest. There was some noises yesterday about how Guendouzi is causing a bit of trouble, but that isn’t really news for us, is it? So I think I’ll just leave it and wait for the inevitable difficult summer as nobody wants a guy who is clearly a bit of a trouble maker.

Anyhoo, I’ll say my goodbyes for another one. Hope you guys are all well and I’ll catch you tomorrow for a match preview.

Laters.