by Tony Attwood
- Has Manchester C concluded a secret deal with the League?
- How Arsenal have created entertainment, leaving the journalists far behind
Saturday 7th February, Premier League,
Arsenal versus Sunderland kick off 3pm.
3pm Saturday; it seems just like the olden days. So let’s start with the league positions, which tell us the recent history. And in looking at these, we should notice that Sunderland are a real Jekyll and Hyde team when it comes to home and away. In a table of home matches, they are actually third, just three points behind Arsenal, but in terms of away games, they are 17th, as you can see below
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Arsenal home | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 8 | 20 | 29 |
| 17 | Sunderland away | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 17 | -11 | 10 |
Indeed, they have been having a rather rough time of it since the start of December, having played 11 games in the Premier League and won just two, both by a single goal, both at home – one against Crystal Palace and one (their most recent game) against Burnley. However, the Burnley match was impressive – a 3-0 win to Sunderland.
So, although they sit eighth in the table, 18 points behind Arsenal, this is primarily due to their awful away form, which has generated two wins from 12 games. Although we might also note that their goal difference based on all matches, home and away in just +1.
Away from home, Sunderland score one goal every two games this season but concede three goals every two games. True, they did beat Everton away in the FA cup, but this was a draw after ninety minutes, and the game went to penalties.
Yet they have had periods in which they have been the superior side when playing Arsenal, for example, in the period before and after the Second World War, they went 18 games against Arsenal in which they suffered just one defeat. And again in the 1960s, they went 17 games against Arsenal with only two defeats in that run.
Sunderland have not beaten Arsenal in any of the last 16 games between the two, however, and only once have they won in the last 27. Indeed, since February 2014 onwards, the clubs have played each other eight times, and Arsenal have won five and three have been drawn. Arsenal have scored 15 goals in those eight games and Sunderland three.
And although it is not relevant to anything tomrrow I really do feel the need to throw in the fact that the club was formed as the Sunderland & District Teachers Association Football Club. It’s not relevant but I do like quirky facts.
This season is Sunderland’s first in the Premier League since 2016/17 when they came bottom of the League. In 2017/18, they were relegated for the second season running, going to League One, where they stayed for three seasons before being promoted back to the Championship. Then it was another three seasons in that second-tier league before winning promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs.
At the moment, they are 16 points above relegation, and so would seem completely safe for a second season in the Premier League in 2026/7. And indeed a long run in the top league would certainly be in more keeping with their history than the recent yo-yo affairs, since they were in league division one from the time it was created in 1892/93 until being relegated in 1957/58. And as we of course know, this season is the celebration of 100 consecutive seasons in the top division for Arsenal (there is a series commemorating this on the Arsenal History Society website). And the club that Arsenal overtook in achieving the 100 consecutive campaigns this season was Sunderland.
But recent times for the club have not been so good, as from 2018/19 up to 2021/22, they actually sank to the third tier of English football, for the first time.
And if we look at their overall position in the league, rather than the home and away figures, they are doing well….
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 24 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 46 | 17 | 29 | 53 |
| 8 | Sunderland | 24 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 27 | 26 | 1 | 36 |
West Ham, the highest of the three clubs currently looking bound for the Championship, have 20 points, leaving Sunderland a healthy 16 points clear. But as we have noted, Sunderland have not beaten Arsenal since 2010, which is a run of 16 consecutive games. And in fact, this is the longest such run since the clubs first played each other some 90 years ago.
But of course, as they have been having one of their sojourns in the Championship for a while, these results have not been gathered over consecutive seasons. And so perhaps we should finish by noting that in their last eight games, Sunderland have won two, drawn four and lost two. A fairly middle of the road appraoch.
More on the game in the next post.
Without wishing to pre-empt any of your coming stories, I note that yet again we have been allocated a ref for a home game who oversees a minority of home wins. I also noted that, somewhat strangely though, we’ve won all seven games when he’s been reffing. I hope I’m not tempting fate!
Xhaka seems to have been a major positive influence on Sunderland. I note that he did not play last week and wonder whether he is available for Saturday.
If so, I hope that he gets a warm welcome at Arsenal (but not too warm)