We round off 2024 on Friday with a first Premier League meeting with Ipswich Town in 22 years (8.15pm UK), as we aim to cap another year of progression by remaining in the hunt for silverware in 2025.
Victory would see us climb to second spot in the table and keep the pressure on leaders Liverpool, while maintaining the feel-good factor achieved by reaching the League Cup semi-finals and a resounding 5-1 thumping of Crystal Palace last time out.
At a festively-filled Emirates Stadium, we’ll be looking to extend our 16-game unbeaten home run against a side who haven’t beaten us in N5 since 1979, but Kieran McKenna’s current crop have won two of their last three on their travels as they get to grips with life in the top-flight after successive promotions.
Tractor Boys produce on travels
Having been in League One just two years ago, it's understandable that Ipswich’s aim is solely about survival. While they head into this game in the drop zone, McKenna’s side have shown plenty of encouraging signs after a harsh learning curve saw them winless after the first 10 games.
While their home form has only yielded four draws, on the road they have picked up their only two victories in their last three away matches. Tottenham Hotspur were dispatched 2-1 last month to register the Tractpor Boys' first top-flight win since 2002, while Jack Taylor’s 94th-minute strike saw them defeat fellow strugglers Wolves two weeks ago.
But Saturday saw them beaten resoundingly by Newcastle United as the Magpies ran out 4-0 victors at Portman Road, as defensive mistakes caused by playing out from the back came to the fore once again.
What the managers say
Arteta: “I like Kieran and have a lot of people who know him very closely and they always say great things about him. You can tell how they’re coached, and what they’re trying to do. I think they’ve been very unfortunate in many games not getting the results that they deserve, so it’ll be a very tough game for sure.
“The margins are not big, especially with the results that [Liverpool] are having consistently, it is putting the bar up very high again – which we expected. So we need to raise it again and be very consistent, continue to play the way where we continue winning and wait.”
McKenna: "We need to show the right mentality. It is a chance to show our togetherness, our spirit and our resilience. Our organisation is going to have to be really good and we are going to have to show bravery in moments of the game to take them on in the way we want to.
“It is about educating the players on different moments of the game and different situations, and what is the most appropriate decision to make in each situation. They are not going to get every judgement right in the level that we are operating at - the time and the margins to make your decisions are so, so, so fast."
Team news
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Bukayo Saka will be missing for a lengthy period after suffering a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace last weekend, while Raheem Sterling will also be out due to a knee problem.
That is the same ailment that is keeping Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu out of action, as they attempt to complete their recoveries in the new year. Oleksandr Zinchenko however could be available again after missing the last five games.
Gabriel Jesus and Jurrien Timber have to avoid picking up a booking in our next two Premier League games to escape a one-match ban.
For the visitors, Liam Delap will return from suspension as he missed the loss against Newcastle on Saturday, but captain Sam Morsey picked up his fifth booking of the campaign in that game and will sit this one out.
Massimo Luongo has been struggling with illness for the past fortnight, but striker George Hirst (knee) and Axel Tuanzebe (hamstring) will definitely remain sidelined, while Chiedozie Ogbene is out for the season with a torn Achilles.
Talking tactics
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Ipswich have used a 4-2-3-1 in every match barring their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City when McKenna used a 5-4-1, so it may be under consideration to repeat that ploy. They like to play fast, adventurous football, and that attitude has helped them score in six of their eight away games.
The Suffolk outfit want to pass out short from the back and move the ball through the lines, but they average just 43% possession, the third lowest in the Premier League. This means they have to counter a lot, and they are good at it. From 12 fast break shots they have scored four times this season as they press and counter-press with enthusiasm.
Full-back Leif Davis [above] is always looking to put a quality delivery into the danger zone, and among top-flight defenders he leads the way for chances created (36), and big chances created (10). His buccaneering style is symptomatic of Ipswich’s attacking nature.
McKenna’s men are fast starters, scoring first in eight of their matches, but converting those leads into three-point hauls has been a serious problem, giving up 15 points from winning positions. Individual errors have cost them several goals, and opponents are creating lots of chances against them, with just one clean sheet registered.
Facts and stats
We are unbeaten in our last 13 league games against Ipswich since a 2-1 away loss in September 1984.
We are unbeaten in our last 41 Premier League home games against promoted sides, winning the last 12 in a row. Only Chelsea (43 between 2001 and 2015) have had a longer such run in the competition’s history.
We have scored 5+ goals in seven different Premier League games in 2024 – the last team to do so in more top-flight games in a single calendar year were Burnley (9 in 1960), while the last time we did so was in 1931 (8).
We are unbeaten in our last 11 Premier League home games and are the only side without a home defeat so far this term. We are looking to keep four consecutive home clean sheets in the league for the first time since December 2021.
Ipswich have won their final away league game of the year in just one of the last seven years, with that win coming at Plymouth Argyle in the third tier back in 2020.
We have had more different goalscorers than any other side in the Premier League this season (14).
Only Manchester City’s Premier League games have seen more goals scored in the opening 15 minutes (14) than Ipswich’s so far this season (12 – F5 A7).
Following their 2-1 win at Tottenham last month, Ipswich be looking to win back-to-back Premier League matches in London for the first time ever.
Gabriel Jesus has scored five goals in his last two games. No player has scored multiple goals in three consecutive appearances for us (all comps) in the Premier League era.
Match officials
Darren England has been handed his first Arsenal game since April 2023 when we thrashed Leeds United 4-1 at Emirates Stadium, and his three previous matches at our home have seen us score 13 times. The only time we have lost on his four previous appointments was at Newcastle United in May 2022. Ipswich will also have fond memories of England as he was the man in the middle when they triumphed at Tottenham last month.
The Doncaster-born official has dished out 33 yellow cards in his seven Premier League games this season, which strangely hasn't yielded a home victory. England has also issued two red cards and one penalty, which all came in the same Fulham v Aston Villa fixture back in October.
Referee: Darren England
Assistants: Wade Smith, Akil Howson
Fourth official: Lewis Smith
VAR: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant VAR: Adam Nunn
Ipswich’s last visits
This will be the first meeting between ourselves and Ipswich in any competition since we ran out 3-0 victors in the League Cup semi-final second leg back in January 2011, having lost the first leg 1-0 at Portman Road.
We have lost just one of our last 13 home games against the Suffolk side in all competitions, and have won each of the last three. The last in the Premier League saw Freddie Ljungberg net both of our goals in a 2-0 win at Highbury in April 2002 en route to the title, while the season before saw Thierry Henry bag the only goal in a 1-0 success.
That was the same campaign that saw James Scowcroft net an 89th winner to dump us out of the League Cup in November 2000 - the last time an Ipswich player netted on our turf.
Live coverage
Get ready for the final game of 2024 with Live From N5, as Dan Khan and Femi Koleoso host a show that will see Gunners icon Santi Cazorla join them in the studio to give his take on how his former side are doing this season, and what he's been up to since he left north London.
TV chef and huge Gooner Richard Blais will also be on the show, as we bring you everything you may have missed on social media over Christmas while Frimmy will be out and about with our Question of the Day.
We'll test your memory with a round of What Happens Next and there’s everything you need to know about the Tractor Boys before kick-by-kick commentary comes from Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke - so make sure you tune in!
You can also find out which broadcaster is showing the action live wherever you are in the world
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
