By Tony Attwood
Well, that draw wasn’t too painful was it? We toddle off to Belarus to play Bate where our old chum Alex Hleb still plays I think. The first leg is away on 14 February and the second is on 21 February at Arsenal Stadium.
The last time we played them we won 6-0 with goals from Debuchy, Walcott, Wilshere, Giroud and Elneny, with an own goal added to that tally. It was Mr Wenger’s 700th win as Arsenal manager!
The team was
Ospina
Debuchy Holding Chambers Maitland-Niles
Coquelin Elneny
Wilshere
Walcott Giroud Welbeck
- Macey
- Reine-Adelaide
- Akpom
- Nelson (70′)
- Nketiah (77′)
- Sheaf
- Willock (76′)
Interestingly also given the scoreline we only had 50% of the possession but had nine shots on target to their one.
In the group stage this is how it ran out for them this season…
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 16 |
| 2 | BATE | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Mol Vidi | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 7 |
| 4 | PAOK | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 3 |
And here is the Europa draw in full:
Viktoria Plzen v Dinamo Zagreb
Club Brugge v Red Bull Salzburg
Rapid Vienna v Internazionale
Slavia Prague v Genk
Graznodar v Bayer Leverkusen
Zurich v Napoli
Malmo v Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk v Eintracht Frankfurt
Celtic v Valencia
Stade Rennais v Real Betis
Olympiakos v Dynamo Kyiv
Lazio v Sevilla
Fenerbahce v Zenit
Sporting v Villarreal
BATE Borisov v Arsenal
Galatasaray v Benfica
Meanwhile back in today’s world here is the current Premier League table
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 7 | 30 | 45 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 17 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 48 | 10 | 38 | 44 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 16 | 15 | 39 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 35 | 14 | 21 | 37 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 23 | 14 | 34 |
We can compare this with one year ago after 17 games
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 17 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 11 | 41 | 49 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 17 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 37 | 11 | 26 | 38 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 31 | 14 | 17 | 35 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 14 | 16 | 31 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 17 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 34 | 20 | 14 | 31 |
| 6 | Burnley | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 31 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 30 | 20 | 10 | 30 |
And two years ago
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 17 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 11 | 24 | 43 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 41 | 20 | 21 | 37 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 20 | 16 | 36 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 38 | 19 | 19 | 34 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 12 | 17 | 33 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 17 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 30 |
So looking back against the two previous years we are the same as two years ago but four points better off than one year ago. The goal difference however two years ago was better.
It is interesting (to me if no one else) that the number of goals scored two years ago and this year is so close (38 two years back, 37 this year.)
I think these little tables also give a bit of insight into the way all clubs seem to go up and down. Consider for example Chelsea who had 43 points two years ago, but 35 last time and 37 this time. I suspect that the rule is that excellence comes along but then slips away unless money is poured into the club and the team constantly changed.
The most negative approach would be to consider how far we are away from not winning a trophy by being fourth. Two years ago we were fourth, one year ago we were one point away, this year it is three points and an inferior goal difference. Still there is quite a way to go.
Was it not AW’s 700th game, not 700th win?
Tony,
I think our home game against abate is on a Wednesday 20th with a 5pm kickoff time. Can’t have two European matches in London on the same day and Chelsea have priority having won the FA Cup. The early kickoff is so that the game doesn’t get confused with the Champions League games kicking off at 20.00
No I’m wrong and the game has been rescheduled for the second time today. Home tie at the Emirates on Thursday with a 17.55 kickoff. Of course it might all change again.