There were, of course, two trips to Arsenal last season and major headlines were generated by both. Having won there in the Premier League and shaken the hierarchy of English football to its very foundations, there was later to be an FA Cup quarter final.
The news that Cesc Fàbregas will be absent on Saturday after suffering a hamstring injury at Burnley last night takes away one potential headline maker for this weekend, given that the Arsenal captain was at the forefront of the controversy which followed the Tigers' 2-1 defeat and denial of a semi-final place or, at the very least, a replay at the KC Stadium.
Yet Fàbregas wasn't playing that night; he was dressed in a zipped-up jacket and jeans, injured, and had access to the technical area and pitch. Phil Brown suggested that the Spaniard spat at Brian Horton after the game as arguments were raised and tempers flared. No satisfactory proof of this was provided and Brown ended up looking a little foolish, at a time when his capacity to self-promote had already begun to grate with the wider football world.
It's hard to know if Fàbregas may have been targeted by a Hull City player this weekend had he been fit to play, especially when one examines the midfield options open to Brown and their lack of reputation for taking out influential opponents or administering a spot of revenge. But at least his absence removes one factor that could have made this game yet again less about the football on show.
I'm sure that if Arsène Wenger had been asked to pick one victory from a Premier League game and an FA Cup quarter final, he'd have taken the former, especially as Aston Villa were still challenging for the final Champions League spot by the time our Cup tie came round and every point was vital. He is worried this week, evidently, as he has complained about the number of fixtures in six days his side have to fulfil (and, as all of them are Premier League games, he can't play his cup tie kids) and has now lost Fàbregas, his leader and creator, for the game.
Does all this add up to the Tigers having a chance to repeat last season's evening of immortality at the Emirates? Perhaps, and perhaps not. But it's fun seeing Arsenal's composure just waver slightly. They may not be scared, but it sure looks like they might be.
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