When Arsenal lost twice in two days...to the same team!

In the modern day Premier League it seems like Arsenal are always a couple of defeats away from a crisis at the club. In the past few seasons, a few of those defeats have come at the hands of Watford.

Last season Arsenal were second in the league when Watford travelled to the Emirates in January. The visitors promptly won the game 2-1, and Arsenal went on to lose four of their next five games, falling to fifth place, which is where they eventually finished, missing out Champions League football for the first time in 20 years.

The previous season, the Hornets came away from the Emirates with another win, this time in the FA Cup quarter final, ending Arsenal's hopes of winning the trophy for a third successive season.

Whilst those two defeats were frustrating for Arsenal fans, it doesn't compare to the nightmare week which the Gunners suffered in the spring of 1986.

After finding out that the club's directors were looking for a manager behind his back, Don Howe, Arsenal boss at the time, decided to leave the club. Chief scout Steve Burtenshaw was appointed caretaker manager and his first game in charge was a 1-0 defeat to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. A defeat in the North London derby is one of the worst things that can happen to any Arsenal fan, but things were about to get worse for the Gunners.

An original trip to Watford on Boxing Day had been postponed, and a winter freeze in 1986, along with both sides going on cup runs, meant that there was a fixture backlog, causing the bizarre double header in March.

Graham Taylor's Watford side travelled to Highbury on March 31st at 11.30am before welcoming Arsenal to Vicarage Road on April 1 for a match at 7.30pm. 

The first match at Highbury, attended by just 19,599 disgruntled Arsenal fans, ended in a 2-0 victory for the visitors, with goals from John Barnes and Malcolm Allen. 

Just over 24 hours later, Watford once again emerged victorious, winning 3-0, and Allen manage to score his second goal in as many days.

Arsenal were promptly torn apart in the press, and finished the season in a disappointing 7th place in the First Division.

Meanwhile, Watford were probably wishing they could face the Gunners every day!