Why will Arsenal wear their away kit in the North London Derby for the first time in 38 years?

The Gunners will hope to capitalize on Tottenham’s poor start to the new season.

With the international break over all the clubs will get back to action this weekend. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur will face each other as Premier League action also resumes. This North London derby is one of the big matches of this weekend.

Arsenal will travel to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face Spurs. But this time they will wear their away kit for the first time in 38 years. The Gunners usually wear traditional red and white home kit whenever they face local rivals Tottenham.

However, this time PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) have not approved their home kit to wear against Tottenham. According to PGMOL the Gunners’ current home kit “features too much white”. It could have led to a jersey clash when Spurs players take on the field in their home kit.

To avoid shirt confusion between both clubs, PGMOL have urged Arsenal to wear their away kit which is black at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But Arsenal provided a solution for their jersey by wearing a home shirt with red shorts and socks. This was also rejected as the officials stuck by their decision. They felt that the Gunners’s away kit was the best choice to avoid any jersey confusion during the game.

“The PGMOL and Premier League ruled that our 2024-25 home kit features too much white, thus clashing with Tottenham’s traditional colours, even with the option of red shorts and socks for us, which was also discussed,” said Arsenal.

“As a result, for the first time in recent ‘NLD’ history, we’ll be wearing our change colours.”

PGMOL also confirmed that when Tottenham visit the Emirates Stadium in January, they will have to wear their away jersey. Now Arsenal will wear the away jersey in the North London derby at Tottenham for the first time since the 1985-86 season.

It will be one of the big games of this weekend. Both sides have had a contrasting start to the season. Nevertheless, both teams will aim to secure a win here.

Arsenal are currently fourth in the table with seven points. They will hope to continue their winning run. On the other hand, Spurs had a poor start to the new season. They are 10th in the league table.

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