By Bulldog Drummond
In a later post I will consider how this season has gone compared to recent Wenger seasons, but as we all know we already have four more points than we had at the end last year.
As for how it will all pan out in this game, the manager said in the pre-match briefings, “We know it’s going to be a difficult match with long balls, second actions and set-pieces, so we need to defend well in these situations.” So yes, he has done his homework.
The fact is that Burnley held Manchester City on their own ground for an hour in the game last month, so their style of play can be effective, and our players might be feeling this is an irrelevant game – although we really don’t want to risk having to play in the qualifiers of the Europa next season (which will happen if we come 6th, Watford win the FA Cup and we lose in the final).
However if Burnley have been reading all the propaganda about Arsenal being hopeless and soft with Mustafi being an accident prone idiot, then they might go on all out attack, and that could indeed be our chance. I guess much depends on whether anyone from Arsenal will be sent off as happened against Leicester.
However the head to head doesn’t look too bad of late…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 06 Mar 2010 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 01 Nov 2014 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 11 Apr 2015 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 30 Jan 2016 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 2-1 | FA Cup |
| 02 Oct 2016 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 22 Jan 2017 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 26 Nov 2017 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 06 May 2018 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 5-0 | Premier League |
| 22 Dec 2018 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
Burnley’s last victory actually came back in 1974. And here’s a final few snips before we get to the teams…
First off Arsenal have finished the last seven Premier League seasons with a victory. The last time we lost on the last day was in 2005 – against Birmingham.
Also we haven’t gone five league games without a win since 2009, when we had a run of five draws in a row.
But here’s the worst bit of news: the last time we finished below the Tiny Totts three times in a row was the terrible nine year run between 1959/60 and 1967/68. Our league positions in those desperate times were 13th, 11th, 10th, 7th, 8th, 13th, 14th, 7th, 9th. In 1968/69 we came fourth and the Tinies slipped to 6th. Mind you, one year later they were back on top coming 11th, to our 12th. By 1974/5 however they were down to 19th, missing relegation by one point. And then they did achieve that in 1976/77 by coming bottom of the league. Just thought you might like to know.
And in case you want some more bad news, the most goals we have ever conceded in a PL campaign is 51. One goal let in at Burnley will equal that. Two more will make it the worst defence since 1983/4 which had 60 goals conceded in 42 games.
As for the team here is the Guardian’s take… notice that this time we have 11 players rather than the ten predicted elsewhere for the last match…
Leno
Lichsteiner Mustafi Sokratis Monreal
Guendouzi Xhaka
Mkhitaryan Ozil Iwobi
Aubameyang
The ref is Mike Dean and the doubtful through injury players are listed as Kolasinac and Maitland-Niles although the BBC have Maitland-Niles as fit again. And indeed Football.co.uk has this line up, and yes again they have managed to find 11 players including the rapidly rising MN all fully recovered…
Leno;
Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal;
Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac;
Ozil, Mkhitaryan;
Aubameyang
So there we are – last game of the league season. One more to go after this. Funny how those giants of English football, Manchester City and Manchester United are not in a Euro final this year.
could’tn we change the stats of those matches to all lost? Maybe in another parallel universe or so? I hate those stats of never having lost since….. This year we seem determined to break all those stats ….
MUSTAFI + DEAN = NO CHANCE
Arsenal XI:
Leno
Monreal Mustafi Lichsteiner Mavropanos
Guendouzi Elneny
Mkhitaryan Iwobi Willock
Aubameyang
Beach: Cech, Koscielny, Lacazette, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Nketiah
COYG!
A start for Joe Willock
Leno
Lichtsteiner, Mavropranos, Mustafi, Monreal
Elneny, Willock, Guendouzi,
Iwobi, Auba, Mkhitaryan
Beach
Cech, Kos, Kola, Ainsley, Xhaka, Laca, Nketiah
COYG
Gord,
Beat me to the draw today
I got lucky. I think you’re positioning is better than mine.
COYG!
The last times that Guendouzi and Elneny were in charge of the midfield we lost, so it looks like UE is not really interested to win this one.
I agree with Walter, these statistics are like waving a red rag at a bull and always seem to bite is back.
Game hasn’t even started, and the haters are out.
It looks like Mike Dean did arrive at the field. I was hoping for the flu, or maybe breaking a fingernail to cause him to not make it.
COYG!
The Sun has a blurb out, about Joe Willock. He:
Why is Chris described as a player (now at Benfica), and Matty as an “ace”? According to Wikipedia, Matty has yet to play for ManU. Lots of travels on loan.
COYG!
Don’t have high expectation but then again the game doesn’t mean much. A lot of reserves…want to see how Willock and Mavrapanos do, however.
Another medja outlet, the only possibility of Arsenal coming 4th, is if Everton beat the spuds by many, many, many goals. Arsenal will be lucky to score a single goal and hope to win 0-1. Must bash Arsenal on every opportunity.
COYG!
sorry there will be no live report as I can’t find a live stream over here
Treatments are still screwy.
Burnley needed the first treatment, but apparently no foul. 10 minutes later, the fouled Burnley player is carded. Perceived foul by the Burnley player seems a reasonable assumption.
Then Arsenal needs a treatment. Commentary has an error, it is one player, not 2. Anyway, that player needs to be substituted. No foul apparently.
It sure would be nice to see some more shots, especially on target!
COYG!
Walter try the App Live Football TV Plus , it’s green with a black and white football
How to go Aubameyang! Appears to be unassisted?
COYG!
Supposedly, we haven’t committed any fouls yet. Guendouzi was just booked for dissent?
COYG!
Come on Eddie, we could use a goal or 7!
COYG!
Auba intercepted a poor back pass, ran through and beat the keeper from the edge of the 18 yard box.
Second goal for Auba
Sure, if Aubameyang wants to score (helped by Iwobi), that works too. Only 7 more goals needed guys! 🙂
COYG!
Second goal from an Iwobi chip at the back post. Volleyed it in giving keeper no chance
City now 3-1 up
Burnley pull one back
Drat, they scored.
COYG!
Leno made a good save ball came back in and Barnes headed in from close range
Nketiah replaced Willock min 62, now 68
Auba nearly made it three but his shoot blocked
Come on Everton, only 8 more goals to go! 🙂
COYG!
Nketiah scores with just about the last kick of the game. Looked like a cross but took a deflection between the keepers legs
Auba with two goals gets a share of the golden boot and we win away from home
Fifth in the league one behind Spurs and two behind Chelsea. City win and Liverpool now haven’t won the League for 30 years
So close! Happy for Auba!
If only we had won our last home game!
Well done lads.
Well done PEA, fantastic performance.
Win the EL and it will be a fantastic season.
Even if we don’t still a very good season.
Obvious improvements to be made if we want CL football (via the PL) but given the money that will (or wont as the case may be) be made available Emery will have to be very shrewd.
Lets hope he’s up to the task.
PS: Just listen (BBC) to the love-in for Pochetino and compare it to the bile that was aimed at Wenger despite 3 FA Cups and all those top 4 finishes, and this includes our own Martin Keown, one of those that constantly critisised Wenger.
Yes they’ve done well and reached the CL final BUT as of this moment they’ve won f*** all.
The difference in the way Poch is percieved without even winning anything and the way Wenger was treated despite winning trophies (which after all was what it was all about lest we forget) and setting a record of consecutive top 4 finishes, is shameful.
NO MONEY !!!
WTF, for years we was told it has nothing to do with money and it is no excuse.
Hmmmm. How that seems to of changed when it comes to spurs.
Oh well, given how happy I am with how our season is comming to a climax I shouldn’t let it bother me but it does because it’s just such a crock of shit.
I think the team had a fairly good season, and I hope for the Europa title.
Looking at the overall flavour of the standings (exceptions are present), the Top-6 has a positive goal difference and the Rest Of The Pack (ROTP) strives to get to 0 (Everton an exception at +8). The relegation line is at 35 points. If the Top-6 get stronger next season, the relegation line will probably move lower. Can some other team move over to the top group at some point? How? Nine points between the Top-6 and the ROTP, if the Top-6 get stronger will this gap grow?
I think the big difference between the Top-2 and the Next-4 was mostly driven by the PGMO. It seemed to be very difficult for any referee to call them for fouls or hand out cards. But the treatment data for those 2 teams doesn’t present them as Miss Goody Two Shoes. PGMO wants to have a say in who wins and who loses.
The average goals per game for the ROTP is about 1.165. For the Top-6, it is about 1.98.
Nice to see ManU lose to Cardiff
The difference is that missed penalty against the scum. Simple.
A very tidy end to the season, but the regrets of the home losses and draws remain sticky and probably made us end fifth once again. Congratulations to Aubameyang and the entire team of players and coaches on the slight improvements over the 2017/18 season.
Unai could do well to start integrating our Young Guns into the first team more regularly, going forward, as he may not get much transfer funds to bring in ready made stars to strengthen the side. Now all attention shall turn to the match in Baku nearly 3 weeks from today. There will be no margin for errors, our boys just have to win the Europa to give us UCL matches again.
Goonersphere rejoice and be glad it wasn’t so disappointing after all.
jjgsol
Indeed.
We finished 1 point behind Spurs in the PL, and similar to Spurs reached the final of the European competition we were in.
Yet look at how differently Spurs are, and have been, portrayed all season.
Spurs have constantly been portrayed as a ‘great’ team with great players, and are a team that is doing very well.
Arsenal have constantly been portrayed as a ‘crap’ team with crap players, and are constantly on the verge of crisis.
The difference in the way we are portrayed in the media, often as not by our own ex players, is a joke.
If we win the EL and Spurs lose the CL have we had a better season than them? I would say yes. Ok it may not happen like that but come one game left of the season that’s how close we are as clubs, yet as I say above, we are perceived as miles inferior to them, which is simply not the case.
As jjgsol says, one penalty !!
Look, ok at the end of the day I think Spurs have been a better team than us this year, but only just, and they are having the best season they have had in 20 years and us a fairly average one.
Says it all about the two clubs really doesn’t it.
WOO HOO , HOO ! A fine finish to the season. Very encouraging to see ManUre dropping points , and the Spuds still in inplosion mode. May it continue to the CL finals. I’m hoping that Liverpool beat then 5-0. What are the odds being offered there ?
Congrats to PEA for the shared Golden Boot.
Up the Gunners !
To be honest, the teams they had to beat were a cut above those we played and yet, call it sour grapes if you like, the extreme good fortune they enjoyed in the CL was by far more than we might havew experienced in a few seasons let alone in the course of a few games.
I dare say if we had got that penalty and been 2 points ahead they may have tried harder in theour recent games.
I agree its all if, buts, and, maybes, but the bottom line is, the difference in how we are portrayed, given how close we are in actual fact, is ridiculous.
I just wonder why it is the media have such a negative attitude towards us bearing in mind how much they seemed to like aw in his early years.
Maybe they like lucky teams or it is a case of brown envelopes.
Nitram
As posters are picking points in the season , forget the penalty miss in the S##rs game how about there goal , four(4) players offside and a penalty given which that wonderful diver scored , not in the teams control when rules/laws are changed
The season is over and Arsenal has come 1 point short to make the UCL qualification next season through the League. However, this cannot be said to be a failure by Arsenal but a big success by them in the PL this season. This is because by their placing 5th in the table, the club has automatically qualified to the Europa League next season without having to first play in the qualifying games to reach the 1st round matches. And this alone on it’s own is a big achievement Arsenal have achieved this season which I bet some other PL club sides won’t mind to pay huge amount of money for it to get it.
We now have the Europa League Cup final in Baku to look forward to. And any Gunner and I who love Arsenal will want to see Arsenal beat Chelsea in the final on May 29th to lift the Cup to win a big European title for the club. And at the same time qualify to play in the UCL next season which the club owner – Stan Kroenke, has set as the target for Unai Emery, the Gunners boss to achieve for Arsenal this season.
Steve Vallins
I know, but as we here on untold keep getting told, it all evens out in the end.
Bulldog,
If you are going to reminisce about Arsenal v Burnley in the past, I cannot resist February 14 1948 (St Valentines Day). Mr and Mrs Nicky on Honeymoon attending
Highbury. Arsenal 3 Burnley 0 (Don Roper and 2 from Ronnie Rooke). We went on to win the Div 1 Championship. Burnley were lying 2nd at the time so it was a good win. 60,000 attendance with 20,000 outside trying to get in! 😎
Gary Neville, co-commentating on Sky today in the Man City game actually quoted during the game the PGMO line of 98% decisions correct, apparently accepting it as a fact. He is obviously a bigger idiot than I previously thought.
Is he not one of the owners of Salford City, which has just qualified for the League, and, therefore, wants to get on the good side of the refs.
I know that PGMOL is primarily the PL, but they must have some influence in the lower leagues as well, as do not the PGML refs come from there?
He is certainly as big an idiot as I have thought for a while.
No wonder Gary Neville is a fan of the refs. They did his team plenty of favours when he was still a player, notably in the notorious 50th match which put an end to our unbeaten run.
Pat
I remember him and Souness in the match build up to a United Arsenal match having a great laugh about how we could be bullied and making specific reference to that particular shameful refereeing performance.
As you say no wonder he loves them when they let you get away with what they did.
Arsenal are without doubt one of the Greatest teams that ever played the game. The proof is the fact that Arsenal have achieved top 4 & nothing less than top 6 with the most biased group of corrupt officiating selective visioned officials in sporting history.
Today Mane’s 2nd goal was off side. Auba was robbed of his penalty retake against spuds. Despite that Auba gets a share of the golden boot. The officiating selection has a system of corruption that beggars belief. Manchester City has been fortunate to beat the officiating toward the end of the season because there was a bias toward Liverpool.
The FA are the major creators of this bent organised corrupt monopoly caleed PGMOL. It is secret in its dealings to the point of being one of the most racist organisations in England. There is no transparency in its processes nor in its finances.
The Premier League continues to thrive with the money pouring in because of competition despite the corrupt officiating. Human error is more common an excuse for cheating by officials than in any other sport.
OT: Corruption
FIFA to change rules, to make it easier for clubs to sign underage players?
From: https://www.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2019/05/11/5cd6d86b468aebf1488b45ea.html
Always good to see FIFA looking to make it easier to be corrupt.
So, the league season has ended.
-Xhaka’s penalty v Palace at 2-1 for us.
-Kolašinac’s brain-fart v United at OT at 2-1 for us,
-Leno’s misjudged attempt to get the ball before Charlie Austin v Southampton away at 2-2,
-Aubameyang’s miss v Brighton away at 1-0 for us followed with Lichtsteiner’s screw up that led to equalizer.
-Aubameyang’s penalty miss at Wembley at 1-1,
-Mustafi’s brain-fart v Palace at 1-1,
-Xhaka’s brain-fart and Aubameyang’s missed sitter at 1-1 v Brighton,
-Ramsey’s injury at Napoli that ruled him out for the rest of the season which meant he missed last five league games (we lost three, drew one, won yesterday).
If we had beaten Brighton 2-0 or 3-1, we would have finished THIRD. That’s how narrow margins between third and fifth were.
Another nteresting stat from the weekend is that Man U finished closwer to the leaders last time they got relegated……….
@ jjgsol – You mean that penalty where Vertonghen illegally ran into the box before Auba had even kicked the ball, getting there in time to deflect the rebound? Or the penalty Spurs were awarded seconds after being in a clear offside position?
Think about that match still makes me angry…