- For Arsenal, we might say that so far this is looking rather good
- The issue of the referee who is against a specific club
By Tony Attwood
“Arteta has the toughest defence in the Premier League, but his team have to become more assertive if they are to win the title.”
Yes, that really is in today’s paper after Arsenal have just won 5-0 and gone top of the (admittedly very early) league table, having scored more goals than anyone else, having conceded none, and with Liverpool needing to beat Newcastle 5-0 or better (away from home) to overtake Arsenal. In 2023/24, Arsenal scored 91 goals. In 2022/23, Arsenal scored 88 goals. The only thing that stops the team is wholesale multiple injuries from tackles allowed by referees, which should not be.
Of course, the current league table doesn’t mean that Arsenal are about to win the league nor that Wolverhampton and West Ham are going down, but even so, it looks good. Will Tottenham remain in the top four this season, having come in the top four just once in the last six seasons? I suspect the media scribblers will say so, because they generally do, and certainly that win over ManC looks promising for them (and of course helpful for Arsenal too).
One of the points that the media could make (and they probably will pick up on it now that it is mentioned here) is that about one third of Arsenal’s games this season will be London derbies. Indeed, I was about to undertake the laborious task of working out last season’s London derby table only to find My Football Facts had already done it. Thanks for that and full acknowledgements to them – and fair play to them as they have a history of the inter-London games going back to the early 1990s.
That one very annoying London defeat for Arsenal was in February at home to West Ham 0-1, and it brings me back to one of my regular topics – that Arsenal do not lose the odd match occasionally, but instead suffer blips. Get rid of the blips or come out of them more quickly, and the league is there for the taking.
Consider this (and here and throughout only league matches are included)… from 10 October through to 10 November last year, Arsenal played four games, won nil, drew two, and lost two. Three goals scored six conceded. Just imagine the league table if that run of four games without a win could have been just one duff game, and then the club picked itself up.
Or consider 22 February to 9 March when we had that defeat to West Ham, which was followed by draws away to Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. West Ham came 14th last season, Nottingham Forest seventh, and Manchester United 15th.
But finally and worst of all, between 5 April and 11 May Arsenal played six league games, won one, lost one (to Bournemouth!!!) and had four draws (Everton, Brentford, Crystal Palace and Liverpool. That Liverpool away game was ok of course, but really none of those other teams should have been able to get two (or in the case of Bournemouth, three) points off Arsenal.
Of course, I know we lost the league by ten points, but if five of our 14 (yes 14) draws had been wins, those points would have been made up. If in each case we had won the game but just one goal that would have still left Liverpool at the top, but only on goal difference of five goals. Any other one of our draws being a win would have seen Arsenal home on top of the league.
As it happens, Arsenal’s 14 draws were the second highest of the season – only Everton had more with 15. Liverpool and Chelsea had nine draws each, which shows just how close we were. And indeed it can be worth remembering that in 1997-98 we won the Premier League on 78 points, just four more than were achieved last season.
And given that in our two previous seasons we came second on 84 and 89 points, I suspect that if we can keep the injury level down by giving the players detailed pre-match instructions on how each referee works, it can now be done.
Last season, both Liverpool and Arsenal lost just four games each – so the difference between the two is the number of the remaining 34 games that were draws rather than wins. To extend my point above, the difference was five. Five games that Liverpool won and Arsenal only drew. Here is a selection where it could have happened…. Turning any five of these nine games into wins would have given Arsenal the league title.
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Aug 2024 | Arsenal v Brighton and Hove | 1-1 |
| 08 Dec 2024 | Fulham v Arsenal | 1-1 |
| 14 Dec 2024 | Arsenal v Everton | 0-0 |
| 04 Jan 2025 | Brighton and Hove v Arsenal | 1-1 |
| 18 Jan 2025 | Arsenal v Aston Villa | 2-2 |
| 09 Mar 2025 | Manchester United v Arsenal | 1-1 |
| 05 Apr 2025 | Everton v Arsenal | 1-1 |
| 12 Apr 2025 | Arsenal v Brentford | 1-1 |
| 23 Apr 2025 | Arsenal v Crystal Palace | 2-2 |
And I think this is where Gyokeres comes in as a very important signing. His stats against the top sides in Portugal are not great but he kills off the smaller teams. And with all respect but most of those draws were against smaller teams.
Also the number of penalties for and against to the respective teams was a significant factor in determining the final points difference between Liverpool and Arsenal.