By Tony Attwood
Well, yes, I have to admit it, sad munchkin that I am, I expected Liverpool to come back with a win, and leave Arsenal just one point ahead of them. But I wonder, did anyone really think that after eight games this season we would be three points and a fractionally better goal difference above the second-placed team? OK if you did, very clever you, but I didn’t.
And yes, ok again, we might have guessed that MancC might crawl back up the league. not least because that wretched case of 115 claims against them is STILL not resolved. But then Bournemouth in third??? What odds could you have had on them being dead equal on points, goals for and goals against with Liverpool? The club with the tiny ground and no Premier League prizes, parallel with the club that never stops talking about its PL heritage. And itself.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 19 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 16 |
| 3 | AFC Bournemouth | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 15 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 14 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
In the table above I have gone down to the tiny totts just to show where they are, and yes, we do have three London teams in the top six, which from a parochial point of view is rather fine, although I did enjoy Tottenham’s fight or was that flirt, with relegation last season.
But yet, Arsenal with the most points, best defence and just two goals behind ManC’s endlessly praised (by the media) one man attack. And our new centre forward hasn’t even started scoring yet. When he does, it could get quite exciting
So on to our usual comparison to show where we are in relation to history – and I do like running it not just because it is informative but also because the media haven’t caught on to the idea yet.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal 2025 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 19 |
| 3 | Arsenal 2024 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 17 |
| 2 | Arsenal 2023 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 20 |
| 1 | Arsenal 2022 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 21 |
So clearly we are not outshining the stars of Arsenal teams of all recent years, and remember, of course, that for those past three years we ended up second. But Arsenal has had a very tough set of fixtures for the start of the season, which we have often commented upon. So I think we can feel rather good about the progress.
Yes, the goals are down in terms of scoring, but the defence is the best for years, and like I said above, once our new centre forward gets the hang of the way the teams play, he’ll be knocking them in too.
A wonderful day and great to watch this afternoon’s game on TV. I am a modest drinker of alcohol, but I think a glass of the red stuff is called for at this moment.
Tony
But as I pointed out in the last article, the comparison between the equivalent fixtures last year (Excluding Leeds of course) is the astonishing difference.
Last years: Played 7 Won 2 Drew 3 Lost 2 For 12 Against 7 GD +5 Pts 9
Against the same teams, in the comparative fixtures Home and Away, we are an astonishing 10 points better off.
Ghosts well and truly laid to rest me thinks.
And as you say, offensively we haven’t nearly kicked into gear yet.
Gyokeres is still finding his feet, but as you intimate just looks a goal away from getting on a roll. Madueke was looking the real deal before his injury. We all know how good Havertz was last season. We’ve again already lost 2 real goal threats to injuries for substantial periods in the shapes of Saka and Odegaard. And not forgetting Jesus is still side-lined and may, I repeat may come back the player we knew.
I truly believe this is our season, PGMOB accepted of course
Gotta love it!
I don’t usually welcome a Man Utd win, but….!