- After the yellow card fest of Tottenham / Chelsea some are still attacking Arsenal!
- Just how well are Arsenal doing when it comes to tackles, fouls and yellow cards?
By Bulldog Drummond
According to the Guardian “Spurs were guilty of having too much fun” in their recent game in which they had two players sent off. Although they also note that we should “Give Chelsea their due: they were as funny as Spurs.” (With Chelsea having had 35 yellows and Tottenham 31, compared to Arsenal’s 16, we’d agree).
But meanwhile, Arsenal prepare to get on with the serious business of playing and trying to win things.
Since Arsenal beat Sevilla away in the Champions League, Sevilla has drawn 1-1 at home with Real Madrid and then 2-2 also at home, with Real Vallecano. That leaves the league table showing Girona at the top on 31 points, followed of course by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Sevilla are in 15th on 11 points with a game in hand over the five clubs below them. The bottom three automatically go down and Sevilla are four points clear of relegation – plus that extra game.
| Date | Competition | Home team | Score | Away Team |
| 24/10/23 | Champions Lge | Sevilla | 1 – 2 | Arsenal |
| 28/10/23 | Spanish League | Cadiz | 2 – 2 | Sevilla |
| 01/11/23 | Spanish cup | Quintanar | 0 – 3 | Sevilla |
| 04/11/23 | Spanish League | Celta Vigo | 1 – 1 | Sevilla |
Just in case you are interested, Quintanar are in the sixth tier of Spanish football, which is the equivalent of Vanarama National League (north and south). The crowd of 2000 that they got for the game against Sevilla was a capacity for their stadium.
So as things stand Sevilla seem unlikely to be relegated, but are also rather unlikely to qualify for Europe again next season. Sixth place in Spain takes the club into the Europa Conference League and they are nine points off that with a game in hand.
However the league table for Arsenal’s group shows that in theory anyone can qualify for the knock outs, since there are still nine points to play for. But Sevilla and PSV are going to need a signficant transformation in their fortunes for this to happen.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | RC Lens | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Sevilla | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 2 |
| 4 | PSV Eindhoven | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 2 |
In one sense PSV Eindhoven ought to have a better chance of turning things around since they are top of their domestic league having played 11 and won 11 with a goal difference of +36. (Ajax after their disterous start however have pulled themselves together and won their last two games, but PSV still have a seven-point lead at the top. I don’t think they will mind going out at the group stage if it keeps them on track to win the Dutch league).
Sevilla might still fancy their chances of at least coming second. Arsenal however want first place not just for the pleasure of achieving that, but because it brings an easier draw in the first knockout round.
Sevilla have recorded a 49.67% possession rate in their first three games in the Champions League this season, and have picked up seven yellow cards. Arsenal have a 58% possession rate and have had three yellow cards in their opening three games.
It is perhaps a measure of the difference between the Spanish and English top division that Sevilla last summer had a net outlay of €8 million, selling players for €25 million and spending €33 million.
Arsenal spent around £200m in the summer and received around £77m. These figures are approximate of course not only because different sources vary. Transfermarkt consider the Sevilla squad to be worth €187.00m while Arsenal’s squad is valued by them at €1.10bn – nearly six times as much.
Just pausing on that issue for a moment, as it is not one that we have particularly looked at before, Transfermarkt’s current value figure for Arsenal makes the club the second most valuable squad in the league. Manchester City is currently valued at €1.26bn
To complete this picture here is the run down of values of the eight highest-valued teams in the Premier League according to Transfermarkt.
There is of course a rough correspondence between value and position in the league – but as we can see it is not exact. The biggest discrepancy is -7, the difference between Chelsea’s squad value and their league position. On this measure Tottenham Hotspur are over achieving by +4.
| Value Pos | Club | Value | Lge pos |
| 1 | Manchester City | €1.26bn | 1 |
| 2 | Arsenal | €1.10bn | 4 |
| 3 | Chelsea | €999.00m | 10 |
| 4 | Liverpool | €877.30m | 3 |
| 5 | Manchester United | €877.30m | 8 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | €747.60m | 2 |
| 7 | Newcastle United | €650.50m | 6 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | €630.70m | 5 |
At the other end of the table Luton Town’s squad is valued at €87.20m.
More anon…
Funny how the world reacts to last night’s game.
As far as I am concerned, Chelsea with 20 fouls. Spurs with 12, 2 reds, 6 yellows…
That is what I call a fight not a fottball game.
I did not watch, but I doubt I’d enjoy it – unless I’d want to see something else then football
Yet it reads like it was a fantastic game.
That being said, had Arsenal played with 9 on-field, we’d have a meltdown of a total other size then what we’ve had since the N’castle game.
This game and the cards fits the ‘putting the game into disrespute’, or am I wrong about that ?!?!
Chris
I watched it, and commentated on it on here a few times. Spurs are obviously a decent side, but they are not brilliant. They will struggle to stay in the top 4.
As bad a pun as it is, their modus operandi is to run around like headless chickens and kick the opposition off the park. It is an awful style to watch.
Okay last night was entertaining, but not as a football match, as a farce.
Spurs were embarrassing. No discipline. A ridiculous high line that a Sunday League team would be slaughtered for playing. A manager courting the media about respect for referees whilst getting booked for abusing an official, not to mention losing 4-1 at home.
And STILL the media love them.
@Nitram,
and on top of that they coined the term ‘Angeball’ to put it at at the same level as Wengerball…. yeah….