By Mark Heys
February 9 2006

It's the last ever time that a Bolton Wanderers team will play at Highbury this weekend and the Trotters are hoping to spoil the Arsenal party by gaining a third straight win against the North Londoners.

Earlier on in the season Bolton recorded a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture at the Reebok Stadium and followed this up last month with another home win against Arsene Wenger's side, this time in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The Gunners do not like to play the Wanderers and often accuse their Lancashire opponents of being over physical, but it is a tried and tested method which Sam Allardyce is likely to again stick with when his side make the long journey south.

Bolton's Stelios Giannakopoulos certainly enjoys playing against Arsenal as he has scored three matchwinning goals against them in all competitions stretching back to this time last year.

The little Greek forward will once again take his place in the Bolton starting eleven as manager Allardyce hopes to call upon his African contingent who are to fly to England in a private jet so that they stand a chance of making the game.

Tunisian defender Radhi Jaidi has been back at the club since Tuesday but El-Hadji Diouf, Jay-Jay Okocha and Abdoulaye Faye still had to participate in a play off match.

Wanderers will be refreshed for the game as they have just spent the last week preparing in Dubai, yet there is still injury problems to contend with as Ivan Campo (foot), Khalilou Fadiga (knee), Gary Speed (knee) and Henrik Pedersen (achillies) are ruled out.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is without the experienced England defender Sol Campbell who has suffered with an ankle injury on top of much publicised off the field problems.

Alex Song could deputise for Campbell at the heart of the Gunners defence and there is also a recall for Freddie Ljungberg who missed the recent game with Birmingham City at St Andrews.

Wenger still has a lengthy injury list to contend with though, as six more players join Campbell on the treatment table. Ashley Cole (thigh), Gael Clichy (foot), Pascal Cygan (hamstring), Lauren (knee), Kerrea Gilbert (back) and Robin van Persie (toe) are the players in question.

PREMIERSHIP RECORD

30/10/1995 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (McGinlay) ARSENAL 0

05/05/1996 ARSENAL 2(Platt, Bergkamp) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Todd)

13/09/1997 ARSENAL 4 (Wright 3, Parlour) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Thompson)

31/03/1998 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 ARSENAL 1 (Wreh)

22/09/2001 ARSENAL 1 (Jeffers) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Ricketts)

29/04/2002 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 ARSENAL 2 (Ljungberg, Wiltord)

21/09/2002 ARSENAL 2 (Henry, Kanu) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Farrelly)

26/04/2003 BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Djorkaeff, Keown (OG)) ARSENAL 2 (Wiltord, Pires)

20/12/2003 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Pedersen) ARSENAL 1 (Pires)

20/03/2004 ARSENAL 2 (Pires, Bergkamp) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Campo)

18/09/2004 ARSENAL 2 (Henry, Pires) BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Jaidi, Pedersen)

15/01/2005 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Giannakopoulos) ARSENAL 0

03/12/2005 BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Faye, Giannakopoulos) ARSENAL 0

PREMIERSHIP FORM GUIDE:

Played: 13

Won: 3

Drawn: 4

Lost: 6

CONNECTIONS

George Hunt, David Jack, Brian Kidd, Isaiah Rankin.

IT HAPPENED WHEN BOLTON PLAYED THE GUNNERS

Bruce Rioch managed both Bolton and Arsenal. His last game in charge at Highbury came in May 1996 when facing the Wanderers who had already been relegated back to the First Division.

Ian Wright broke Cliff Bastin's Arsenal goalscoring record when these two teams met in September 1997. This record has since been eclipsed by Thierry Henry earlier on this season

In September 2002 Gareth Farrelly scored his only Premiership goal for Bolton away at Arsenal. It was a memorable one because it was never actually meant to be a shot on goal.

The most memorable head to head between these two sides came in April 2003 when in a top vs bottom clash. Arsenal looked to challenge Manchester United for the Premiership title whilst Bolton needed points to stave off relegation. At two down Bolton brought the scores back to 2-2 courtesy of a Youri Djorkaeff chip and an own goal by Martin Keown

Senegal midfielder Abdoulaye Faye headed home his first goal for Bolton against Arsenal in December 2005. The former Lens man has been likened to ex-Gunners captain Patrick Vieira who left London for Italy last season.