Roy Collins examines evidence that proves Arsene Wenger is in earnest when he says he loves FA Cup success

Arsene Wenger may have shown undisguised contempt for the League Cup in all its guises since he took over as Arsenal manager in September, 1996. But his record in the FA Cup is second to none, endorsing his claims that he has as much feeling for the competition as for the Premiership.

Even his pleas for replays to be abolished reflect his love for the Cup. Before the quarter-final replay at Chelsea last month, he said: "This is still an important competition and my team will give every last drop of blood to go through. I was accused of fielding a weakened team in the previous round but we beat Manchester United at Old Trafford."

Wenger was also highly critical of United when they pulled out of the 1999-2000 competition to play in a Mickey Mouse cup in Brazil, accusing them of risking "killing off" the Cup.

Wenger's record certainly suggests a man in love with the oldest knockout competition in the world. In just seven seasons and 39 games, Wenger has accumulated 27 victories, including twice winning the trophy, taking him almost halfway to the record of 61 set by Matt Busby over 25 years at Manchester United. He has achieved this at a success rate of 69 per cent, 7 per cent higher than Busby.

Wenger says: "We have always shown total respect for the FA Cup and it is a tournament we always want to win."

Since they lost 6-5 on penalties to Leicester in a fourth-round replay in January, 2000, Arsenal have been beaten only once in 18 FA Cup ties, a late 2-1 loss to a Michael Owen-inspired Liverpool in the final of 2001. That represents a 94.4 per cent winning ratio and apart from that Liverpool defeat, Arsenal have lost only two other times under Wenger - by a single goal against Leeds in 1997 and 2-1 to Manchester United in a 1999 semi-final replay.

Wenger has compiled his impressive record while often leaving out senior players to preserve his resources for the Premiership and Champions League.

If one game could be said to encapsulate the implacable nature of Arsenal in the FA Cup, it was last year's sixth-round tie at Newcastle, when Wenger left Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires out of his starting line-up.

That gave Newcastle a great opportunity to erase their FA Cup heartache of recent years, notably against Arsenal in the 1998 final. But the Gunners would not be denied.

The Newcastle striker Alan Shearer summed it up, saying: "We murdered them in the first half but it was the same old story. They caught us with a sucker punch to go ahead and they defended extremely well."

Although Laurent Robert managed an equaliser, Arsenal ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in the replay.

Wenger has continued to rest players for the biggest FA Cup ties this season. Henry and Bergkamp were left out of the line-up for the fifth-round tie at Old Trafford which resulted in a 2-0 Arsenal win.

Even more outrageously, for the quarter-final replay at Chelsea last month, when Wenger was already without Ashley Cole and David Seaman, he left Henry, Freddie Ljungberg, Dennis Bergkamp and Gilberto Silva out of his starting XI and still triumphed.

Chelsea, of course, have been knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal for the past three seasons. Graeme Le Saux says: "We don't have an inferiority complex when we go on the field against them but they always seem to find a way to score a spectacular goal, often from the least likely of players."

Ray Parlour, that most infrequent of scorers, managed a high-class effort in last year's final, and at Stamford Bridge last month, full-back Lauren killed off the tie with a surprise solo effort.

As well as boasting an unparalleled record of success in the competition, Wenger will forever have a place in its history after events of February 14, 1999. After a 2-1 success against Sheffield United at Highbury in the fifth round, Wenger insisted that the game should be replayed because Nwankwo Kanu's winner followed Arsenal winger Marc Overmars's failure to give the ball back to the visitors when the ball had been deliberately kicked out because of injury.

It is the only match in the Cup's 131-year history to be replayed as a "sporting gesture", the Gunners repeating the same scoreline in the replayed match. Sheffield United may be in need of similar generosity from their opponents if they are to stop Wenger and Arsenal adding to their FA Cup successes.

It may seem that Wenger has done just that by stating last night that he intends to field a weakened team in this cup clash so that certain players will be rested for Wednesday's title showdown with Manchester United. However, given that Henry and co did not start the previous two rounds, a weakened Arsenal still pack a considerable punch. Something that Wenger knows all too well.

Guardian Service.