LONDON, March 7: Chelsea have not beaten Arsenal in their last eight FA Cup meetings and have not won a meaningful match at Highbury for 13 years.

But coach Claudio Ranieri has a cunning plan to end the misery on Saturday — rely on the law of averages.

When his side make the short journey across London for their FA Cup quarterfinal they will do so as massive underdogs with both recent and long-term form pointing to another Arsenal win.

Asked on Friday what he could do to buck the trend, Ranieri could offer little encouragement to his team’s long-suffering fans.

“Look, I know the statistics,” the Italian told reporters at the club’s training ground.

“It’s a long time since Chelsea have won at Highbury, but sooner or later it will happen. I hope it’s tomorrow of course.”

The two teams’ last FA Cup meeting was in last year’s final, which Arsenal won 2-0. That was the eighth game between the two in the competition since Chelsea managed a win in 1947.

Their only league victory at Highbury in the last 28 years came in March 1990 and their only success there since was in the League Cup five years ago against a virtual reserve team.

Ranieri, however, says there were a lot of positives to take from his team’s most recent defeats against the last year’s double winners.—Reuters