By Tony Attwood
Liverpool lost 1-4 at home to PSV Eindhoven. That ought not to be a headline story in the media, but as often as not, anything Liverpudlian is headline-making. “Can Arne Slot revive this Frankenstein’s monster of a Liverpool side?” asks the Guardian. Probably not would appear to be the answer.
The latest theory is that they bought too many players at once, but then I recall Arsenal buying quite a few players last summer, and as far as I can tell, that did seem to work. But hey, best not to mention that. Besides, it is up to the manager how he slots in each newcomer. He doesn’t HAVE to play them all at once.
Tottenham lost 5-1, which was reported not as a five-goal shambles but “a spirited showing” (according to the BBC). They have won one of the last six. Or put another way it was their seventh defeat in eight games.
So the European table now shows just two English teams in the top eight. Maybe the PL is not the best team in the world…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Ptss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 Arsenal
|
5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 15 |
|
2 Paris Saint-Germain
|
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 12 |
|
3 Bayern Munich
|
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
|
4 Inter Milan
|
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
|
5 Real Madrid
|
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
|
6 Borussia Dortmund
|
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 10 |
|
7 Chelsea
|
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
|
9 Manchester City
|
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
|
11 Newcastle United
|
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 9 |
|
13 Liverpool
|
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 9 |
|
16 Tottenham Hotspur
|
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
Last season, Arsenal came third with six wins, one draw and one defeat, scoring 16 and conceding three. Just to make it easy, below is the comparison with this season so far… The goal difference you might notice is the same as last season already. The remaining fixtures are Club Brugge, Inter and Kairat.
| Year | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | +13 | 15 |
| 2024 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 3 | +13 | 19 |
.
So it could well be that Arsenal will exceed last season’s total and indeed win the group stage. Last season the two clubs that came above Arsenal were Liverpool (whatever happened to them?) and Barcelona (who have now opened part of their rebuilt ground), This season, those teams sit 13th and 18th respectively in the current table. This adds to the point that Arsenal are not only doing well, but again how difficult it is to do what Arsenal are doing and maintain a strong position in this competition.
So it would seem all is set fair for the match againsts Chelsea, who are playing in another Euro competition, whose name I can’t remember. And certainly Arsenal will enter the league game with a certain degree of confidence. After all, being top of a league that includes Real Mad, PSG and Bayern is not a bad state of affairs. Mind you, the BBC has been suggesting off and on that this is all temporary, although they seemed to back off on that somewhat last night, and so far we have seen no sign of fading. And we are all ready for Sunday.
And not just for that game, but because, for once, the injury news is improving. I am not sure how and where, and when we will see the old faces back, but I suspect it will be in the coming weeks, and that in itself will give the team another refresh. That bench looks amazing – just look at the subs who came on. In fact, the only long-term injuries on the chart at the moment are the two Gabriels! And so the confidence comes from them all being together.
And really let us not forget that this game was written up before the match as a game involving the two best teams in Europe, including, of course, the new superhero Lennart Karl. But not enough of a hero, it seems, to give Bayern the sort of 100% record in the Champions League that Arsenal has. A place in the knockout stages now seems a mere formality.
Harry Kane was full of his usual boasting, this time in the build-up up claiming that scoring against Arsenal gives him a special sort of pleasure. In fact, I can’t remember him having a serious shot on target. They have scored one more goal in the competition than Arsenal, but they are still third in the tabl,e having conceded nine times as many goals as Arsenal in the tournament this season.
So next up we have Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and I expect we shall see some more rotation – but with the continued presence of Martin Ødegaard. And we go to that match knowing that in the last 16 games not one club has beaten us. Curiously, the one club that did beat us this season is now 13th in the Champions League table and 12th in the Premier League, having conceded over three times as many goals as Arsenal in the league this campaign.
Oh yes and we have some rather good youngsters coming through so the media can’t even use the usual point about the team getting old and needing refreshing.
We have some fine youngsters coming through if you have had the chance to watch or read up on our u19 match yesterday v Bayern.