- All one can say is that today’s referee’s figures are utterly ridiculous
- The referee today is Craig Pawson and the issue of referee variance
By Tony Attwood
In the table below, which I have introduced here for the first time (since I only just thought of it), I have taken today’s opposition’s last six away games and in each case recorded the position of the two teams in the league at the end of the day before the match. So in the first row, we have Tottenham at home to ManU and the league placement before the game started was sixth against eighth. The game ended in a draw.
But it turns out the position of the team ManU is facing isn’t always a dominant factor since at the time of facing Palace away, ManU were six places below them but Palace lost 1-2.
As we would expect in the next away game, they beat beleaguered Wolverhampton, which was as form predicted. And so was the Villa game – the third-placed team beat the 7th placed team. But the draws in their last two away games suggest that no matter how naff the home team is, ManU can have problems
| Date | Teams | Res | Score | Lge place of teams |
| 08 Nov | Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester U | D | 2-2 | 6th v 8th |
| 30 Nov | Crystal Palace v Manchester United | W | 1-2 | 6th v 12th |
| 08 Dec | Wolverhampton v Manchester U | W | 1-4 | 20th v 12th |
| 21 Dec | Aston Villa v Manchester United | L | 2-1 | 3rd v 7th |
| 04 Jan | Leeds United v Manchester U | D | 1-1 | 16th v 6th |
| 07 Jan | Burnley v Manchester United | D | 2-2 | 19th v 6th |
So we might say that based on home and away form ManU can swing a surprise ass they did at Palace, but normally, form is a moderately good indicator. It doesn’t help us get the exact results, but it gives a clue. But not enough to help us win the pools, so we will stick with writing, I guess.
If we now look at Arsenal at home with Manu away, we can see that Arsenal do have the advantage of having played one more, but that hardly accounts for a variation in the goal difference of 22 goals or a points difference of 16
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal home | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 5 | 21 | 28 |
| 9 | Manchester United away | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 12 |
Nor indeed the last six games in which Arsenal have managed to pick up 14 points while ManU have got nine from two wins and three draws.
So what about the team?
The Premier League injury table shows Arsenal in 18th place with just three men down (West Ham and Wolverhampton both having just two men injured, thus proving that the number of injuries perhaps doesn’t mean that much after all!) Manchester United are also rejecting the concept of injuries, it seems, with just three men out. Top of the table are a range of clubs with eight men out, including Tottenham and Chelsea. I could send them my condolences, but I didn’t.
But in fact, the figures hide the real situation. Of course, Downman is going to be out for a while yet, but Calafiori and Reyna are apparently both fit, but need to have the final fitness tests to see if they can play. Given the availability of everyone else, it seems very unlikely.
The Standard has now joined in the media trick of advertising the line-up as being on one page, and then when you go to that page, they send the reader to another page (a way of going up the rankings, but rather annoying – my link is to the actual page with the line-up on).
Raya
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber;
Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard;
Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Raya;
Time, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie
Rice, Zubimendi, Odegaard;
Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Football London however manages a variation by including Jesus
Raya;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber;
Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard,
Saka, Jesus, Trossard.
So there we are. Kick off is at 4.30pm with the game on Sky. Whatever happens Arsenal will be top of the league but it could be by four, five or seven points. And if we do win, we will once again have the best goal difference in the Premier League.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 40 | 14 | 26 | 50 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 23 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 21 | 26 | 46 |
I was happy to be right about Gabriel Jesus starting and scoring and the score against Inter the other night with my comments on Untold-Arsenal.
We could have scored another had Gabriel Magalhaes start the game because they could not handle our set pieces as predicted.
For today’s game. Don’t be surprised if Arteta decides that Merino gets a start in what looks like a rough game! So I am glad it’s a home game.
We need to get players in their box to peg them back, win the midfield kicking shin battle, and watch out and be prepared for their counter attack.
Will the ref have an influence on a dirty ManU tactics game? He needs to show ManU an early yellow to keep them in check! Just my opinion.
Also I did call it that Saka would be benched and not start against Nott forest due to a rough game predicted with the ref Oliver usually allowing teams to kick Saka off the park without punishment, but it may depend on today’s ref seeing as I predict a rough game, whether Arteta decides to protect Saka or not from starting. Tony knows more about Refs than anyone, so he will know this refs track record for allowing Saka’s fouls to be unpunished against opposition. I only know Michael Oliver has a bad reputation of allowing Saka to be kicked off the park, especially during the first half in games. I leave that expertise on Refs to the experienced and knowledgeable Tony.
From the laws of the game about handball:
IT IS AN OFFENCE IF A PLAYER:
• deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball
• touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body
unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By
having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised
• SCORES IN THE OPPONENT’S GOAL:
• directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper
• IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BALL HAS TOUCHED THEIR HAND/ARM, EVEN IF ACCIDENTAL
of course this doesn’t apply when Arsenal is on the receiving end.
Our match reporter in Belgium couldn’t believe the goal was given…
Walter Kia Havertz against Aston Villa
Exactly Steve… and even in that case the Villa defender first handled and pushed the ball against the hand of Kai and then Eddie Nketiah pushed it over the line. Result: no goal and certainly no penalty for the Villa defender handball of course….
Walter what you wrote regarding handball , even if the handball is accidental and a goal is dissallowed ?
How is your wife now ?
Should have written even if a goal is scored it should be disallowed
The reason for not penalising the handball is because the PGMOL says it was inconclusive as to whether he had actually handled it or not.
I suspect most Arsenal fans would say he definitely touched the ball and the Man U supporters would claim he didn’t touch it.
Same as the Forest defender in the previous match
Steve, from the moment it touches an arm of hand and the player immediately scores it should be disallowed. This was in fact a prime example. It doesn’t matter even if the hands are in a natural position or not. I remember at the last European championships a goal from Belgium was cancelled because Lukaku had mad a minimal touch with his hand while running after a ball.
My wife is fine. She has miracously recovered thanks to someone who from her own experience and knowledge had made a cure with combining old medicines. The wheelchair is rusting in the garage, the crutches are gone. She can drive the car again, we go riding with our (electric bikes) and can walk around for hours and hours. We and certainly she got her life back.