Chelsea v Arsenal injuries, banned, and the frightening league table

By Bulldog Drummond

Here are the injury details as usual ahead of the Chelsea game…

Player Reason Further Detail Potential Return Status
Calum Chambers Knee Injury Ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee.” 29/08/2020 Ruled Out
Kieran Tierney Shoulder Injury “Dislocated shoulder at West Ham. Kieran will undergo surgery next week and will rehabilitate for around three months.” 14/03/2020 Ruled Out
Sead Kolasinac Thigh Injury “Hoping to return to full training in the winter break period.” 16/02/2020 Ruled Out
Reiss Nelson Thigh Injury “Hoping to return to full training in the winter break period.” 16/02/2020 Ruled Out
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Suspended Sending Off – Red Card 02/02/2020 Ruled Out
Sokratis* Other Illness 21/01/2020 75%

*Sorkatis has a late fitness test we are informed by Physioroom, at which presumably he will be asking all the questions (ho ho, for readers with any semblance of a classical education).   Bellerin we note is out of the list and so might actually make a start.

Curiously although we are 10th in the league overall, when we just look at our away form (which has been the cause of our problems in recent years) we are actually 9th.

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Liverpool 10 9 1 0 21 5 16 28
2 Manchester City 11 7 1 3 33 15 18 22
3 Leicester City 12 7 1 4 28 12 16 22
4 Chelsea 12 7 1 4 25 20 5 22
5 Wolverhampton Wanderers 12 4 5 3 17 15 2 17
6 Southampton 11 5 2 4 16 14 2 17
7 Sheffield United 12 3 7 2 12 12 0 16
8 Crystal Palace 12 3 5 4 12 16 -4 14
9 Arsenal 11 2 6 3 12 14 -2 12

But although that is ninth in the table, with a game in hand we only have two away wins, which is not exactly exciting and is in keeping with the poor away form of the last few seasons.

We are actually 13th in the league if just home matches are counted so we have now dropped out of this particular chart…

And Chelsea’s form at home…

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Liverpool 12 12 0 0 31 9 22 36
2 Manchester City 12 8 2 2 31 12 19 26
3 Leicester City 11 7 2 2 20 11 9 23
4 Manchester United 11 6 4 1 24 10 14 22
5 Tottenham Hotspur 11 6 2 3 21 11 10 20
6 Everton 11 6 2 3 13 11 2 20
7 Newcastle United 12 5 4 3 12 12 0 19
8 Burnley 12 6 0 6 16 18 -2 18
9 Chelsea 11 5 2 4 14 10 4 17
10 Brighton and Hove Albion 12 4 5 3 16 13 3 17

So Chelsea have got 17 points at home and we’ve got 12 points away.  The goal difference is against us too, with +4 to Chelsea and -2 to Arsenal.  Everything then points to a one or two goal victory to Chelsea.  A draw would be a good, and surprising result, for Arsenal.

The only thing we can cling onto is that they have only scored two more home goals than we have away goals – quite a surprise really.

And now the good news.  Arsenal have only lost two of their last ten games…

Date Game Res
Score Competition
09 Dec 2019 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-3 Premier League
12 Dec 2019 Standard Liège v Arsenal D 2-2 Europa League
15 Dec 2019 Arsenal v Manchester City L 0-3 Premier League
21 Dec 2019 Everton v Arsenal D 0-0 Premier League
26 Dec 2019 AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal D 1-1 Premier League
29 Dec 2019 Arsenal v Chelsea L 1-2 Premier League
01 Jan 2020 Arsenal v Manchester United W 2-0 Premier League
06 Jan 2020 Arsenal v Leeds United W 1-0 FA Cup
11 Jan 2020 Crystal Palace v Arsenal D 1-1 Premier League
18 Jan 2020 Arsenal v Sheffield United D 1-1 Premier League

One of those two however was against Chelsea at home – the other at home to Manchester City.  Our last away defeat was on 9 November against Leicester .  Since then we have played six games away from the Arsenal Stadium, and the results have been, one win, five draws and no defeats.

So let’s look, at least with a little hope, at Chelsea’s home form over the same period

Date Game Res
Score Competition
05 Nov 2019 Chelsea v Ajax D 4-4 Champions League
09 Nov 2019 Chelsea v Crystal Palace W 2-0 Premier League
30 Nov 2019 Chelsea v West Ham United L 0-1 Premier League
04 Dec 2019 Chelsea v Aston Villa W 2-1 Premier League
10 Dec 2019 Chelsea v Lille OSC W 2-1 Champions League
14 Dec 2019 Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth L 0-1 Premier League
26 Dec 2019 Chelsea v Southampton L 0-2 Premier League
05 Jan 2020 Chelsea v Nottingham Forest W 2-0 FA Cup
11 Jan 2020 Chelsea v Burnley W 3-0 Premier League

Five wins, three defeats, one draw.   Whichever way we look at it Chelsea are the stronger team – unless of course Arsenal are now equated to Bournemouth or Southampton or West Ham.   The problem is we are not really that bad, are we?

 

4 Replies to “Chelsea v Arsenal injuries, banned, and the frightening league table”

  1. The reality is that we are only as bad as PGMOL makes us. Arsenal are in reality a top for team but the cheating by PGMOL has robbed us of an absolute fortune in monetary terms and position in the EPL. One would expect the owners of Arsenal to persue the deliberate losses that the PGMOL have forced on us. But no! They have sat back quietly and accepted this blatant robbery like meek lambs.

    We supporters have to accept the cheating and not riot. How can a player v Chelsea not get sent off for a clear second yellow and end up scoring a winner against us? How can a clear penalty for a foul on Pepe not be given by the cheat Dean and then ignored by VAR manned by another select cheat, while the master of corrupt officiating sits in the stands ant our home ground?

    This EPL has become a cheat fest with arrogance.

  2. @Walter – Such a wonderful example of sporting excellence and transparency. Would PGMOL be able to follow this example? Would they heck!! The corrupt cheating bastards have no semblance of honesty, integrity or chance of transparency.

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