Jesse Marsch takes his Leeds United side to Arsenal on May 8 bidding for the Elland Road outfit’s first Premier League win over the Gunners since their last with a 3-2 result in 2003.
The Whites have failed to beat the north London natives in 19-years, over which they have met 11 times. Five of those meetings since beating Arsene Wenger’s side at Highbury have come in the top-flight. But only once have Leeds taken a point, getting a 0-0 draw at home.
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Arsenal won their only Premier League meeting with Leeds at the Emirates Stadium 4-2 in February 2021. They also took a 2-0 EFL Cup win on home soil in October 2021, plus two 1-0 wins and a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup. The Whites lost 5-0 in their final visit to Highbury.
Leeds may hope history repeats itself at Arsenal 19-years apart in relegation fight
Taking any points at the Emirates could prove vital to Leeds staying a Premier League team as they battle relegation. Arsenal will also be determined to avoid dropping any points, as Mikel Arteta’s squad attempt to qualify for next season’s edition of the Champions League.
Leeds’ 3-2 victory at Highbury in May 2003, likewise, proved vital to their top-flight status. The result ensured the West Yorkshire natives avoided the drop as they finished 15th, five points clear of the bottom-three. It also ensured they avoided a final day fight to stay up.
History will very much be with the Gunners when they host the Whites in north London on Sunday. So, what happened to the last Leeds team to open the action away to Arsenal and leave Highbury with three points and a win against Wenger’s Premier League runners-up?
Paul Robinson (GK)
Paul Robinson honed his trade in Leeds’ academy from an early age and broke through to the first-team in 1998. He played 95 Premier League games for the Elland Road natives up to their relegation in 2004, when the goalkeeper secured a £1.5m transfer to Tottenham.
His exit could have made the Whites £2.5m if it went through that January, per BBC Sport. But Premier League rules at the time denied him returning for the rest of the term on loan. Robinson later joined Blackburn for £3.5m in 2008 and Burnley in 2016, before he retired.
Gary Kelly
Gary Kelly spent his entire career with Leeds between 1991 and 2007, making 502 outings in all competitions. The defender also represented the Republic of Ireland on 51 occasions, including six games across the 1994 and 2002 World Cups – they have not qualified since.
Kelly played Arsenal more often than any club during his Leeds career with 20 encounters, including their last win. The Whites won on seven occasions and took two draws when the right-back featured in all competitions. He played for the full 90 minutes in 2003’s 2-3 win.
Danny Mills
Leeds agreed a £4m fee with Charlton Athletic for Danny Mills in June 1999 and he quickly became a fans’ favourite at Elland Road. He played with a no-nonsense approach up until joining Middlesbrough on loan in 2003 and then Manchester City in a free transfer in 2004.
The defender would remain on the Citizens’ accounts until he retired in 2009 after a career featuring 308 games. Mills made most of his outings while playing at Elland Road with 139, before lifting the only piece of silverware he touched with Boro with the 2003/04 EFL Cup.
Michael Duberry
Leeds signed defender Michael Duberry from Chelsea for £5m in July 1999, worth an initial £4.5m, after boss David O’Leary refused to pay the Blues’ initial £6.5m price tag. His career began in west London before later spells with Stoke, Reading, Wycombe and St Johnstone.
Duberry called time on his career in 2013 following a two-year stint with Oxford United. He played 463 first-team games across all of his clubs, including 76 for the Whites. Only three of his Leeds games came against Arsenal, despite facing the Gunners the most (13 games).
Ian Harte
Ian Harte joined Leeds as a youth and broke into the first-team fold in 1996 under Howard Wilkinson, aged 18. The left-back progressed to play 280 senior matches for the Whites in all competitions. He never played for a club more than he did during his Elland Road stay.
The 65-time Republic of Ireland international left West Yorkshire for Spain in 2004 to join Levante. Harte later enjoyed stints with Sunderland, Blackpool, Carlisle United, Reading and Bournemouth. He retired in 2015 following the Cherries’ promotion to the top-flight.
Lucas Radebe
Lucas Radebe only played for two clubs throughout his career: South African giants Kaizer Chiefs and Leeds. He moved to Elland Road in 1994, and remained with the club until the 70-cap South Africa international retired in 2005 after playing 249 games with the Whites.
The defender featured in one of the Premier League’s most iconic moments in April 1996, as well. Leeds turned to Radebe to play in goal as an emergency option away to arch-rivals Manchester United after Mark Beeney earned a red card, and Radebe did not disappoint.
Despite not being a natural between the posts, the South African made a string of saves to keep Leeds in the match. Ryan Giggs, Brian McClair, Andy Cole and Eric Cantona could not find a way past him. Roy Keane eventually found the net, though, with Cantona assisting.
Dominic Matteo
Dominic Matteo joined Leeds from Liverpool for £4.75m in August 2000, even though the defender failed his medical due to a knee injury. He had started his career at Anfield and played 155 times for the Reds. A figure he never eclipsed, with 145 outings for the Whites.
The six-time Scotland international remained at Elland Road until making a free transfer to Blackburn in 2004. Matteo would spend two-and-a-half years at Ewood Park before joining Stoke in another free switch. There, he would spend two-and-a-half years before retiring.
Eirik Bakke
Leeds shopped in Norway in 1999 to sign Eirik Bakke from Sogndal as an U21 international for £1.75m. The midfielder enjoyed numerous highs in West Yorkshire before returning to his home country in 2006 with Brann, following a half-season loan with Aston Villa in 2005.
Playing in Leeds’ last 3-2 win over Arsenal at Highbury in 2003 was one of Bakke’s favourite memories as it clinched survival. The win also gave Manchester United the Premier League title, but what made it so special for Bakke was the joy he took in beating Wenger’s squad.
“Away against Arsenal, we always did well,” he told Planet Football. “We had won there before. We always had a big rivalry between ourselves and them. When they were losing, they were so arrogant. Bad losers. To beat them a few times was one of my highlights.”
Jason Wilcox
December 1999 saw Leeds agree a £3m fee with Blackburn for midfielder Jason Wilcox as O’Leary dealt with numerous injuries. The three-time England international had spent the previous seven years in the Ewood Park senior fold after emerging from Rovers’ academy.
His Elland Road stay was not as long, as it lasted four-and-a-half years before Wilcox joined Leicester City. The forward played 105 times for the Whites, far from his 230 appearances with Blackburn. He also later played for Blackpool after the Foxes, before retiring in 2006.
Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell joined Leeds for his first move from Australian side Marconi Stallions in 1995. The striker spent eight years in West Yorkshire before sealing a transfer to Liverpool worth £5m, of which the Whites gave Kewell’s camp £2m, as he agreed a £60k-a-week contract.
The Sydney-born star enjoyed 233 appearances with the Whites, more than any other club in his career, for 60 goals. He also played 139 times for the Reds, and helped to win the FA Cup and Champions League. Kewell retired in 2014, before becoming a manager in 2017.
Mark Viduka
Leeds needed an appeal to secure a work permit for Mark Viduka to complete a £6m move from Celtic in July 2000. The forward remained at Elland Road until July 2004 as the exodus continued after the Whites’ relegation to the second-tier as Middlesbrough offered £4.5m.
The forward was the thorn in Arsenal’s side that handed Manchester United the Premier League title in 2002/03 and returned Leeds’ last win over the Gunners in all competitions. He fashioned a brilliant effort to win 3-2 in the 89th-minute after Kewell and Harte scored.
Arsenal had managed to reply both times Kewell and Harte put Leeds in front at Highbury through Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. But Wenger’s side did not find an equaliser in the final minutes after Viduka avoided an offside call to bend his shot past David Seaman.
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