By Bulldog Drummond
If you think these are difficult times for Arsenal, then spare a thought for Southampton…
| Date | Game | Res |
Score | Competition |
| 28 Sep 2019 | Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 01 Oct 2019 | Walsall v Southampton | L | 1-0 | FL Trophy |
| 06 Oct 2019 | Southampton v Chelsea | L | 1-4 | Premier League |
| 19 Oct 2019 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Southampton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 25 Oct 2019 | Southampton v Leicester City | L | 0-9 | Premier League |
| 29 Oct 2019 | Manchester City v Southampton | L | 3-1 | League Cup |
| 02 Nov 2019 | Manchester City v Southampton | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 05 Nov 2019 | Coventry City v Southampton | L | 3-2 | FL Trophy |
| 09 Nov 2019 | Southampton v Everton | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
Nor surprisingly the league table does not look very good from Southampton’s point of view. They are 19th, six points below even Tottenham Hots.
| Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD |
Pts | |
| 14 | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 14 |
| 15 | Everton | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 14 |
| 16 | West Ham United | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 20 | -6 | 13 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 20 | -3 | 11 |
| 18 | Watford | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 23 | -15 | 8 |
| 19 | Southampton | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 29 | -18 | 8 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 28 | -17 | 7 |
As ever we like to have a look at the home or away form of the team we are facing, and it is here that we get a surprise, because of the eight points Southampton have gathered this season, seven have been away from home.
That should stop any of us thinking this is going to be easy.
| Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD |
Pts | |
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 15 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 12 |
| 4 | Leicester City | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| 5 | Sheffield United | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 | AFC Bournemouth | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 7 |
| 8 | Southampton | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 7 |
Arsenal at home are holding up but the pressure being put on the team by the combined efforts of the crowd and the media at Arsenal Stadium, along with a fearlessness among referees at basically given out any sort of decision they fancy without fear of condemnation by pundits or VAR, means that what should have been wins have been turned into draws.
Indeed given the pressures and forces confronting Arsenal at home, it is amazing that the club has any points at all from the games at Arsenal Stadium. And yet we remain unbeaten.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 18 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 16 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 13 |
| 4 | Burnley | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 12 |
On the basis of these relative league positions Arsenal should win 2-1 but with the referee, media, bloggers and crowd all wanting to prove a point it could be difficult.
When we have, as we have just seen, a newspaper journalist of a supposedly serious paper telling us that Mourinho joined Tottenham because their finances are in a better state than Arsenal’s – and no one picks him up on that nonsense, then we know anything can be said about anything… and believed.
Arsenal’s last home win in the league was on 6 October, a 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
| Date | Game | Res |
Score | Competition |
| 06 Oct 2019 | Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 21 Oct 2019 | Sheffield United v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 24 Oct 2019 | Arsenal v Vitória Guimarães | W | 3-2 | Europa League |
| 27 Oct 2019 | Arsenal v Crystal Palace | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 30 Oct 2019 | Liverpool v Arsenal | L | 5-5 (5-4) | League Cup |
| 02 Nov 2019 | Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 05 Nov 2019 | Cambridge United v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | FL Trophy |
| 06 Nov 2019 | Vitória Guimarães v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Europa League |
| 09 Nov 2019 | Leicester City v Arsenal | L | 2-0 | Premier League |
Clearly it is time for the next victory.
More anon…
Mark Lawrenson this week, “If you had told me at the start of this week that one of the big clubs would be sacking their manager, I probably would have said it would be Arsenal and Unai Emery.”
So by his reckoning, Arsenal in sixth are doing worse than Tottenham in 14th. How do the tiny little brains of pundits actually work?!
@Mickey – what brains? 😉
The anti UE Arsenal supporter has his foot braced with a gun pointed at it. I am still hoping that Xhaka plays in his defensive midfield role on Saturday.
P really don’t know how UE motivates his team & how they motivate themselves. If the crowd is antagonistic then anything good has less of a chance.
It is my first home game that I will be watching on TV with a chilled beer.
COYG – Just play to win without mercy.