By Bulldog Drummond
Following on from the last article Man U’s fine run of away form, and Totts lose on a big pitch here are some more details of what Man U have done away from home…
Manchester United are unbeaten since 23 October, a run of 28 games. but what is hidden in these figures is the fact that they have won their last four away games. Indeed if we go back a bit further we can see what a solid away run this has been – it is seven out of eight, with the other game drawn. Here are the last eight away games…
| Game | Date | Opposition | Venue | Result | Pos |
| 16 | 14.12.2016 | Crystal Palace | away | W2-1 | 6 |
| 17 | 17.12.2016 | West Bromwich Albion | away | W2-0 | 6 |
| 20 | 02.01.2017 | West Ham United | away | W2-0 | 6 |
| 22 | 21.01.2017 | Stoke City | away | D1-1 | 6 |
| 24 | 05.02.2017 | Leicester City | away | W3-0 | 6 |
| 29 | 19.03.2017 | Middlesbrough | away | W3-1 | 5 |
| 32 | 09.04.2017 | Sunderland | away | W3-0 | 5 |
| 34 | 23.04.2017 | Burnley | away | W2-0 | 5 |
Not only are they winning away, they have a lock-out defence mentality having conceded only three goals away in these eight games. The only thing one can say against this run of form is that they are not games against top clubs. Curious how the fixture list works out!
Now moving on to the next of our regular themes – the injury list. And here we can see it is getting really desperate for Arsenal as we have slipped out of the Top 10!!! I am sure Talk Sprout, BT Sprout and the BBC are still making out that Arsenal have the worst injury record in the Universe but reality tells a different tale. This from the (not exactly accurate) physioroom.com
| # | Team | No injured | Last man down | What’s wrong |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunderland | 10 | S Pienaar | Ankle Injury |
| 2 | Crystal Palace | 7 | A Townsend | Achilles Injury |
| 3 | Manchester Utd | 7 | M Rashford | Knee Injury |
| 4 | Everton | 7 | A Lennon | Medical Condition |
| 5 | Watford | 7 | M Britos | Calf Injury |
| 6 | West Ham United | 7 | A Masuaku | Foot |
| 7 | Liverpool | 6 | P Coutinho | Dead Leg |
| 8 | Bournemouth | 6 | B Afobe | Hamstring Injury |
| 9 | Hull City | 5 | D Meyler | MCL Knee Ligament Injury |
| 10 | Manchester City | 5 | S Aguero | Groin Strain |
| 11 | Burnley | 5 | G Boyd | Knock |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 5 | A Guedioura | Groin Strain |
| 13 | Stoke City | 4 | S Berahino | Illness |
| 14 | Southampton | 4 | V van Dijk | Foot |
| 15 | Arsenal | 4 | G Xhaka | Calf Injury |
| 16 | Swansea City | 4 | J Montero | Hamstring Injury |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 | H Winks | Ankle Injury |
| 18 | Leicester City | 3 | W Morgan | Hamstring Injury |
| 19 | Chelsea | 3 | T Courtois | Ankle Injury |
| 20 | West Bromwich | 2 | H Robson-Kanu | Hamstring Injury |
Our four men down according to the Phizroom are
| Player | What’s wrong | Anticipated return date |
| S Mustafi | Thigh | May 6, 2017 |
| L Perez | Muscle Injury | May 10, 2017 |
| G Xhaka | Calf Injury | May 10, 2017 |
| S Cazorla | Plantaris Injury | July 1, 2017 |
If this is right Mustafi might be available for the game against Man U.
Granit Xhaka is certainly out from the kick he got in the last game. Mustafi has been confirmed to be back in normal training. Lucas Perez (who is now described as “wantaway Lucas Perez” on the grounds that someone somewhere once said he was fed up) is described in some quarters as being back in contention although Mr Wenger quite clearly said in his press conference that he is in training, but that the game has come too soon for him.
Jeff Reine-Adelaide is, as noted previously, ruled out until the end of the season with an ankle injury, but doesn’t figure in the Physioroom lists which shows again how careful we need to be with working out what’s what in terms of injury numbers.
For Man U the list looks like this…
| Player | What’s wrong | Anticipated return date |
| A Young | Hamstring Injury | No Return Date |
| M Rashford | Knee Injury | No Return Date |
| L Shaw | Foot | No Return Date |
| T Fosu-Mensah | Dislocated Shoulder | No Return Date |
| Z Ibrahimovic | ACL Knee Injury | No Return Date |
| M Rojo | ACL Knee Injury | No Return Date |
| J Wilson | ACL Knee Injury | No Return Date |
Of the Man U list there are some reports that say Rashford might have a late fitness test. But in essence that final column looks rather boring.
Marcus Rashford is reported as having a slight limp and as Goal.com points out he has played 762 minutes of football since the start of April, second only to Eric Bailly. So both players look like a candidate for the famous Mourinho resting procedure. Ashley Young came off against Celta Vigo just 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Marouane Fellaini is suspended for headbutting Sergio Aguero.
As for what will happen: here’s one little snippet…
The venerable Paul Merson pronounced to Sky Sports: “Arsenal are certainties in my opinion. It’s all about timing at the end of the season and this game is perfect timing for the Gunners.
“United could win their next four Premier League games 5-0 and still finish fifth in the league. On the other hand, they might only have to win two Europa League games to qualify for the Champions League.”
That is a fair point, except if it doesn’t happen Merson then has more weaponry to turn on Mr Wenger – not that Mr Wenger has ever thought much of Merson’s opinions.
More anon…
Arsenal v Manchester United (and a summary of the transfer situation)
Arsenal v Manchester Utd. Man U’s fine run of away form, and Totts lose on a big pitch.
Arsenal v Manchester United Sun 7 May – The Match Officials. A certain bias is detected.
How about Wayne Rooney who seems to always like to inflict damage on Arsenal at Old Trafford and at the Emirates Stadia whenever he starts for the Red Devils team? Is he fit to play in this match? He has always been a danger to Arsenal, isn’t he? Even with his infamous diving at Old Trafford that led to Man U been illegally awarded a penalty which van Nistelrooy converted in our 50 games unbeaten run attempt there. So, a fit to start aging Rooney could still constitute a danger to us if he starts or even when he comes on to play. And of course, a fully fit to play Marcus Rashford could become the new danger to us in this game as he has once proved he can be one when he scored a brace and assisted one at Old trafford last season against us in a match that launched him into the limelight. But Man U won’t have their ace scorer Ziltan for this match but they could have their midfield powerhouse Paul Pogba, who could use this big PL match to showcase what quality he’s made of. Therefore, the Gunners should be careful not to give any room to any of these 3 top Red Devils to operate efficiently in the game but block them to stop any danger they could pose to us in the match.
_Accuracy in Headlines_
WorldFootball.net standings
_1 Chelsea FC _ _ _ _ _ _34 _ 43 _81
_2 Tottenham Hotspur _ _ 35 _ 48 _77
_3 Manchester City _ _ _ 35 _ 33 _69
_4 Liverpool FC _ _ _ _ _35 _ 29 _69
_5 Manchester United _ _ 34 _ 26 _65
_6 Arsenal FC _ _ _ _ _ _33 _ 22 _60
_7 Everton FC _ _ _ _ _ _36 _ 19 _58
_8 West Bromwich Albion _35 _ -4 _45
_9 Leicester City _ _ _ _35 _ -9 _43
10 AFC Bournemouth _ _ _ 36 _-13 _42
11 West Ham United _ _ _ 36 _-14 _42
12 Southampton FC _ _ _ _33 _ -5 _41
13 Stoke City _ _ _ _ _ _36 _-13 _41
14 Burnley FC _ _ _ _ _ _36 _-14 _40
15 Watford FC _ _ _ _ _ _35 _-21 _40
16 Crystal Palace _ _ _ _36 _-15 _38
17 Swansea City _ _ _ _ _36 _-28 _35
18 Hull City _ _ _ _ _ _ 36 _-33 _34
19 Middlesbrough FC _ _ _35 _-19 _28
20 Sunderland AFC _ _ _ _35 _-32 _24
Vokes double edges Burnley closer to survival – Hull City currently in 18th at 34 points with 2 games remaining. The most they can get is 6 points to finish at 40, currently at -33 goal difference. Burnley is at 40 points, with a goal difference of -14 (19 better). You think 2 games is going to erase a 19 difference in goal difference? Burnley will survive. Headline is inaccurate.
Leicester pile pressure on Watford boss Mazzarri – Watford have 40 points, with a goal difference of -21. That is 12 better than Hull’s goal difference. Hull needs to win both remaining games to tie Watford on points and make up a 12 goal difference. It’s not going to happen. Watford boss is not under pressure, they survive. Headline is inaccurate.
Two own goals as Bournemouth ensure safety – Bournemouth are at 42 points with the tie, hence they had 41 points before the game started. Bournemouth was assured of EPL survival regardless of the outcome of the game. Headline is inaccurate.
I wont take any manu injuries to be true until the line up is announced, and there will be some form of preparation for Arsenal as per usual.
Still, Arsenal has a chance to build some confidence with a good win.
What is offside
http://www.marca.com/en/football/barcelona/2017/05/06/590e17e5e2704ec62f8b45b5.html
A long time ago, I wanted to bring this kind of question up with the people teaching us to be officials. But, of the lot of us, I think I was the only person in the group with a science background. And I don’t think any of the others would appreciate the distinction in the question I was going to ask. But, I also suffer the problem of being poor at “interrupting” a conversation. And the opportunity was lost, or never unfolded.
From how this Neymar goal was described in the MARCA article, I would suggest the pundit/referee is wrong and that Neymar was offside.
SAA – I think you are drinking too much juju juice. I cannot fathom what your trying to say.
Tomorrow we play Man U with Jose playing mind games. Our victory must be made on the field with 3 points. Everything else is minor in terms of what matters to Arsenal.
West Ham showed that even PGMOL can be overcome. Luck helps but a 1 – 0 result at home to any of the PGMOL bum boys is worth the points. It is also a wonderful morale booster.
I’ll be at the game tomorrow & expect to see Arsenal take the points.
COYG
I felt sorry for Hull City, some incompetent decision making from the ref might have robbed them of their PL survival, the ref denied Hull a penalty and Sunderland second goal was clearly offside. The incompetence from some of the refs week in week out could cost some clubs financially and some clubs winning the league title, there should be accountability.
Certain fans from a certain club should spend their energy and resources by protesting their disgust at the incompetence of the refs, by marching through the streets before matches, showing banners and posters at the grounds, hire planes to fly banners during matches, hire display vans, projecting images on the walls at the PGMOL and FA HQ. Now if successful, that would be a better outcome for all.
The Mirror has a story about Troy Deeney.
Apparently the foul that gets his attention the most, is getting hit in the testicles by defenders.
Now, I can see 😈 Mike Riley not appreciating such a situation (as he has none), but one wonders if he allows any of his crop of clowns to call this as a foul.
Polo
I don’t feel sorry for Hull, but I dislike bad decisions by referees being the reason any (well, most) teams lose.
But, apparently the last game of their season is against the spuds. Hopefully they win that game. Can we hope for 10-0? How about Kane and Dele Alli scoring OGs?
Gord
That is where ambiguity comes into play, allowing the “refs to be correct which ever decision they make”.
Menace
Don’t know if you do it deliberately or indeed you just don’t understand how your postings could be interpreted but the first paragraph of your earlier posting is far from clever just as the phrase you resort to in third paragrah again is just wrong.
For all those regular Ben Dovers and the **** f*uckers –
During meditation, a monk asks his master: “Master, If a man shaves his ass, is he gay?”
His master thought for a moment and replied in very philosophical tones: “A man who cleans his house, clearly expects a visitor!”
Bugger !
Polo
The penalty you tak about for me is far from clear.
Was the Sunderland defender not entitled to raise his face from the potential high boot so in one the question then is was his hand in an unnatural position similarly how far did the ball travel from that high boot ( which is allowed in such circumstances) to strike the hand?
As for the offside looks pretty clear cut but somewhat surprising when Defoe is looking across the line and not cap it all so is the asst!
Mike T – just in case your interpretation is tainted with lack of education, I was born & educated in Africa. I have lived most part of 50 years in London after that. Your narrow mindedness is not surprising as only travel will broaden your horizons.
Gord
In case you wonder how in today’s football any goal-swing can be…reached (wink, wink), check the games from the last round of Group Stage Champions League in 2011-12, matches Ajax-Real and Dinamo Zagreb. Before the games Ajax had been 3 pts ahead of Lyon and had a goal-difference 6:3 to Lyon’s 2:6 so the needed goal-swing was 7. Lyon fell behind but managed to score 7 goals in 30 minutes to win 7:1. Ajax had two good goals disallowed against Real and lost 0:3. Lyon went through and Michel Platini was the UEFA president at the time.
So, yes, any goal-swing is reachable when higher levels want it to happen.
Menace
Africa is a big old continent and I doubt that being educated in parts of that continent 50 years ago doesn’t by default grant anyone the right to just churn out phrases such as the ones you use
Look up for a start what the current or some would call the urban definition of what ju ju juice means. I doubt to be fair you meant it in that context but but your choice of words were used deliberately and by that I have no doubt it’s down to where Samuel either originates from or resides.
After you have done that perhaps you try to justify the phrase you use around around PGMOL . If you really think that for you to level what clearly is meant as an insult in such a way is justified because you are travelled then I would suggest you need to get some more education!
True Josif – the world cup when Argentina need 6 to knock Netherlands out of the Final is another example. Netherlands were the best footballing team that period but were robbed by the corrupt officiating. Several games have that aroma of foul play.
I gather Blackburn needed to score 6 today, to avoid relegation. Didn’t happen, they are relegated.
I don’t think PGMO can tilt a 12 goal difference in 2 games (or the bigger one) without the referees standing in the penalty area blocking the goaltender from dealing with shots.