Arsenal v Newcastle today at 1230 – available on your computer

 

 

• Up and down we go. Does the yoyo effects between the leagues matter?
• Are Arsenal spending the most or lagging behind in the transfer market?

By Tony Attwood

It’s Arsenal so the Big Boys of the media don’t really want to know – but as with the last friendly game, you can watch on a computer – for a fee.

For the last match, we had to wait until about four minutes before kick off to be certain that all was in order, and the payment had been accepted, but thereafter I thought the coverage was decent for a pre-season game, so hopefully that will happen again today.

While some Arsenal fans have been fretting about the lack of incoming players (at least up to a week ago), Newcastle have had something real to fret about, having only signed Anthony Elanga from Forest for £55m, and seemingly no one else.

Two players have gone: Lloyd Kelly to Juventus and Sean Longstaff to Leeds – each raising £15m.   Jamal Lewis and Callum Wilson have left at the end of their contracts.

In terms of friendlies before the real stuff starts, Newcastle have played two games, both ending 4-0.  Unfortunately, one of the 4-0 games was a defeat – that against Celtic.  Newcastle did however beat Carlisle United, although I am not sure that such a result helps much.  Carlisle came seventh in the National League last season.

So not such a promising start then for Newcastle.  And they finished last season with three defeats, two wins and a draw – and one of those two victories was over Ipswich Town.   But the other was against Chelsea at home (2-0) so maybe there is some activity in the team after all.

And I think that we may perhaps be permitted to include the last six games table from the end of last season at this point, as it does have one or two features of amusement… and perhaps because of that you will forgive me for focusing on the foot of the table rather than the top.

Arsenal are eighth in this table, and obviously we would have wanted better, but it was enough to secure the second place overall for three seasons running, and Liverpool were out of sight.   And indeed Liverpool actually lost two of their last six.

But still, let us cast our eyes downward a little and note that Newcastle were 15th.  We know that in the last couple of games they lost to Arsenal among others, and maybe that is where we might stop, but looking down further we do find the Tiny Totts on no wins, one draw and five defeats.   Ah but they won a cup so I’m sure there is no need to fret.

 

Last six games table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
8	Arsenal	6	3	2	1	12	7	+5	11
11	Liverpool	6	2	2	2	12	10	+2	8
15	Newcastle United	6	2	1	3	7	7	0	7
18	Manchester Utd	6	1	1	4	6	9	-3	4
19	Sunderland	6	0	1	5	1	7	-6	1
20	Tottenham Hots	6	0	1	5	4	16	-12	1

,

Of course they haave excuses  – they always have excuses including some European adventure but even so, four goals scored and 16 let in, in the last six games.  And if we can take the eyes away from the Tiny Totts for a moment, Newcastle were not exactly firing on all cylinders.

But to be fair, Newcastle are on the up.  Having been promoted from the Championshp in 2017, they struggled at first, having five seasons of coming between 10th and 13th.  So ok not struggling in terms of avoidinig a drop, but still not the powerful force of the north east that the media seem to dream about.

Yet then things did pick up and for the last three seasons they have finished fourth, seventh and fifth, and as the media scribblers will love to say they will expect to “push on from there”.

Newcastle could indeed proclaim themselves to be part of the new Big Seven – which is like the Old Big Seven but without Tottenham Hots and Manchester Un.

 

P	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	38	25	9	4	86	41	45	84
2	Arsenal	38	20	14	4	69	34	35	74
3	Manchester City	38	21	8	9	72	44	28	71
4	Chelsea	38	20	9	9	64	43	21	69
5	Newcastle United	38	20	6	12	68	47	21	66
6	Aston Villa	38	19	9	10	58	51	7	66
7	Nottingham Forest	38	19	8	11	58	46	12	65

 

Last season the clubs played each other four times… twice in the diddly cup and twice in the league, and Arsenal only won one of those and in each of those games one side scored none.

 

 

And indeed across the last nine games, Arsenal have won just twice – both in the Premier League.   Newcastle have won five, including those two League Cup wins and there has been just one draw.

One might say, thank goodness it is only a friendly.  Or “Anything can happen in the next 90 minutes” as they didn’t quite say on Thunderbirds (although that memory is only for people of a certain age).