By Bulldog Drummond
Shall we begin with the injuries, since Arsenal are always pretty nearly top as you will know if you listen to TalkSport. And yes it is pretty much still true – if you hold the list upside down.
| # | TEAM | TOTAL INJURIES | LATEST PLAYER INJURED | INJURY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hull City | 12 | D Mbokani | Hamstring |
| 2 | Sunderland | 10 | V Mannone | Illness |
| 3 | Crystal Palace | 7 | L Remy | Muscular |
| 4 | Watford | 7 | C Kabasele | Hip Injury |
| 5 | Stoke City | 5 | G Johnson | Achilles |
| 6 | Southampton | 5 | V van Dijk | Ankle Injury |
| 7 | Tiny Totts | 5 | H Kane | Knock |
| 8 | Liverpool! | 5 | J Henderson | Bruised Foot |
| 9 | Manchester City | 4 | A Kolarov | Knock |
| 10 | State Aid | 4 | A Carroll | Groin Injury |
| 11 | Burnley | 4 | J Gudmundsson | Knee Ligament |
| 12 | Bournemouth | 4 | J Ibe | Knee Injury |
| 13 | Everton | 3 | D Calvert-Lewin | Ankle Injury |
| 14 | Manchester Utd | 3 | H Mkhitaryan | Hamstring |
| 15 | Swansea City | 3 | N Dyer | Achilles Injury |
| 16 | Middlesbrough | 3 | C Chambers | Foot |
| 17 | Arsenal | 2 | M Elneny | Ankle Injury |
| 18 | West Bromwich | 2 | C Dawson | Concussion |
| 19 | Leicester City | 1 | M Wague | Shoulder |
| 20 | Chelsea | 0 |
Elneny has done his ankle and Santi is out. Mesut Ozil is said to be unwell.
Which means we have Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny, available, along with Danny Welbeck who played in an under 23 game instead of against Sutton. Giroud is back too.
Playing for the under 23s tonight we have Martinez, Jenkinson, Debuchy, Sheaf, Bramall, McGuane, Nelson, Malen, Dragomir, Willock, Sanogo, so none of those will be included in the Liverpool game. Jenkinson and Debuchy have to find their way back to form on what looks like being a rather soggy beach.
Speaking of the under 23s here is something rather nice from our friends at FFDTV
Preview YouTube video Goal by Arsenal FC baller Reiss Nelson vs Chelsea FC U23s
Preview YouTube video Arsenal FC 15 Year Old Highly Rated Winger Reiss Nelson
Preview YouTube video Superb goal by 16 year old Arsenal FC baller Reiss Nelson vs Chelsea FC U23s
| Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Harry Kane | 17 |
| 1. | Romelu Lukaku | 17 |
| 1. | Alexis Sánchez | 17 |
| 4. | Diego Costa | 16 |
| 5. | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | 15 |
| 6. | Jermain Defoe | 14 |
| 7. | Dele Alli | 12 |
| 8. | Sergio Agüero | 11 |
| 8. | Sadio Mané | 11 |
| 10. | Eden Hazard | 10 |
| 11. | Christian Benteke | 9 |
| 11. | Fernando Llorente | 9 |
| 13. | Michail Antonio | 8 |
| 13. | Roberto Firmino | 8 |
| 13. | Troy Deeney | 8 |
| 13. | Olivier Giroud | 8 |
| 13. | Gylfi Sigurdsson | 8 |
| 13. | Theo Walcott | 8 |
| 19. | Joshua King | 7 |
| 19. | Adam Lallana | 7 |
| GP | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 8 | +28 | 36 |
| 2 | Tottenham | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 5 | +25 | 35 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 13 | +13 | 29 |
| 4 | Burnley | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 29 |
| 5 | Everton | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 27 | 10 | +17 | 28 |
| 6 | Liverpool! | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 11 | +20 | 27 |
While the away games table gives us
| GP | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 16 | +12 | 27 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 27 |
| 3 | Manchester Utd | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 24 |
| 4 | Liverpool! | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 22 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 15 | +13 | 21 |
Liverpool! at home clearly outscore Arsenal away, but Arsenal’s goalscoring record away from home is the best in the league this season, and we have only scored three fewer away from home than Liverpool have scored at home.
Liverpool! have had something of a grotty run of late in league and cup.
| Date | Comp | Home team | Score | Away Team |
| 25/01/17 | Lge C | Liverpool! | 0-1 | Southampton |
| 28/01/17 | FAC | Liverpool! | 1 – 2 | Wolverhampton … |
| 31/01/17 | PRL | Liverpool! | 1 – 1 | Chelsea |
| 04/02/17 | PRL | Hull City | 2 – 0 | Liverpool! |
| 11/02/17 | PRL | Liverpool! | 2 – 0 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 27/02/17 | PRL | Leicester City | 3 – 1 | Liverpool! |
Arsenal results
| Date | Comp | Home team | Score | Away team |
| 28/01/17 | FAC | Southampton | 0-5 | Arsenal |
| 31/01/17 | PRL | Arsenal | 1 – 2 | Watford |
| 04/02/17 | PRL | Chelsea | 3 – 1 | Arsenal |
| 11/02/17 | PRL | Arsenal | 2 – 0 | Hull City |
| 15/02/17 | UCL | Bayern München | 5 – 1 | Arsenal |
| 20/02/17 | FAC | Sutton United | 0 – 2 | Arsenal |
So that is three wins for Arsenal, and three defeats which is hardly the best sort of form that we have seen from the club, while for Liverpool it is one win, one draw and four defeats. In these games the goals for and against read as
- Liverpool scored 5 conceded 9,
- Arsenal scored 12, conceded 10.
For Liverpool! it has been five years and six days since they last won a trophy – that being the League Cup. For Arsenal it is 1 year and 277 days, that being the FA Cup.
There is one other point of interest that has arisen today, in that in the light of recent form it is suggested Liverpool! should change their name to Liverpool?
Arsenal History Books on Kindle
The novel “Making the Arsenal” by Tony Attwood which describes the events of 1910, which created the modern Arsenal FC, is now available for the first time on Kindle. Full details are here.
Also available on Kindle, “Woolwich Arsenal: the club that changed football” the only comprehensive history of the rise of Arsenal as a league club, and the attempts to destroy the club, from within and without. For full details please see here.
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The latest from the Arsenal History Society
We are currently 90% of the way through the most detailed review of Arsenal in the 1930s (the era that made Arsenal into one of the greatest teams) ever written. The latest articles are
- Arsenal in the summer: 1938. The Nazi salute; the world record signing.
- Arsenal players in the 1937/38 title winning side, and comparisons with earlier seasons
- April/May 1938: from no titles to five in one decade – and the most amazing title of them all.
The Arsenal History Society publishes numerous series of articles exploring different aspects of Arsenal’s history. You can find an index to all the series to date on the Society’s web site
Mesut is unwell, eh? There was a blurb at The Sun (who always tell the truth, snicker, snicker). Mesut is now engaged to be married.
Congratulations (if true)!
I hope he gets well soon.
Who is he getting married to? Is it his German girlfriend who lived with him in London but later left him and went back Germany, or is it the Miss Turkey he was reported to have traveled to Turkey to meet her when Arsenal played against Sutton?
Good luck to them, think,we,can and will win this one.
Wonder if Utd will continue to confound the offside laws for the rest of the season?
Adrian Clarke says: “a 4-3-1-2” so deal with Liverpool.
I hear rumors of an Arsenal “secret gun” speak weapon, but maybe that’s for Bayern?
This is the moment where we say, it cant get any worse and damm i wont let it. Players? Listen up!
Anyway, i was wondering if it was coincidence that Kos was injured so early in the Bayern game.
I knew there was something niggling at the back of my mind!
OT: Former soccer player Paul James (Canada WC 1986 and other, born in Cardiff, Wales)
I suppose a long time ago, I wrote Paul James an email. The hard disk which might have records of that, is not readable. Today, I got a rather strange email, supposedly from Paul James. Or rather, I got a cc, the email was addressed to an editor of a national newspaper in Canada, and has attachments.
Wikipedia has an article on him. He at one time was bought to fix games, and was caught and punished. That I knew. I guess after he left York University (football manager), he wrote a book about being addicted to cocaine. This was new to me.
Anyone else get a copy of this email? What should a person do about it? I just filed it in another folder.
Player of the month
I see that Alexis got the February Player of the Month award. He now has 4 awards this season, and I believe that at best there are 3 players who can only tie him this season. Congratulations to Alexis!
—
But I am not a monster.
Or so says the headline at WorldFootball. Who is talking? Why, the moaning one who was at Chelsea.
I notice that the article does not ask any relative of the moaning one if he is a monster. You would think they would have valuable insight into this possibility.
I still think it is a monster.
—
Here’s hoping the moaners don’t come out tomorrow.
COYG!
Alexis needs some more goals, the others are catching up. I want him to be top scorer in UK this season.
I dispute the part about our last trophy. Our last trophy was Community Shield in August 2015.
In the last nine league trips to Anfield our record is pretty decent: W3D5L1. It should have been better as we conceded a last minute or so equalizer in three of those five draws (including the last two) but it also could have been worse as we scored a late equalizer ourselves and sneaked one of those three victories in the injury-time.
Giroud has scored three goals in his last two trips to Anfield.
Arsene’s record at Klopp’s soil: W1D1L1.
Sorry, W1D2L1