On Sunday, as Arsenal hosted Chelsea in a decisive 2025/26 Premier League showdown, the world tuned in; but not everyone came in peace. For Gunners faithful, it was about belief: staying top and daring to dream of ending a 21-year title drought. For everyone else, it was something darker, more delicious – the art of the hate-watch.
Hate-watching is football’s guilty pleasure: tuning in not to cheer, but to curse; not to celebrate a winner, but to pray for a stumble. It’s hoping for a draw so neither rival climbs the table. It’s tracking goal difference like a stock ticker, arms folded, waiting for pain; preferably someone else’s.
At the Guinness Matchday experience on Kiambu Road, you didn’t need a boarding pass to London to feel the stakes. The giant screens glowed like floodlights, the bass from the speakers thudded through the floor, and every near-miss drew a collective gasp that felt rehearsed.
The earlier clash between Manchester United and Crystal Palace barely stirred the room. But when Arsenal versus Chelsea loomed, the air thickened. It quickly became less Arsenal vs Chelsea and more Arsenal vs Everybody. Even the MC, Lotan Salapei, christened it “Arsenal vs Chelsea United.” United fans lingered, City fans hovered; all hungry for a slip-up that might tilt the title race.
When William Saliba rose highest in the 21st minute and powered home a header, the Arsenal corner erupted, drowning out the borrowed jeers. For a moment, the hate-watchers fell silent. But just before the break, an own goal restored Chelsea’s hope and revived the banter. The second half brought nerves, noise and needle — until another corner, another 21st-minute twist. This time finished by Jurrien Timber, pushed Arsenal five points clear.
In that instant, belief swelled on one side of the room, and somewhere in the shadows, the hate-watch began to hurt.
As the final whistle pierced the night, the DJ wasted no time, cueing up Sauti Sol’s All My Enemies Are Suffering; and for the hate-watchers in the room, it sounded less like a song and more like a prophecy, at least until Arsenal’s next test.