The reason why Arsenal are wearing a white kit in FA Cup clash against Liverpool

  /  autty

Arsenal players have been wearing all-white kits for their FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool.

Two of the country's best sides went head-to-head in the final game of the weekend, with just Wigan against Manchester United left from the round, with that game following the draw on Monday.

While Arsenal dominated proceedings early on, what caught the eye most to many was that the Gunners weren't donning their usual red strip at the Emirates despite being the home side.

Instead they wore all-white, with numbers on the backs of shirts hard to make out on the TV broadcast and names not on show.

The reason for wearing the white kit was No More Red campaign with Adidas, which was first launched in 2022 to support work done by the Gunners to keep young people safe from knife crime and youth violence.

This is the third year in a row in which the Gunners will wear the all white kit as a one-off, while Arsenal Women will wear the kit for the first time when they play Watford in a fourth round FA Cup match on January 14.

It comes as the latest data by the Office of National Statistics report that there were 13,503 knife-enabled crimes in London from June 2022 to the same month in 2023.

Pictures of the kit were released in the week, with the likes of Declan Rice and Gabriel seen wearing the shirt in a photoshoot.

The No More Red won't be put up for sale but a bespoke community t-shirt will be available to purchase for £30 on January 29.

Funds generated from the shirt will then be donated in equal proportions to a number of No More Red's charity partners including The Arsenal Foundation, Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation and Box Up Crime among more.

Adidas and Arsenal on the back of the No More Red campaign will invest in more safe spaces to play football with the opening of a third refurbished community pitch at Mayville Estate, Islington early this year.

The two already in place have seen more than 500 people take part across 200 sessions.

Arsenal hoped to return to winning ways in the game, but found it hard to break down a resilient away defence despite their number of chances.

Mikel Arteta's side go into the clash on the back of defeats to London rivals West Ham and Fulham, and are now five points behind Klopp's side in the title race.

Related: Arsenal Liverpool Arteta Rice
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