By Bulldog Drummond
First off the tickets: I think there are still some tickets available at the usual prices of upper tier tickets £20.00 Adults and £10.00 Concessions and lower tier tickets £10.00 Adults and £5.00 Concessions. They will be on sale until 4pm and then that’s that. There is no purchasing of tickets thereafter.
It is important to note however that the usual story about Arsenal being the most expensive club to watch in the world will continue unabated.
Meanwhile there is disastrous news on the injury front: we’ve leaped up the table! Here’s what physioroom.com is telling us today
| # | TEAM | Men down | Last man to go | What happened to him? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Watford | 6 | M Zarate | Fitness |
| 2 | Stoke City | 5 | G Cameron | Hamstring Injury |
| 3 | Everton | 5 | R Barkley | Hamstring Injury |
| 4 | Brighton and H | 5 | B Saltor | Back Injury |
| 5 | Arsenal | 4 | D Welbeck | Groin Strain |
| 6 | Manchester U | 4 | P Pogba | Hamstring Injury |
| 7 | Huddersfield T | 4 | C Quaner | Calf Strain |
| 8 | Leicester City | 4 | L Ulloa | Neck Injury |
| 9 | Tottenham Hots | 3 | V Wanyama | Cartilage Knee Injury |
| 10 | Liverpool | 3 | A Lallana | Thigh Strain |
Our four men down are Coquelin, Welbeck, Ozil, Santi Caz – so pretty much what we knew. And even if they had all been fit I don’t think any of them would have been lined up for this game – maybe Coquelin, but I am not even sure of that.
In terms of current league performance, the only thing amiss with our home form is that we’ve let in three goals:
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 9 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Huddersfield Town | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
That figure shows us rather encouragingly scoring 3.5 goals a game. But of course we have played one home game fewer than Man U, so if we win next monday (as I believe the nonsense of league fixtures has it) by 6-0 we’ll be at the top of the charts. A win by two goals will put us second in the home form table.
Indeed our position in the home games table last season shows much the same situation except the goals per game across the whole season was 2.1. It is interesting that Tottenham has slipped somewhat in the home form chart – which I believe might have been predicted by someone but then dismissed by everyone else. (Tottenham are currently 17th in the home table – although they did secure a 1-0 victory over the mighty Barnsley last night in front of a crowd of 23,826.
The top league cup crowd yesterday was 35,806 at West Ham. Here’s the home form table for last season…
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 9 | 38 | 53 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 19 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 17 | 38 | 51 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 19 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 39 | 16 | 23 | 45 |
| 4 | Everton | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 42 | 16 | 26 | 43 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 45 | 18 | 27 | 41 |
Doncaster’s away form looks like this
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scunthorpe United | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | Shrewsbury Town | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 3 | Wigan Athletic | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 4 | Blackburn Rovers | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | Peterborough United | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 6 | Bradford City | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| 7 | Charlton Athletic | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | Blackpool | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 9 | Oldham Athletic | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 4 |
| 10 | Oxford United | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| 11 | AFC Wimbledon | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 12 | Portsmouth | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 4 |
| 13 | Doncaster Rovers | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
One win in four games and scoring at a rate of one goal a game. In fact the key problem the club have is not so much their away form as their home form which is nowhere near as good as it should be, leaving the club currently 19th in the league.
They have picked up 12 yellow cards in eight matches (1.5 a game), Arsenal have picked up eight in six games (1.3 per game).
Arsenal of course have played seven games this season so if we compare our seven with Doncaster’s last seven we get this:
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06 Aug | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 1-1 (4-1) | Community Shield |
| 11 Aug | Arsenal v Leicester City | W | 4-3 | Premier League |
| 19 Aug | Stoke City v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 27 Aug | Liverpool v Arsenal | L | 4-0 | Premier League |
| 09 Sep | Arsenal v Bournemouth | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 14 Sep | Arsenal v 1.FC Köln | W | 3-1 | UEFA Europa League |
| 17 Sep | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
That’s four wins, two defeats and a draw.
And for Doncaster…
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
| 22 Aug | Doncaster v Hull City | W | 2-0 | League Cup |
| 26 Aug | Wimbledon v Doncaster | L | 2-0 | League One |
| 29 Aug | Grimsby Town v Doncaster | D | 1-1 | League Trophy |
| 02 Sep | Doncaster v Peterborough U | D | 0-0 | League One |
| 09 Sep | Northampton T v Doncaster | L | 1-0 | League One |
| 12 Sep | Rochdale v Doncaster | L | 2-1 | League One |
| 17 Sep | Doncaster v Scunthorpe Utd | L | 0-1 | League One |
For Doncaster it is one win, four defeats and two draws. Indeed Doncaster are one of a small number of teams who are currently on a worse run that Liverpool, who are winless in four games.
We haven’t lost to a club from one of the lower divisions at home in the League Cup since November 1983 when we lost to against Walsall. 25 of the last 28 games at this point have been won, including the last seven in a row. We have gone out at the third-round stage once in the last 14 seasons – a 2-1 loss against Southampton at the Emirates in September 2014.
Doncaster have only won once in their last 19 League Cup away trips against teams from a higher division. That was a 2-1 win against Watford in August 2014.
Finally, we know (because the press keep telling us) that Liverpool! are a truly fine team. Here are their last four games. I know, we ought to have beaten them, but sometimes there are odd results…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 09 Sep 2017 | Manchester City v Liverpool | L | 5-0 | Premier League |
| 13 Sep 2017 | Liverpool v Sevilla | D | 2-2 | UEFA Champions League |
| 16 Sep 2017 | Liverpool v Burnley | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 19 Sep 2017 | Leicester City v Liverpool | L | 2-0 | League Cup |
Next up, the teams.
- Can Doncaster repeat their previous triumphs against Arsenal?
- Kroenke and other American owners plan Premier League revolution, and its going to be big.
- Arsenal Women – Season Preview. New name, rearranged season.
Today’s anniversaries
Yesterday’s anniversaries
Arsenal in wartime
The thing about Liverpool fans is, they’re so deluded you could point out that recent run to them and they’d turn around and say “Yeah? Well at least we’re in the Champions League”….with a straight face.
..and they could say with equal strait faces ‘Well at least we smashed you 4-0″
Let’s not get too smug about Liverpool (or any other teams come that) until we start achieving some respectability ourselves.
equally straight faces
Jax…and we could say with equanl straight face more than a decade 4th place was not a trophy… ;=)
And that the FA Cup is not a trophy when you keep winning it :=))
This can’t be correct, it must be fake news, AW has more points than Moaninho the tactical genius, in their last 100 league games, I’m told by a few on here that AW is tactically clueless, he’s a dinosaur, his team can’t defend blah blah blah.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/4489434/arsene-wenger-arsenal-more-points-jose-mourinho-jurgen-klopp-mauricio-pochettino-100-games/
Not often you get this type of article about AW, usually it’s all doom and gloom.
Polo,
correct me if I’m wrong, but Guardiola and Conte are in their 2nd season, so their record includes results in the Bundeliga and in Serie A
Considering how ‘tighter’ the PL is, I can imagine the result would not be the same had they had 100 PL games under their belt, as even Mourinho can’t beat the person he calls a so-called ‘serial loser’
Again, the stats are tweaked….but I agree, this shows that AW is way better then the WOB pretends/believes/says. Good point
OT: MARCA News
UEFA seems to be replacing meaningless friendlies with a new Nations League?
http://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2017/09/20/59c2551046163fa9058b458f.html
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Marca was reading the Daily Mail, and come up with their own summary of Chelsea being investigated by the infant one’s FIFA for not following the rules on signing youths (under 18). This is the third investigation of Chelsea by FUFA for the same type of problem.
@ Chris, that’s correct, it includes their prior clubs. It just beggars belief that some still believe that AW is ‘tactically clueless’ and that the game has moved on and he’s left behind. I guess believing in evidence are not their forte.
I’ve all along suspected Liverpool may suffer after shamelessly poaching Oxlade Chamberlain from Arsenal during the last days of the last summer transfer window. Therefore, their current winless run in 4 games since they signed Chamberlain is a testament to my suspicion of game loses I suspected they’ll encounter if they sign the rebel Ox fro mArsenal who they didn’t want to sell.
But nevertheless, while Liverpool continue to suffer, Arsenal have been counting their blessings since the Ox left them. More so, as other senior Gunner in the Arsenal senior team squad like Bellerin has stepped up in his wingback role game for Arsenal and has proved to be more than adequate to fill the void left behind by the Ox departure to Liverpool. And a youngster Gunner in the name of Reiss Nelson in the Arsenal U23 squad is hungrily in the wait to breakthrough into the Arsenal senior first team squad to show the hidden top quality in him for Arsenal in their games. So, in short, Arsenal didn’t miss the Ox at all and are not regretting selling him to Liverpool.
In fact, Man City should thank their star they did not succeed in their summer transfer window attempt to poach Alexis Sanchez away from Arsenal. Had they succeeded in that their deadline transfer day attempted poaching away Sanchez, the winless game run curse that has currently befallen Liverpool will certainly have befell them too and the resultant suffer they would’ve suffered will be worse than what Liverpool are currently going through.
Its not so much that AW is tactically clueless, he’s just not as efficient at using tactics as many others.
For instance, i think he tends to rely on the players (a little too much for me) to develop an on field command of the game and problems and deal with them.
Players after the invincibles tended not to have this ability as much.
Lets hope he begins to use his wealth of experience more and not to rely on the players tactics unless they show they can deal with it.
Samuel Akinsola Adebosin
Although i dont like to wish evil on anyone(except the parasites)i trust(hope) that the Ox will not be successful at liverpool to Arsenal’s detriment. 🙂