By Bulldog Drummond
Looking at the last 10 games between Arsenal and Manchester United we find Arsenal have won three and Manchester United have won four. And indeed it is possible to see something rather positive here in that in the last three league games we have had two draws and a win.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 04 Oct 2015 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 28 Feb 2016 | Manchester United v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 19 Nov 2016 | Manchester United v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 07 May 2017 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 02 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v Manchester United | L | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 29 Apr 2018 | Manchester United v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 05 Dec 2018 | Manchester United v Arsenal | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 25 Jan 2019 | Arsenal v Manchester United | L | 1-3 | FA Cup |
| 10 Mar 2019 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 30 Sep 2019 | Manchester United v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
But when we turn to injuries things are not looking so rosy. Here are the latest details on injuries as from Physioroom.
| Player | Reason | Further Detail | Potential Return | Status |
| Kieran Tierney | Shoulder Injury | Dislocated shoulder at West Ham. Out for 3 months | 14/03/2020 | Ruled Out |
| Sokratis | Head Injury | Dec 28: Concussion. | 06/01/2020 | Ruled Out |
| Hector Bellerin | Thigh Injury | Tight hamstring before Chelsea game | 01/01/2020 | 25% |
| Gabriel Martinelli | Thigh Injury | Tight hamstring before Chelsea game | 01/01/2020 | 50% |
| Dani Ceballos | Thigh Injury | Dec 28: Back in full training | 01/01/2020 | 50% |
| Granit Xhaka | Other | Dec 29: Taken ill after Bournemouth game. Spent two days in bed.” | 01/01/2020 | 50% |
| Rob Holding | Knee Injury | Dec 28: Back in full training. | 01/01/2020 | 25% |
| Sead Kolasinac | Ankle Injury | Ankle ligament injury. Aiming to return to full training in January. | No Return Date | Ruled Out |
| Calum Chambers | Knee Injury | “The doctors are assessing him. The first feeling he got, it wasn’t very positive.” | No Return Date | Ruled Out |
It is interesting to think back to the days when it was reported every week that Arsenal got more injuries than everyone else because of Mr Wenger’s training practices. At the moment we are pretty much top of the league equal with Bournemouth and Newcastle, but there is no Mr Wenger in sight.
Squawka predict a 3-1 Man U victory without even taking into account refereeing patterns, with Arsenal putting out this team:
Leno;
Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Luiz, Saka;
Torreira, Guendouzi;
Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang;
Lacazette.
Goonertalk has a similar but slightly different lineup
Leno;
Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Luiz, Saka;
Torreira, Xhaka
Nelson, Ozil, Aubameyang;
Lacazette.
TalkSport varies it again
Leno;
Bellerin Mustafi, Luiz, Saka;
Torreira, Guendouzi
Nelson, Ozil, Aubameyang;
Lacazette.
Those seem to be the main variations.
However I am really not at all sure that the team that we put out will make much difference. The astonishing difference in the number of fouls that each club can dish out before getting a yellow card as revealed in yesterday’s three articles reviewing fouls and yellow cards suggests that it is not the quality of play that is a factor, but the attitude of the referees. Certainly one prediction from those figures is that Arsenal will get more yellow cards than Manchester United in this match.
But in case you missed it, here it is again
Arsenal are 13th in terms of the number of fouls committed by Premier League clubs with 211. That can be compared to Leicester who are recorded as having committed 198 fouls. Not much in that then.
But Arsenal have received 52 yellow cards against Leicester’s 20 and because a player on a card is likely to be more cautious in his tackles, the opposition then have an advantage.
That is the extreme position – Leicester get very few cards per foul. But this variance exists throughout the league, and Arsenal are most likely to get more yellows for the same number of tackles than Man U in today’s game.
And that awareness will probably be a key factor in affecting this result, and every result in an Arsenal match this season.
OT: Brighton 1 – 1 Chel$ea
The PGMO twit is Stuart Attwell. Fouls are 7:15 and Cards are 2:3. Brighton tied up the score at 84m. Offence looks about even. Chel$ea need a treatment at 16m. Sargent Attwell Schultz sees NOTHING. Brighton need a treatment at 19m, which requires a substitution. I’m not sure if Sargent Schultz seen anything or not. No card was issued in any event.
Two games of interest in the next 3. One game in the next 3, and us at the end.
I note that Lawrenson’s reason for suggesting we won’t win today is because, “They simply cannot defend and their defensive issues are not going to be resolved anytime soon.” He and ever other pundit, commentator and “journalist” seem completely oblivious to the fact that we have six defenders injured, four of whom I would suggest would be our first choice back four. We’ve been forced to play a 22 year old midfielder at right back and an 18 year old academy player at left back. Can you imagine the excuses everyone would be coming out with if any other top side was having to endure such a problem. It’s an absolute disgrace the way we are treated………….but then that’s nothing knew. It’s just a shame some of our own “supporters” can’t recognise the challenges that brings for the whole team.
OT: Southampton 1 0 Spuds
Mike Dean is the PGMO twit “responsible”. No treatments so far with Southampton with the early lead. But somehow, the spuds have only committed 1 foul to 5 by Southampton.
OT: Newcastle 0 0 Leicester
Nothing unusual so far in commentary. Martin Atkinson is the PGMO twit “responsible”.
OT: Southampton 1 0 Spuds HT
The fouls are 7:2 and the cards are 0:1. The spuds need a treatment at 24m which results in a substitution. Sargent Dean Schultz sees NOTHING. Southampton need a treatment on 40m. The spuds need a treatment on 41m? Sargent Schultz sees NOTHING.
OT: Newcastle 0 0 Leicester HT
Fouls are 4:7, and cards are 1:0. Leicester with 2 quick goals as the first half nears finish. Newcastle need a treatment on 44m, which requires a substitution. Sargent Atkinson Schultz sees NOTHING.
OT: Southampton 1 0 Spuds HT
The fouls are 20:7 and the cards are 3:4. The spuds need a treatment at 74m (Harry Diver) and he is substituted. Sargent Dean Schultz sees NOTHING. Southampton need a treatment on 40m. The spuds need a treatment on 41m? Sargent Schultz sees NOTHING.
OT: Newcastle 0 3 Leicester
Fouls are 9:13, and cards are 1:1. Leicester with 1 goal near end of time. Newcastle need a treatment on 47m, and then he needs another treatment at 51m. I don’t see any evidence that Sargent Schultz sees anything on the first, and I don’t know on the second. There is no indication that came back on the field, and if so at what time.
Watford managed to beat Wolves? Both teams got an early yellow, then Watford scored 2 and then Wolves pull 1 back. Watford picks up a straight red on 70m, and 2 yellows (timewasting?) in extra time. The one yellow is to goaltender. Fouls were 12:6 for cards of 3:1 to 1. Wolves needed a treatment on 44m. Sargent Madley Schultz sees NOTHING. Watford need a treatment on 57m, Sargent Schultz sees NOTHING. Watford subs that player soon after. Watford need another treatment on 88m, Sargent Schultz sees NOTHING.
Hi Gord
I watched the Southampton Spurs game pretty closely and made the following comparisons with Southampton’s game at the Emirates: (previously posted)
Right, so as you can see by my previous post I was prepared to say it as it is, and here are the final stats for a game that certainly didn’t go Spurs way in many ways.
They lost.
Kane got a hamstring injury.
The ‘Special one’ got a Yellow.
Oh, and they lost, in case you missed it.
They were shafted by the ref.
Yep. They were shafted by the ref.
These are the stats:
The final figures for fouls 21 to 8.
The final figures for cards (excluding the special one) are 3 – 4.
SPURS
A card every 2.6 foul.
SOUTHAMPTON
A card every 9.5 fouls.
So there is no doubt Spurs got the rough end of the stick and Southampton got away with another very aggressive performance.
But as bad as that is compare that with Southampton’s visit to the Emirates:
Arsenal 13 fouls for 6 cards to Southampton’s 19 fouls for 2 cards.
ARSENAL
A card every 2.1 foul.
SOUTHAMPTON
A card every 7 fouls.
So despite Spurs being away they were not as badly treated as us at home.
And similarly, despite being at home Southampton were not treated as favourably as they were at the Emirates.
What to make of this?
Well, Southampton seem to be a serious flavour of the month. Over the 2 games:
Southampton 40 fouls for 5 cards.
A card every 8 fouls.
Arsenal and Spurs 21 fouls for 10 cards.
A card every 2.1.
Now there is no doubt Spurs are hard done by on cards to fouls, but even so not as badly as us and we were at home.
But either way Gord, under any circumstances, they are figures that simply dont add up !!
There is quite plainly something amiss with the way games are refereed.
Corr:
A card every 2.6 foul.
should of read:
A card every 2 fouls. (Sorry, included Mourinho’s card when first did the calculation)
Makes little difference.
I just love lessening to these guys on tv (BT sport in this case) telling me how frustrating VAR is. Apparently IT ALL EVENS OUT IN THE END !!!
Really !!
While the treatment data verifies that the spuds got kicked today, I still don’t believe the foul count for them. Dean wasn’t calling them for fouls.
I see that VAR has taken away from Man$ity again. I wonder if it was for offside by an armpit hair type incident?
Gord
In this case a definite off side. Shouldn’t really of been missed by the linesmen to be honest.
By the way Liecster only 1 card for 11 fouls again.
Now I’m not saying Liecster didn’t play well, deserve to win, (haven’t seen the game) what I am saying is, as usual they are allowed to foul pretty much without fear of a card.
This can be crucial at pivotal periods in a match.
We know this latitude will never be afforded us.
As Arsenal want to beat Man Utd in today’s PL big game match encounter between the duo club side that will take place at the Ems tonight, I think it’s necessary for the Gunners who will play in the match to try as much as possible to avoid been marginally caught offside and also seen to have infringed an imaginary foul of pushing to the opposition or hand the ball in the buildup to the goals they’ll score against Man Utd by the VAR rigging eagle eye sight that chalk off legitimate scored goals seemingly. Which has become the talk of the town with Jurgen Klopp the Liverpool manager appearing to be proffering a tick drawn offside line solution to the outcry.
Fouls are 10:10, and cards are 0:4?
Man$ity need a treatment at 82m, nitwit sees NOTHING. He was gone for treatment for 6m?
Nitram,
if I am not wrong, Spurs are the first worst team in terms of Cards per foul (until game 20)with 4.0, Arsenal are close second worst with 4.06
Southampton are second best with 7.67
Best ist Leicester with 9.43. Today they had 12 fouls for 1 card (as per PL website), so I guess the top 2 won’t change however. As for the top bottom, we need to wait for tonight’s game, but I guess suprs will keep it. Manure is middle of the pack with 5.2
The trend is continuing….
Leno
Maitland Niles, Sokratis,David Luiz, Kolasinac
Toreira, Xhaka
Pepe, Ozil, Aubamayang,
Lacazette
@Gord,
It all makes sense. Any team playing City has to play counterattack.
City$ just use rotational fouling, the cost of killing any chance of scoring against them is pretty much nil. And their guru manager still sells himself as a lover of the game and a galactical artist.
The weird thing is that on the fouls/card stat, the are 4th from bottom, with 4.65, so suddendly the momentum shifts sides…. maybe someone in a mideastern capital called PIGMOB and read them the riot act…or Pool! are considered unreachable by City, so the pressure will dissolve ?Any theory would make sense…
Too bad we don’t have a stat for ‘zone of foul’ which would be I believe very enlightening…..
Just thnking about the fouls/card ratio….on this issue, right now, I’d imagine that Sp*rs fans will suddendly not label us as stupid or bad losers for bringing it up…. Suddendy North London is Yellow and a little Red… ;=))
Tony,
just reading Boorinhoo’s comments make me smile…all themes you have been talking about for years, it used to be only Mr Wenger and Arsenal were the target of many refereeing special treatments.
Welcome to the nice world of PIGMOB, you have a real reason to moan now. Wonder how long it will take for him to really lose his temper. I’m really looking forward to it. Because he will not stay polite as Mr Wenger did. Let’s rock and roll dear neighbour please !!!
It is immediate card for Arsenals first foul but no card for a worse foul by United. The slope is on.
So Kola pushed in the back on the right side, yellow, Lacazette gets pushed in the back with a clear empty corridor to the goal in front of him … just a foul. The general mindset of the refereeing is given… How can Arsenal players NOT be influenced in their contacts… ?
3m in, and Kavanagh feels we need a yellow already? At 6m, we’ve only got 1 foul, so that card was our first foul. A 1:1 ratio.
Super goal by Arsenal finished by Pepe. 1 – 0 to the Arsenal
An Ozil defensive INTERCEPTION leading to an Arsenal goal…. am I in the twilight zone ?!?!?
Something says goal, and another things says no goal. I am guessing VAR has been here?
I guess 😈 Mike Riley is pissed he couldn’t rule out that goal. Hey Mike, go VAR yourself.
Cardable offences by United are OK for the PGMOL. Consistency is key – only book Arsenal players.
Maybe Trum ‘i-can-shoot-a-person-on-5th-Avenue-and-get-away-with-it’ is a friend of PIGMOB ? They just replaced 5th avenue with Emirates…
That said, I have FUN watching us play. Even Pepe makes a defensive interception ! I just hope we have the stamina and can score 3 more to be on the secure side of the Force….
@Menace I find it disheartening watching tight matches. I find I want a large lead to negate the refereeing fixes that occur in tight games.
We should be able to trust the officials to play fair – sadly that is not the case with the PIGMOB
@Les,
let’s be fatalistic and enjoy the nice game we are playing wile it lasts.
The guys behind are showing signs of solidarity. Placement is excellent.
Our high press, is excellent, Xhaka intercepts without fouling…Ozil and Pepe as well, I mean… ENJOY !!!
Fantastic corner banged into the net by Dokratis. The shameful Referee is getting sacked by Riley in the morning!!
Back from concussion, that’s using your head for the better Sokratis! (I’m guessing he kicked the ball.)
COYG!
Sokratis not D….
James keeps baiting Kolasinac to foul him & dives wit the slightest touch.
OMG, this is the best f…g first half I have seen Arsenal play I can’t remember since when….
I mean from a technical perspective – our players are really daring, showing individual brilliance
We have a team that plays on it’s strength.
Do you notice ? Mesut and Granit are in top form and suddenly all clicks… which means they CAN play together.
COYG just keep it up and do not lose your concentration.
But then, think about it. Arteta is the only player who’s had the chance to be a student of both Mr Wenger and Guardiola…..makes sense
So wonderful to see our boys enjoying each others company and passing with abandon. Arteta has truly got to the soul of this squad and brought them together. Ozil has been sublime and Xhaka has played out of his skin.
Good news, by the way. Nketiah is coming back for the second half.
Chris
Was it Arsenal and Spurs being screwed or Southampton favoured?
Hard to tell over just 2 matches, which is why statistics have to be taken over a long time before any real conclusions can be formed, and be sure I have been doing this for a long long time and know the stats against us are bad.
We look good again. Lets hope we don’t run out of energy today.
Don’t know if I’m right but we don’t seem to have to be working quite as hard as we did against Chelsea so fingers crossed.
@Chris I am not an Arsenal supporter but I have the greatest respect for the club after Arsene Wengers time. He is the one coach who I could listen to. He actually knows what he is talking about. The treatment of him by the media and some of his own fans was shameful.
I also think that he will make a difference in the role he is now in.
@Nitram,
no, the Spurs are worse then Arsenal for the season. As said, my computation is 4 fouls per card, Arsenal 4.06… Over 20 games.
Just hope we get a 3rd one in and have enough stamina to hold on. Just love how french Tv commentators were all exceited pro-Manure in the fris 4 minutes and suddendly have changed tshirts all excited about Arsenal…just useless but nice for a change.
@Les,
I’m just having fun watching Arsenal at the moment, which I had not had for years….and I feel conforted in the confidence I had in Arteta being up to the job a potential deserving heir to Mr Wenger.
There are so many fouls comitted against us not given that the stats do not truly reflect the bias of the officials. The cheat has not carded any of the fouls by United. They have got carte blanche to continue fouling.
The rule says that for faking a penalty you get a yellow… well… that is the FIFA rule, not the PIGMOB – against Arsenal rule
Comment from The Gu29idfkjdf784j – referees need to be consistent. They need to consistently let one team get away with murder, and consistently stamp the slightest contact out by the opposition.
Come on Saka, gives us a goal.
And now the commentators are criticizing Luis for wanting to gain some seconds… whenver any other team does it (or when he did it with Chelsea) it is called smart time management or such ‘euphemisms’.
We look tired….cross fingers
Hasn’t been any treatments, so on 76m ManUre inflict one on us. Sargent Kavanagh Schultz sees NOTHING!
COYG!
what are the rules for fouling because I will be b**gered if I can understand them from Kavanagh
Saka got a shot on target, it’s a start.
COYG!
By Jove, we are missing occasions one after the other…the day lacazette finds his aiming back, this will be one hell of a shooting extravaganza
@Les,
rule is PIGMOB rule : any foul against Arsenal can and may be ingnored at no cost to the ref’s career – it is enven a good way to get higher up the ladder.
Looks like Manure are tired as well… the ball is more often in our feet now
Christ the commentators are f**king awful on Bt S*t
Saka gets carded for what? Garlic breath?
COYG!
Now this is what you call a performance, and the fans show their appreciation. Lacazette ran himself to the ground. 78min, Saka goes forward to get a shot and what do you know? Aubameyang is filling in for him at left back. For me and I believe for many fans it’s less about the result and more about the effort. The supporters are loving it, they’ve been up on their feet cheering the team all game. I bet even aftv is going to be in celebratory mood tonight. Well done lads, I hope we’re starting the new year the way we mean to finish it
Oh, and I forgot, Xhaka has been a colossus in the midfield tonight. Well done man. More games like this and Hertha Berlin can go to hell
Who is the “expert” he knows F**k all. I wish I could get 500k a year for talking B***ocks!
I just love it….
A dream first half and a fighting second half, a clean sheet against Manure. And an Emirates that drowns out the commentator idiots’ voices…
I knew it, Arsenal had talent and grit.
Thank you Mr Arteta !
PS : I am going to have fun watching AFTV this time…. this will be interesting…
Yooo whooo! Clean sheet!
How to go Gunners!
10th place, 3 points behind the spuds.
Absolutely brilliant performance.
Well done lads.
BUT still the stats go on.
ARSENAL
Fouls = 11
Yellows = 2
A card every 5.5 fouls
Pretty standard for us at home.
MAN UTD
Fouls = 15
Yellows = 0
A card every…. Well if you can believe that !!
Last 5 games:
ARSENAL
Fouls = 56
Cards = 17
A Card every 3.3 fouls.
OPPOSITION
Fouls = 88
Cards = 11
A card every 10 fouls.
So our fouls are not twice, but 3 times worse than our opposition.
Come on DEB ?
Come on all you apologists explain that if you can !!
Excellent win by the team.
Sorry, every 8 but still !!
United captain interviewed –
Harry what was missing in that performance?
Cards!!!! we didn’t get any! We should have had a few New Year cards but the dickhead with the whistle just didn’t give us any.
Not a single yellow card for ManU… And two for Arsenal for “so major fouls” in the ref’s head . Really a joke!
Glad to see the team fighting as a team again, realy fighting and playing really well. Ozil and Xhaka clicking and other excellent things. Hopefully the first win of a run.
Good job Mikel!
I think Fred on his own committed some 10 fouls and still didn’t get a card…
égreat win and certainly guided by Arteta! I will be writing an article about the 101 ways a bent official can influence the outcome of a game, shortly.
Opps…..meant a great but my French keyboard gets stuck:)
@omgarsenal What’s wrong with your French keyboard? Mine’s perfèct! Yéèàùh 🙂
Can’t wait to read your article.
Facinating the way the AFTV message has suddenly changed….24 videos on the home page, going back to the Chelsea robbery…and 2 titles that are somewhat negative… I mean…talk of a turncoat….the negativity basically stopped after the ‘AFTV out’ events.
I find it interesting…at some point ‘true’ fans decided to ‘defend’ their team and guess what happens…
Sure enough he’ll say he was right all the time, the owners listened to him, and he is soooo important to this club….
UA ought to interview fans as well, give the guy some competition and get the wind off his sails..
By the way, this shows the mentality of Manure…
Ferdinand said: ” Manchester United got bullied. We used to come here and bully Arsenal, that was our intention before the game and they reversed that.”
Bullied ?!?! You can’t be serious ffs !!!
Then again we got 2 yellows for Manure’s zero…so he is ‘right’…just shows how they have integrated that you can do whatever you want to Arsenal and this has been going on for ages.
To look at the history of rednose pre-ManUre, I see nothing to indicate greatness. Mind you, I probably don’t know what to look for anyway. But, Arteta’s assistant (Round?) looks the same to me.
In any event, I suspect that rednose knows where some skeletons are buried, and that got him mojo over The Premier League and The (sweet) FA. Who knows, maybe rednose grew into the job after getting control of those skeletons? And maybe those skeletons have no mojo for ManUre in this age.
Even on the broadcast you could hear and see the home crowd were in the mood. That’ll help. Very well designed tactics and execution. A treat. Three points and clean sheet as well. Now that was enjoyable!
Ferdinand (MU Bullshitter) is just spouting nonsense.
I think UE was a skilled manager. I think he was best meant to work with generally skilled players. I think his ideas could work, if he had 25 players who were all about the same skill level (but still better than most people).
What he had in coming to Arsenal, wasn’t 25 players of about the same skill level. He had about 20 players of about average skill level, and some outliers. And a crop of young players coming through the system who were highly skilled (beyond average skilled). His systems are about everybody working to a common purpose. The outliers didn’t work in. The highly skilled youth didn’t work in. His response was to shut them out.
Could things have worked in the long run? I don’t know. Arteta seems to be willing to use the outliers and the exceptional youth. I wish him the best.
Regardless of how well he does, there will be a big population of ex-Gunners more than willing to crap on Arsenal for money in the medja. The medja is full of assholes who crap on teams because they are good at crapping on teams. And so it won’t be easy. The medja has the run of the mill which crap on most teams, and then they hire ex-Gunners to crap on Arsenal on demand. And they get what they want, almost 100% crap about Arsenal; all day/every day.
Why these ex-Gunners are so willing to crap on Arsenal is baffling.
My grandmother on my dads side of the family was English (Robinson). There was some kind of scandal that made people named Redford change their name to Robinson, or people named Robinson change their name to Redford. I’ve no luck in tracking this down.
The PGMOL Chief Jerk 😈 Mike Riley is likely to cause at least as big a problem with the surname Riley when he is eventually found out.
I know outliers, I am one of them.
In at least a couple of respects; I am at least 6 sigma off average.
More Ferdinand BS.
This comes from having a new manager.
Yes, no. But the comment is just meant to bash.
It is not just Mesut. Under Wenger, Mesut started scoring more goals. But Mesut lives to be the provider. The obvious thing is to put Mesut with someone like Messi. To put Mesut in Arsenal’s Academy could easily be a god send. Especially if we can find someone like Mesut as a youth.
Mesut isn’t looking for the limelight. Look at how much he does for others in medicine.
Could there be someone better than Arteta? I don’t know, possibly. Would Angeloti be better? I doubt it. On the face of things, Arteta was a good buy.
If Arteta can get Mesut to become the assist leader for years; he has done well. If Arteta and Mesut can start producing midfielders who can pick apart defences; Arteta will be a genius. And will be Mesut.
But, lots of society can’t deal with outliers. Oh wait, we have all the foreigners in England and Brexit.
Arsenal is not going to find easy going any time soon. Even if 😈 Mike Riley died from a massive heart attack tonight. There are too many like minded idjuts in The (sweet) FA looking for just that kind of like-minded idjut.
@Gord,
Say what you want, but look at Mesut’s stats. More then 11 km running, and more incredible ELEVEN recoveries, which is the most by an Arsenal player. Which just shows that coaching is the issue : coaching the individuals and getting into a system where they can thrive.
As far as I am concerned, finally having Aubameyang, Lacazette, Pepe, Ozil backed by Toreira and Xhaka is the best midfield-attacking lineup we can dream of. And what we saw is a harbringer of a far better future. Keeping the ball up the field will do lots to our scoring balance !
I didn’t notice us bullying Manure, just outplaying them. Ferdinand’s command of vocabulary is frighteningly inadequate.