by Bulldog Drummond
Arsenal’s home form is still very much mid-table but had we not beaten Man U it would have been relegation form – we are that close to the edge at the moment. Here’s the table… home games only.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 9 | 20 | 33 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 10 | 19 | 25 |
| 3 | Leicester City | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 23 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 20 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 19 |
| 6 | Everton | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 17 |
| 7 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 16 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 16 |
| 9 | Arsenal | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 16 |
| 10 | Newcastle United | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 16 |
A defeat would have left us, in home form terms, down at the level of Watford, not a pleasant thought.
Leeds are currently top of the Championship with the top two looking like they are going to have to find themselves in very choppy waters if they are going to miss out on an automatic place in the top league…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds United | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 43 | 21 | 22 | 52 |
| 2 | West Bromwich Albion | 26 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 48 | 28 | 20 | 52 |
| 3 | Brentford | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 41 | 20 | 21 | 43 |
| 4 | Nottingham Forest | 25 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 25 | 9 | 43 |
And their away form of course is part of that success… Away games only…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Bromwich Albion | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 28 |
| 2 | Leeds United | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 27 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 23 |
| 4 | Swansea City | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 20 |
So Arsenal have scored 17 and let in 17 at home, Leeds have scored 24 and conceded 13 away. This is not going to be a doddle.
Leeds’ record in the Championship has been terrific in the last 15 league games…
| Date | Game | Res |
Score |
| 19 Oct 2019 | Leeds United v Birmingham City | W | 1-0 |
| 22 Oct 2019 | Preston North End v Leeds United | D | 1-1 |
| 26 Oct 2019 | Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United | D | 0-0 |
| 02 Nov 2019 | Leeds United v Queens Park Rangers | W | 2-0 |
| 09 Nov 2019 | Leeds United v Blackburn Rovers | W | 2-1 |
| 23 Nov 2019 | Luton Town v Leeds United | W | 1-2 |
| 26 Nov 2019 | Reading v Leeds United | W | 0-1 |
| 30 Nov 2019 | Leeds United v Middlesbrough | W | 4-0 |
| 07 Dec 2019 | Huddersfield Town v Leeds United | W | 0-2 |
| 10 Dec 2019 | Leeds United v Hull City | W | 2-0 |
| 14 Dec 2019 | Leeds United v Cardiff City | D | 3-3 |
| 21 Dec 2019 | Fulham v Leeds United | L | 2-1 |
| 26 Dec 2019 | Leeds United v Preston North End | D | 1-1 |
| 29 Dec 2019 | Birmingham City v Leeds United | W | 4-5 |
| 01 Jan 2020 | West Bromwich Albion v Leeds United | D | 1-1 |
One defeat, five draws and nine wins.
Eddie Nketiah was of course part of the Leeds squad until just recently and played 19 times scoring five goals. I doubt he will return to Arsenal for the second half of the season as we now have Martinelli as our backup player, so he’ll presumably move elsewhere.
We now have four injuries according to Physioroom, with Bellerin and Martinelli being possible returnees for this game.
| Player | Reason | Further Detail | Return |
| Calum Chambers | Knee Injury | Ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee against Chelsea | Next season |
| Kieran Tierney | Shoulder Injury | Dec 14: “Dislocated shoulder at West Ham. Kieran will undergo surgery next week and will rehabilitate for around three months.” | March |
| Hector Bellerin | Thigh Injury | Dec 28: “Tight left hamstring. Being assessed ahead Chelsea.” | Now – 75% |
| Gabriel Martinelli | Thigh Injury | Dec 28: “Tight left hamstring. Being assessed ahead Chelsea.” | Now – 75% |
But now let us turn to the figures we’ve recently explored, showing us some very strange facts in the Premier League concerning fouls and cards.
Leeds have committed 301 fouls this season leaving them 18th in the fouling league. Not at all like the old Leeds we used to know and hate.
But other teams foul them a lot more. They are the sixth most fouled team in the league.
In the league of fouls per card they are 11th. So they don’t foul that much, they get fouled more than they foul, and they are absolutely middle of the road when it comes to getting yellows for fouls. All figures as before from Footstats.
Arsenal however are way out in front with yellow cards in the PL – with 52 – and get carded the most often per fouls committed of any club in the Premier League. Arsenal get a card every 4.27 fouls, compared with Leicester who get a card for every 9.55 cards. Thus Leicester have to knock up over twice the number of fouls that Arsenal get, in order to get the same number of cards. It hardly seems fair. In fact such a difference makes it look almost fixed.
So Arsenal will get yellow cards, even though they commit few fouls. Leeds do not appear to be the team we used to know in the old days.
More anon…
