Despite being on the road, Arsenal were desperate to wear their red home kit for the upcoming North London Derby.
The two sides of North London will clash on Sunday, as Tottenham Hotspur will host Arsenal.
There is no love lost between these two local rivals, and this Premier League fixture is sure to be a feisty affair.
Martin Keown believes Arsenal are better than Spurs, but Mikel Arteta still faces some enormous challenges heading into this clash.
The Gunners will be missing serval key players when they take to the pitch on Sunday. Declan Rice is suspended for this match, and Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard are set to be sidelined with injuries.
Arteta will have to reconfigure his midfield to cope with these absences. This could mean Jorginho getting his first minutes of the new Premier League season, or even Hale End academy wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri being handed his full debut if he is named in the starting XI.
If Nwaneri is picked to play though, he won’t be given an opportunity to wear the famous red and white of Arsenal.
Arsenal forced into kit change vs Tottenham Hotspur
Despite Arsenal wanting to wear their home kit for the game, they have now been told in no uncertain terms that they are not allowed to do so.
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Journalist Charles Watts, reporting on X, has explained the situation: “Arsenal being forced by the Premier League and PGMOL to play in the black away kit on Sunday at Spurs.
“Arsenal wanted to play in red but the kit was deemed to ‘feature too much white’ so there were fears it would clash with Spurs’ kit.”
In a week that has included plenty of bad news for Arsenal, as Riccardo Calafiori also picked up a knock on international duty, this will feel like another kick to the teeth.
The kit Arsenal will wear in the North London Derby
Instead of their home strip, the Gunners shall now don their black away kit for this fixture.
This strip also features a shock of white around the shoulders, albeit it is less prevalent that on the home shirt.
The design on Arsenal’s away shirt is intended to honours the club’s connection with Africa, and celebrates the African players and supporters who have represented the Gunners. This kit was a hit with Arsenal fans.