By Bulldog Drummond
It has been so long since Arsenal played a home game that going back to the Arsenal Stadium will probably feel like an away game to the players. And since we have won the last two away games that could be a help.
But since it is technically a home game let’s have a look at our home record…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 12 | 32 | 48 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 12 | 29 | 35 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 32 |
| 4 | Leicester City | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 15 | 15 | 31 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 30 | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 27 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 20 | 6 | 26 |
The five draws have been disappointing but even so, with a win tonight we will have a better home record than Chelsea, but we’ll need to be hammering in the goals in the remaining few games to catch up with the goal difference at home to catch the Tiny Totts.
Norwich are six points adrift at the foot of the league, and one can’t help thinking this is entirely what they expected and planned for. While clubs often spend spend spend in the summer transfer market after they are promoted (Aston Villa spent around £90m last summer) Norwich’s total expenditure in the transfer market last summer was under £1m.
- Josip Drmic – Borussia Monchengladbach, free
- Patrick Roberts – Manchester City, season-long loan
- Sam Byram – West Ham, £750k
- Ralf Fahrmann – Schalke, loan
- Ibrahim Amadou – Sevilla, loan
So it looks like a plan for financial stability, a possible return to the Championship, and then another push for promotion. And in a world gone financially bonkers, you can’t blame them for that. They will sell out next season, just as this, and they will have parachute payments. It makes financial sense.
Here is Norwich’s away form
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| 11 | Arsenal | 16 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 21 | -4 | 17 |
| 12 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 20 | 25 | -5 | 15 |
| 13 | Everton | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 31 | -12 | 15 |
| 14 | Newcastle United | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 29 | -16 | 14 |
| 15 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 12 |
| 16 | West Ham United | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 26 | -14 | 12 |
| 17 | AFC Bournemouth | 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 27 | -15 | 10 |
| 18 | Watford | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 28 | -17 | 10 |
| 19 | Aston Villa | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 33 | -16 | 9 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 26 | -20 | 6 |
They have had little bursts of success including that single away win against Burnley… and knocking Tottenham out of the FA Cup must have been fun (highlighted below). Shame they lost to Man U.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 18 Jan 2020 | Norwich City v AFC Bournemouth | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 22 Jan 2020 | Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 25 Jan 2020 | Burnley v Norwich City | W | 1-2 | FA Cup |
| 01 Feb 2020 | Newcastle United v Norwich City | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 15 Feb 2020 | Norwich City v Liverpool | L | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 23 Feb 2020 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Norwich City | L | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 28 Feb 2020 | Norwich City v Leicester City | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 04 Mar 2020 | Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City | W | 1-1 (2-3) | FA Cup |
| 07 Mar 2020 | Sheffield United v Norwich City | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 19 Jun 2020 | Norwich City v Southampton | L | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 24 Jun 2020 | Norwich City v Everton | L | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 27 Jun 2020 | Norwich City v Manchester United | L | 1-2 | FA Cup |
So that is four defeats in a row, and we can be sure they will have everyone behind the ball all the game – indeed an indulgence in that tactic is revealed by the fact of just one goal scored in the last four games and in all the league games here they have not scored more than one goal in any match. In fact they haven’t scored a goal in their last three league games.
In the games between the two teams we have won 28, drawn 20 and lost 11 and they have only beaten us once since 1993 – a 1-0 victory at their place in October 2012.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 03 Mar 1993 | Norwich City v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 26 Oct 1993 | Arsenal v Norwich City | D | 1-1 | League Cup |
| 30 Oct 1993 | Arsenal v Norwich City | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 10 Nov 1993 | Norwich City v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | League Cup |
| 13 Feb 1994 | Norwich City v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 10 Sep 1994 | Norwich City v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 01 Apr 1995 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 5-1 | Premier League |
| 28 Aug 2004 | Norwich City v Arsenal | W | 1-4 | Premier League |
| 02 Apr 2005 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 4-1 | Premier League |
| 19 Nov 2011 | Norwich City v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 05 May 2012 | Arsenal v Norwich City | D | 3-3 | Premier League |
| 20 Oct 2012 | Norwich City v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 13 Apr 2013 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 19 Oct 2013 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 4-1 | Premier League |
| 11 May 2014 | Norwich City v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 29 Nov 2015 | Norwich City v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 30 Apr 2016 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 24 Oct 2017 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 2-1 | League Cup |
| 01 Dec 2019 | Norwich City v Arsenal | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
Since that defeat we have won five and there have been two draws. In fact they have only beaten us once in the league at our ground, and that was on 9 May 1987 when they won 1-2, with Arsenal under George Graham. Mind you we had already won the League Cup, the first trophy in eight years, so maybe there was an excuse. Arsenal finished that season in fourth and Norwich in fifth.
The game was played at Highbury in front of just 24,001 people – which should be a reminder to those people from the Arsenal Supporters Trust who complain about empty seats at the Arsenal. Getting crowds of 50,000+ on a regular basis is a modern invention, not Arsenal’s natural crowd size across the years.
Paul Merson scored Arsenal’s goal in that match.
More anon…
Sorry to have to correct you but on the opening day of the 1991 92 season, Norwich beat Arsenal 4 2 at Highbury despite the fact we were leading 2 0 at half time.
Replying to my earlier comment
It was actually the following season.
We all make mistakes.
Coyg