- Beware: the story about Arsenal is quite likely not true.
- All the tricks that ManC might be preparing to pull – or might not
By Tony Attwood
Now here is a funny thing. Liverpool are at home to Arsenal in the next match, and Liverpool’s results at home this season are, well, what shall we say? Err….. Not that good. They are worse than such mighty, renowned home teams as Brentford, Everton, Ipswich Town, Hull City… Now I know that you won’t believe me, because the raging publicity fed to us daily by the media is that Liverpool are invincible so I am going to produce a home matches table for this season. With a title reminder. (In brackets).
(Home matches only)
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| 12 | Liverpool | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 5 |
And what makes that so interesting is that last season although they were not the best club at home in the league they were actually right down in fifth in the home table.
Anway, Liverpool make up for all this by being the most effective team away so far this season! But the forthcoming match between the clubs is being played in Merseyside which should be giving Liverpool what is traditionally known as “home advantage” although this time we could argue that it is giving them a home disadvantage. And that is emphasised by the fact that Arsenal are the third best away team in the league. Although clearly not in the League Cup!
So here is Arsenal’s away form…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
So what did things look like last season for Arsenal away? Well curiously, Arsenal were the second best away team in the league with just two defeats and a goal difference of 34 scored and 17 conceded.
Now we have the complete set of Liverpool home matches this season in the league…
Liverpool did indeed manage to win their fourth game at home this season, but previously have failed to win any. And yes, all four games are those played in the Premier League.
| te | Match | Res | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 August | Liverpool v Nottingham Forest | D | 2-2 |
| 12 September | Liverpool v Fulham | D | 0-0 |
| 11 October | Liverpool v Manchester City | L | 0-3 |
| 25 October | Liverpool v Brighton and Hove Albion | W | 2-0 |
And what makes this a bit more odd is that in the previous season they had the best home record of any club in the league for home games, with 14 wins out of 19 league games, and just one defeat, with 42 goals scored in those 19 games, and just 16 conceded.
Overall last season Arsenal ended up 25 points ahead of Liverpool…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 71 | 27 | 44 | 85 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 77 | 35 | 42 | 78 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 69 | 50 | 19 | 71 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 56 | 49 | 7 | 65 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 63 | 53 | 10 | 60 |
The last time Liverpool did worse was 2011/12 when they finished eighth with 52 points, after winning 14 games and losing the same number during the season.
This season they have 11 goals in 8 games which is 1.375 goals a game. Last season it was 47 in 38 which is 1.24 goals a game. So they have improved on the scoring front. A bit. Arsenal are running at 1.625 a game.
Certainly because the media endlessly talk up Liverpool as a top of the table team, it is hard to recall that they have had down times in the past, but it is as true for them as all others.
What is certainly true is that for the past ten years, fifth is the lowest position the club has finished a season at – and they have done that twice including last season.
All runs do of course come to an end but journalists in particular can get fixated by recent seasons’ results, and so will easily forget that before this current run they had a period of seven consecutive seasons in which they came sixth twice, seventh twice, and eighth twice, with just one second place finish slotted in between.
Over the last half dozen seasons Liverpool’s average final position has been third, exactly the same as Arsenal. But if we look at just the last four seasons, Liverpool’s average finish place has been 3.5. For Arsenal the average has been 2.4 – something of a better result.
Liverpool’s strength is that since 2012 they have been able to stay in the top four for all but two seasons – and there is something to admire in that consistency, although we might also remember that in the last 34 years they have only won the league twice. Perhaps we might sum them up as more of a “thereabouts” team than a “there” team in the last third of a century.
More anon….
