- By Tony Attwood
It is interesting that a number of fairly important statistics relating to Premier League football are either never looked at by the media or are presented in a way that does not allow for immediate comparisons.
One such is the number of players out injured, where the detail can be found somewhere but often not in a way that makes it easy to compare Arsenal’s successes with those of other clubs. It is also a regrettable fact that some clubs are not always accurate or rapid in the way that they present their numbers, and there can be suspicions that certain clubs (I leave you to guess who) may put players down as injured when, in fact, they have been dropped because of lack of form. Here’s the latest tally…. On other occasions, they can be put down as injured simply to fool the opposition into thinking he is not playing, when in fact he will be.
|
Club
|
Men unavailable through injury
|
|---|---|
|
Sunderland
|
10
|
|
Tottenham Hotspur
|
9
|
|
Chelsea
|
8 |
|
Brentford
|
7
|
|
Liverpool
|
7
|
|
Burnley
|
7
|
|
Everton
|
5
|
|
Newcastle United
|
5
|
|
Nottingham Forest
|
5 |
|
AFC Bournemouth
|
4
|
|
Manchester United
|
4
|
|
Arsenal
|
3
|
|
Crystal Palace
|
3
|
|
Brighton & Hove Albion
|
3
|
|
Fulham
|
3
|
|
Leeds United
|
2
|
|
Aston Villa
|
2
|
|
Manchester City
|
1
|
For Arsenal, the situation seems to remain unchanged. Mikel Merino, as we know, is out until well into next season, and Odegaard and Timber might, or might not, be back, or could be on the bench, might come on… or might not.
For Manchester City Josko Gvardiol is the only man ruled out.
As we have already noted, Arsenal are the team in form with six wins and four draws in the last ten away games, including League Cup, Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Arsenal have scored 21 goals in their last ten away games which all things considered is not at all a bad total.
Looking then on to the Manchester City figures, they have had an extra week and a half to play their last ten away games, which should have given them additional extra help, but in fact their results in the last ten have been four wins, three draws and three defeats. They have scored 12 goals and conceded 12 as well.
So, as we have noted, the biggest positive for Arsenal is the recent run of games against Manchester City, wherein the Mancs haven’t won a single game in the last six between the clubs. But then again, Cup Finals tend to have a logic of their own about them.
There is perhaps an advantage here to Manchester City, in that Arsenal have only played in three League Cup finals this century – 2007, 2011, 2018, and lost all three. They have not played in a League Cup final and won it since 1993.
Manchester City on the other hand, are the second most successful club in the League Cup, having won it eight times and been runners up once. However, since a run of four successive victories in the final between 2018 and 2021, they have not made it to the final.
They are, as we know nine points behind Arsenal in the league, and will most likely be seeing the chance to win this game as a way of worrying Arsenal through the remaining parts of this season’s league matches. Their psychologists will be ready to tell the players that a defeat today will not only bring a bit of silverware to the club but will also shatter Arsenal’s nerves and allow ManC to make up that nine-point gap, winning their one game in hand and then marching forth to triumph.
And they will also be bolstered by past results in the League Cup between the two teams, although these follow a rather curious pattern. Between 1978 and 2004, the clubs played each other five times in the League Cup, and Arsenal won the lot. But then, between 2009 and 2020, the clubs played each other four more times in the same competition, and ManC won each one.
The game is on Sky Sports in the UK, and we will be back with a look at the possible Arsenal team in a short while.
