- Why would any player choose to go anywhere other than Arsenal?
- Young players, misleading media, best defences, and problems out east
By Tony Attwood
And so tomorrow at 2pm it is Crystal Palace at home. Watch out for articles talking about games coming thick and fast.
But also there is the news that Arsenal have “secured the future of one of the biggest talents” etc etc with Max Dowman having agreed the terms of a deal as a scholar. There is football in the family as Downman’s father was a director at Billericay Town from whence the young man has emerged. It seems that several overseas clubs have already been making enquiries. He can’t actually take up the scholarship until he is 16, but when he is, he will. And there is even a suggestion that he will be a substitute for the game against Palace at the weekend.
Meanwhiel the notion of Arsenal breaking the 15 goals against record this season is getting soem traction too. And it is a little interesting to show where Chelsea and Arsenal were that season at this point.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal 2008 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 7 | 19 | 22 |
| 2 | Chelsea 2008 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 20 |
| 19 | Crystal Palace 2008 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 5 |
And today both Arsenal and Chelsea are doing a bit worse and Palace a fair amount better. Around and around things go.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal 2025 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 19 |
| 5 | Chelsea 2025 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 14 |
| 8 | Crystal Palace 2025 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 13 |
The problem for Arsenal is that there is now so much talk about how wonderful the team is that anything less than a thumping win is going to look like a major defeat. Not least because Arsenal do generally beat Crystal Palace. In fact, Arsenal have beaten them 35 times, drawn 17 and lost only six.
And with headlines in the Guardian such as “Arsenal are on course to break one of the most impressive records in Premier League history,” expectations are now out through the roof and half way to Pluto.
But Palace can cause problems as we saw between 2018 and 2022 when in eight games between the two Arsenal won just once (away to Palace on 14 January 2021, 1-3), drew five and lost two.
This looks like one of the records the media will wish to dish out, although if they should do they will be missing the fact that in the last seven games, it has been six consecutive Arsenal victories followed by a single draw. In this run, Arsenal have scored 22 goals and Palace six. The draw in that sequence was in the last game on 25 April this year – a 2-2 affair at Arsenal’s ground. And just to be clear, it does include one game from the League Cup in December 2024, which Arsenal won 1-5 away.
So yes we should be beating Palacve on historical form, and also on current form, including the home and away form.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal home | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace away | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
Now, as that table shows Palace are no mugs away from home, although their goal difference is under one third of that which Arsenal have achieved at home. If they are seeing those figures, then they will probably be settling for a game in which they defend and wait for the chance of a breakaway. If they get that there will be a lot more defending.
But they might also be concerned about their most recent games – an away defeat to Everton 2-1, a more commendable away draw with Bournemouth 3-3 and then most recentlhy a home defeat to AEK Larnaca in the Uefa Conference League 0-1 on 23 October.
In this regard, they are not helped by having three players out through injury at the moment. Cheick Doucoure ande Chadi Riad Dnanou each with a knee injury, and Caleb Kporha with a lower back injury.
More anon..
