Paul Lambert, unlike any previous Stoke manager in the Premier League, does actually know what he’s on about when he talks about winning at The Emirates.
He was manager of Aston Villa when they stunned Arsenal with a 3-1 win in north London on the opening day of the 2013/14 season.
The record books show that Villa were indebted that day to a couple of Christian Benteke goals, one from the penalty spot, and a third from the little remembered Antonio Luna.
And all this after Olivier Giroud had opened the scoring at the other end in only the sixth minute.
Lambert, not one to frequently delve into his past and pop his chest out in the process, reluctantly dug deep into his memory banks to recall the game.
“We had luck that day as well, dear oh dear. I think we got two penalties. I think Christian (Benteke) scored from a rebound and Gabby (Agbonlahor) got brought down.
“And then we scored from a breakaway.
“Whenever you go to The Emirates, you don’t really have too much of the ball, but we got goals at the right time and we had a wee bit of luck at the right time.
“So anything can happen if you have a little bit of good luck and fortune.
“But you’ve got to have good bits of play in your game as well and be strong defensively.
“If you’ve got that, then you’ve got a right good chance.”
Lambert acknowledges that his memories of The Emirates are likely to be a touch sweeter than those Stoke players suffering so many defeats there down the years.
Stoke have managed just the four goals in those nine visits, while Arsenal have banged in 22 at the other end.
“There’s been a few lads here for a long time and some that haven’t been,” says Lambert, “so some will know what that feeling is like and some won’t.
“But for me, it’s fresh. So I’m not thinking we haven’t won at The Emirates, we haven’t drawn at The Emirates, we haven’t got a point at The Emirates.
“For me it’s new, so I don’t have anything in my head… just go and try to win.”