Previously
- Peter Banke is the referee who loves home wins; but Arsenal are the team with goalscorers
- Aston Villa v Arsenal, the referee, and the collusion of journalists
- Aston Villa v Arsenal: there’s something very odd about this fixture list
And on the Arsenal History Society site 100 years in the top division. 1949/50 – a trophy is demanded
By Tony Attwood
Today’s referee, who sees many, many more home wins than any other referee, and this is a referee who hampers defenders by seeing three-quarters of all tackles as fouls. In short Aston Villa have got the man they want, running the show.
This is also a game that has a preview in the Guardian of around 1000 words in which Arsenal are mentioned just four times – each time in passing. Once to point out that Arasenal have conceded fewer goals than Villa, once to say that Villa will “move within three points of Arsenal if they (Villa) extend their winning streak to seven matches”, once to say that Donyell Malen was a youth player with Arsenal, and once to talk about Crystal Palace beating Arsenal 3-0 (a topic which just pops up for no obvious reason).
What isn’t mentioned but in such an article would surely seem relevant, is that Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 18 matches in all competitions, drawing three, winning the rest. In their last 18 games, Villa have had four defeats. Or put another way, in the last nine games, Villa have had two defeats.
Now of course, in many regards, such numbers don’t mean anything, but the fact that the Villa high points are splattered around the media today while Arsenal’s achievements are left unmentioned shows us just where things stand inj the eyes of the media. For when it comes to Arsenal, it is business as usual: talk up the chances of Arsenal losing.
As for why the media do this, well, mostly it is because that is what they always do. They have done it for years, and (the editors and journalists would argue) people seem to like it, so the media keep it up.
No one seems to mention that Villa are six points behind Arsenal, have a 14 goal inferior goal difference, and if they lose and Chelsea win they will slip down to fourth. If Villa win and Manchester City loses, Villa will go up to second.
So maybe a bit of history will help: Villa haven’t won the Premier League but they did come second in 1993, the League’s inaugural season. And that was some achievement since it was just five years after getting promoted from the second division.
But of course, these are historical details and not ones to be mentioned by the meida. Nor is the fact that in the last three seasons, when Arsenal have come second, Villa have come seventh, fourth and sixth.
So let us balance this up a bit. Yes Villa have won their last four games – but each time by just one goal. Arsenal have won three and drawn one of their last four matches, so not as good as Villa, except that Arsenal have scored 10 and conceded three. Even if we give Villa another game it doesn’t help much – they have scored nine and conceded six in their last four games.
My point is that the media tend, en masse, to go overboard in talking up certain clubs, finding positives like mad… until the chosen club then slips up, at which point the media changes tack and simply ignores their previoiuly favoured club, and moves on to another one. Of course, it is possible that Villa will win today – the game is after all on their home ground where they have been doing well, but there are two teams that deserve mention and consideration in these previews. But sadly that seems to be beyond the grasp of many journalists.
Racding Post does give us their vision of the Arsenal team however…
Raya;
White, Timber, Hincapie, Calafiori;
Odegaard, Zubimendi, Merino;
Saka, Gyokeres, Eze.
And they even give us the beach as we used to call it, Madueke, Martinelli, Norgaard, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus, Rice, Dowman.
The Standard offer us
Raya;
Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori;
Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice;
Saka, Merino, Martinelli
And they also offer us a list of “doubts” and “injuries”. The doubts being Mosquera, Rice, Saliba, and Trossard, while the injured are (as I think we know by now) Gabriel and Havertz
The Metro suggests almost the same line up saying the team will be
Raya;
Whitea, Hincapie, Timber, Calafiori;
Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice;
Saka, Merino, Martinelli
So for once, a spot of variety among the choices written up by the hacks, but only a spot. Nothing too dramatic. But then after 18 games without a defeat, that’s probably right. Especially when one remembers that this season Arsenal have let in exactly half the number of goals they have conceded in the first 14 games last season. And that is some improvement.
Have a good game!
