Leeds v Arsenal: the head to head of both the teams and the managers

By Bulldog Drummond

• Leeds United v Arsenal, the form guide, home and away
• Leeds v Arsenal: the tackles, fouls, yellow cards. Time for Leeds to wake up.
• Leeds v Arsenal: what recent results tell us about tomorrow’s game…
• Leeds v Arsenal – the media’s change of heart plus the injuries.

Curiously, given that Leeds has spent a number of years languishing in the lower reaches not just of the top division, but also other divisions, they are one of the few clubs who across the aeons has won almost as many games against us as we have against them.   We’ve scored 49 victories against them, they have got 41 against us, and there have been 33 draws.

The trouble Arsenal had with Leeds started in 1958 and continued until 1976, when as suddenly as it had started, so it finished.  During this era the clubs played each other 32 times in the League Division One, the League Cup and the FA Cup.   Leeds won 24 of these games, four were draws and four were Arsenal wins.  We even lost to them 6-1 in May 1973.

But then from 1977 on, it has gone rather well.  Of course between 2004 and 2020 we didn’t play them in the League since they chose to go and visit some of the lower reaches of the  League.   But when we did play them the results were 27 wins, 22 draws and just 10 defeats.  Among the victories were a 7-0 in the League Cup, a 0-5 away win in the League and a 5-0 thumping in the Premier League in 2004.  Here are the last ten games.

Date	Game	Res	Score	Competition
1 Nov 2003	Leeds United v Arsenal	W	1-4	Premier League
4 Jan 2004	Leeds United v Arsenal	W	1-4	FA Cup
16 Apr 2004	Arsenal v Leeds United	W	5-0	Premier League
8 Jan 2011	Arsenal v Leeds United	D	1-1	FA Cup
19 Jan 2011	Leeds United v Arsenal	W	1-3	FA Cup
9 Jan 2012	Arsenal v Leeds United	W	1-0	FA Cup
6 Jan 2020	Arsenal v Leeds United	W	1-0	FA Cup
22 Nov 2020	Leeds United v Arsenal	D	0-0	Premier League
14 Feb 2021	Arsenal v Leeds United	W	4-2	Premier League
26 Oct 2021	Arsenal v Leeds United	W	2-0	League Cup

Meanwhile, it is slightly curiously no one has told TBR about the sudden change of direction of the media concerning Arsenal, and they are still running the negatives.

“Arsenal without ‘wonderful’ key player v Leeds today, fans should be concerned,” they announce with all the certainty of a politician telling the electorate what to think and thus how to vote.   Indeed there is this wonderful belief among some bloggers that they have the power to tell us mere mortals – the ordinary fans – how we should be feeling.  Notice, we SHOULD be concerned.

To which I reply… 

No I shouldn’t.

And while I am on this topic there is a fascinating article in the Times (not available on line) headlined “Stop frowning on deeply devoted Arteta”.  It is by James Gheerbrant and in it he points out that both the Arsenal manager and the Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa (who are both deadly serious about their football), never once switch off.  And incidentally, it points out that since Christmas Day last year only one team has won more league matches than Arsenal – Manchester City.   It is almost as if he had been reading Untold.

But let me give you a line from this article: “Every art form, whether it is football, acting or something else, needs people who take it with the utmost agonising seriousness.   The idea that any of this – players on a pitch, characters on a screen – matters greatly is an illusion, but it’s one of the most wonderful and enriching illusions of our lives.  We should admire those who help preserve it.”

Arsenal have seven wins in the last ten games in the league and league cup.  Leeds have two wins in the last ten games.  But what we both have are managers of incredible intensity.

Up next: the Arsenal team.