Wenger's furious rant at Alan Shearer over turning football "into a judo party"

Arsenal welcome Newcastle United to the Emirates Stadium this Saturday in the weekend's Premier League opener, with the visitors still chasing their first win of the season.

The future may be bright for Newcastle after recently becoming the world's richest club, but both sides are nowhere near where they used to be, with the pair challenging for Premier League title's 20 years ago.

Newcastle have since found themselves battling to stay in the top-flight, and Arsenal are experiencing their first season without European football for 26 years.

However, when the sides meet it is always a fascinating encounter with a rich history, and one previous meeting led to Arsene Wenger slamming Alan Shearer after the final whistle.

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Arsenal were dealt a blow as they challenged for the Premier League title during the 2005/06 season, as a late Nolberto Solano goal snatched all three points for Newcastle when the two sides met in December 2005.

Wenger was furious after the whistle, and targeted Shearer for his unnecessary physicality as he felt that he along with a brutal Newcastle side didn't allow his Arsenal outfit to play football, as it was made into judo.

Shearer was set to retire from the game at the end of the season, but Wenger wasn't phased as he launched an attack on the Newcastle legend after the full-time whistle.

Wenger said: "Will I miss him? I don't even know him. He has never been my player so I have no comment to make on that.

"Shearer is an example of a man who, when the ball is in the air, goes for the man first. We have to decide: do we want football or to make it into a judo party?

"I have nothing against physical football but I found Newcastle's approach difficult to accept. I am talking about the intention when they go for the ball."

Wenger then continued his rant and turned towards the Premier League officials, as he said: "There is now a belief in the game that if you go physical with Arsenal you can win because the referees let you do it. I feel that many teams now go overboard and don't let us play football.

"We tried to play football and were punished for it. The intentions of the two teams were surprising considering we were down to ten men and they had 11.

"We must take this defeat on the chin but I wouldn't want to face this kind of game all year. Some people say they enjoy it but I don't."

Arsenal ended up finishing fourth that season, and were dealt Champions League heartbreak as they lost in the final to Barcelona that year, but Mikel Arteta will be hoping for a big win over a struggling Newcastle side on Saturday to keep their top-four hopes alive.