Arsenal v Leeds Utd

Terry Neill's solitary goal opened not just a final, but a decade-long war between two of English football's great rivals.

The 1968 League Cup final was the first major showpiece between the two clubs. Arsenal won 1-0 thanks to a Terry Neill goal, but the result was almost secondary to the statement it made. Don Revie's Leeds were ascending rapidly, and this was the opening chapter of a rivalry that would define the next decade of English football.

Sixty-four points and still no title. Leeds did everything but win the league.

The 1970-71 season produced one of the great title battles. Leeds led the table for much of the campaign, but a late-season collapse, including a controversial defeat at West Brom on the final day, handed Arsenal the championship. The Gunners then beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final to complete the Double. For Leeds, it was agony. They had finished with 64 points and still lost the league.

Clarke's header settled the centenary final; two Wembley meetings, two different winners, and a rivalry that defined an era.

A year later, the two met again at Wembley in the centenary FA Cup final. Allan Clarke's diving header gave Leeds a 1-0 victory over the holders. It was a measure of how tightly these clubs were matched: two finals in consecutive years, one apiece. The fixture had become the defining rivalry of English football's early 1970s.

Leeds crowned champions in 1992; the last title before football reinvented itself entirely.

After years in the wilderness following relegation in 1982, Leeds returned to the top flight in 1990 and stunned everyone by winning the league title in 1992. It was the last championship before the Premier League era began. Arsenal, meanwhile, were adjusting to life under George Graham. The old rivalry was back, and both clubs entered the new era with serious ambitions.

Two title-chasing sides, both spending freely and playing on the front foot; these were matches that meant something.

Under David O'Leary, Leeds finished fourth in 1999 and third in 2000, qualifying for the Champions League. Arsenal, now transformed by Arsène Wenger, were winning the Double in 1998 and challenging for every trophy. The late 1990s fixtures between the two were fierce, high-quality affairs. Both clubs were spending heavily and playing attacking football, and the matches reflected that ambition.

Nine goals conceded, a debt crisis, and sixteen years of silence; Leeds never saw Arsenal coming.

The 2003-04 season marked the starkest possible divergence. Arsenal completed their unbeaten Premier League campaign, beating Leeds 5-0 at Highbury and 4-1 at Elland Road along the way. Leeds, crippled by debt from their Champions League gamble, were relegated. It was a fall of extraordinary speed. Within three years, they would drop to League One. The fixture vanished from the calendar for 16 years.

A 60,000-seat stadium built for the modern era; yet the fixture it was made for had already gone dark.

Arsenal left Highbury, the ground where so many battles with Leeds had been fought, and moved to the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium in Ashburton Grove. The new ground was purpose-built for the modern era, with extensive corporate hospitality facilities. But with Leeds languishing in the Championship and then League One, the fixture remained dormant.

Sixteen years apart, two matches back; both ended 4-2 to Arsenal.

Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds won the Championship in 2020, ending a 16-year exile from the top flight. The fixture with Arsenal was restored. In their first Premier League meeting since 2004, Arsenal won 4-2 at Elland Road in November 2020. The return to the Emirates followed in February 2021, a 4-2 Arsenal win again. The scorelines confirmed what everyone suspected: this fixture had lost none of its capacity for drama.

Leeds are back where they belong, and Elland Road's volume travels well to north London.

After finishing first in the 2024-25 Championship, Leeds secured automatic promotion back to the Premier League under Daniel Farke. The fixture with Arsenal is restored once more. With Arsenal challenging for the title under Mikel Arteta and Leeds bringing the noise of Elland Road back to the top flight, this is a match that carries genuine weight again.