- A win today takes Arsenal to second, as Arsenal get to the 13 point marker
- Arsenal injuries, and the referee who never oversees a home win!!!
- Arsenal v Ipswich Town. There have been times when Ipswich has consistenly outplayed Arsenal.
- Has Saka been overplayed or is he just indispensible like other world class players?
- How the last six games really show which clubs are up and which are sinking
The growth in Arsenal’s points tally in recent years has been impressive. In 2019/20 it was 56. The following season 61. In 2021/22 Arsenal got 69, then 84 and finally 89 last season.
At the moment the points total is 33 with 21 games to play That means 63 points to play for, giving a potential total of 96 – but of course that would mean winning all of the remaining 21 games, and that seems very unlikely. But even so, we can look forward to tonight’s game with some confidence.
Ipswich left the Premier League in 1994/5 with seven wins and six draws giving them 27 points, while now they have two wins and six draws out of 17 games which would give them 27 points once again by the end of the season, if they carry on in the same way.
But as we have noted already they are planying a game overseen by a referee who has not handled a single game this season which has ended in a home win. We can only hope that even this referee will think that he has to allow one or two home wins in the course of the season, and this surely must be a decent place to start. (That’s if he doesn’t realise that we’ve tumbled his antics).
But if we have a look at the defensive statistics from the two clubs we can see that although number of tackles is identical and the number of foouls that Ipswich commit is only a little above Arsenal, the number of yellow cards Ipswich gets from fouls is 76% higher than the number of yellows Arsenal get.
| Club | Tackles | Fouls | Yellow from fouls |
| Arsenal | 16.2 | 11.7 | 21 |
| Ipswich | 16.2 | 12.2 | 37 |
This clearly suggests that the fouling system and approach of Ipswich generates many, many more yellow cards than Arsenal, not because they persistently foul but because when they do, the result of the foul can be a lot nastier. Hence the multiple yellows from fouling.
The number of fouls that result in cards is almost identical in terms of home and away matches (18 and 19 cards from fouls for home and away) which again suggest the club simply has a style of playing that involves some fairly nasty failing – or at least nasty enough to get cards.
But then again we have to note that this is a referee who this season has yet to see a home win – which could suggest that he will manipulate the numbers. And of course because of the utter secrecy of PGMO and the complete kowtowing by the media to PGMO creed of utter secrecy, there is little we will be able to do other than highlight what has gone on.
One other factor we might note if the referee has it in mind to manipulate things, is that Ipswich have not had a single penalty so far this season, one of six clubs to be in this list (which incidentally includes Tottenham). So again this referee who does not give home wins, might well try and balance the game (in his view) by awarding a penalty or two to Ipswich just to help the m along.
Although of course it could be that the referee’s failure to oversee a single home win this season might just be the rub of the green, and the run of the ball. We’ve no evidence that any of his behaviour is deliberate.
The Standard give a team of
Raya;
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Odegaard, Partey, Rice;
Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard
Raya;
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Rice, Merino, Odegaard,
Martinelli, Havertz, Jesus,
One football I think has been studying proof reading under me, for they have a line up of only ten. But I think the issue is highlighted from the two full lineups above. What is the best way to make the front three work without Saka?
