Emirates Cup rule scrapped ahead of Arsenal vs Monaco with special Arsene Wenger tribute planned

The Emirates Cup is a unique pre-season tournament in its own right and Arsenal will be looking to get their hands on the trophy for the seventh time when they face AS Monaco this evening (Wednesday).

Introduced in 2007 as part of the Gunners’ intention to stage a pre-season competition at the then-recently opened Emirates Stadium, the inaugural Emirates Cup took place on July 28 and 29 that year with Paris Saint-Germain, Valencia and Internazionale the first-ever participants.

Arsenal would go on to win the first tournament thanks to a pair of 2-1 wins over PSG and Inter, and have emerged victorious in five of the 10 editions ever since, taking the runners-up spot twice in 2014 as well as 2019 – and finishing third in 2008, 2011 and 2013.

This year’s tournament is a little different. Whilst the new one-day format – which came into effect in 2019 – is still in place, it’s just a one-off game between the Gunners and the Ligue 1 outfit as there will be no women’s fixture – presumably because of the World Cup currently taking place.

A competition designed for high-scoring games, previously the points system for the Emirates Cup was as follows: “Teams will be awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw,” a statement read on Arsenal.com. “The competition also rewards attacking play, with teams being awarded one point for each goal they score.

“In addition, shots on target will be taken into account and will be used to decide the tournament winners if teams are level on points and goal difference, with the winning team being presented with the Emirates Cup trophy.”

With this year’s edition being decided between two teams instead of four, the points system is no longer applicable as the winning team – if there is one – will lift the Emirates Cup trophy. Although, if Arsenal and Monaco can’t be separated after 90 minutes, the shots-on-target rule will be used to decide the winners.

Aside from the game being the last chance for Mikel Arteta to experiment with his team ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City, there will also be an opportunity for all inside the ground to pay tribute to Arsene Wenger who managed both clubs.

Just last week the legendary Frenchman was honoured with a statue outside the Emirates Stadium – thus joining Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Herbert Chapman, Ken Friar and Thierry Henry on the podium around the ground – and it’s been confirmed that he will be the club’s guest of honour for the game.