Arsenal draw Preston North End in FA Cup Third Round

Arsenal will play Preston North End away in their first match of the 2017 FA Cup campaign, in their Third Round match on January 7th. This marks the first time the two sides have faced each other in quite a while – the last match was a 1999 League Cup game, in which Arsenal won 2-1 at Highbury.

Preston North End are currently in 14th position in the Championship, 15 points off the leaders Newcastle. It’s been a while since they’ve been in the Premier League, and in fact this is their first year back in the Championship after four seasons in League One.

There’s another bit of trivia interest in the matchup: this is, as you may know, a game between the last two teams to go a full season unbeaten in England’s first division. Arsenal, of course, did it in the 2003-04 season; Preston North End did it in the 1888-89 season. So it’s been a while, either way.