By Tony Attwood
So here we are back to the league, and much as we left it, Arsenal are in second place by virtue of having scored one goal fewer than the Mancs. Tottenham Hots as you might note, are not doing well enough even to get into this chart, which takes us down as far as Sunderland
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Manchester City
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
|
2
|
Arsenal
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
|
3
|
Hull City
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
|
4
|
Chelsea
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
|
5
|
Brentford
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
|
6
|
Liverpool
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
|
7
|
Newcastle Un
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
|
8
|
Everton
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
|
9
|
Leeds United
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
|
10
|
Brighton & Hove
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
|
11
|
Manchester Un
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
|
12
|
Sunderland
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Now we might also note that last season, Sunderland had a flying start to the league season, beating Cardiff 0-2 away from home, beating Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 at home, then beating Burnley 1-0 at home and finally beating Portsmouth 1-3 away from home. Obviously they are finding life harder in the Premier League this time around.
So I think it is fair to say that they must be working on how to stop the change in their fortunes, although to be fair I would have thought that if they can finish this season in mid-table they would be happy, as it would mean they have adjusted to the higher league fairly well.
Sunderland spent £75m in the summer in terms of transfers, and are shown by Transfermarkt to have a squad with an average age of 24.6 and a market value of their arrivals of €124.45m
This compares with Arsenal who spent €227.10m this summer, have an average age of players at 24.3, and a market value of the arrivals getting on for three times that of Sunderland at €313.00m.
Of course, the market value of players upon purchase does not determine exactly how good the players are, but it does give us some sort of guidance as to what the club can do, and the difference in the values of the squads does show the difficulty that clubs coming up to the Premier League have in trying to build a squad that can survive in the higher division.
Sunderland’s aim for this season must be for a comfortable survival, rather than any sort of flirtation with relegation, and certainly the pattern of winning, drawing and losing the same number of games should see them through ok.
Last season Arsenal scored 71, conceded 27 and gained 85 points. Sunderland scored 42 conceded 48 and gained 54 points. So, as you would imagine, they were a fair way behind Arsenal, but still in a very respectable position compared with, say, the likes of Tottenham Hots who just missed relegation (I may have mentioned that before). And indeed seem to be keen on flirting with relegation again. (I may have mentioned that somewhere too).
So mid-table solidarity would seem to be Sunderland’s aim, and that can of course mean a team that will defend with tenacity, and go for a low-scoring or even no-score draw, as a good result. Certainly, if by chance they were to nick a goal before Arsenal have really got going, they will withdraw all 11 players into the penalty box to defend that position.
Looking at the records, as far as I can see, there have been 38 Premier League games between the two clubs, of which Sunderland have won four and Arsenal 23, the rest being draws. Arsenal have scored 97 to Sunderland’s 25.
Even when playing at home, Sunderland have only won four in the Premier League era, and Arsenal have won nine of the games between the tw clubs, with six being draws, so the odds should be on Arsenal to win. And that seems to be the likely outcome, whichever set of statistics we look at.
More on the match in due course…
