by Bulldog Drummond
It’s one of those funny end of season games where a has to beat b unless c loses to d by six or more goals and e has a goalless draw. Or something. If Villa win, Watford need to better their result by two or more goals to survive on goal difference. Or may be Villa need to beat us by seven goals. So it will be nail biting. Or not.
Since the ghost games started it has been tough for Watford…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 20 June | Watford v Leicester City | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 25 June | Burnley v Watford | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 28 June | Watford v Southampton | L | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 4 July | Chelsea v Watford | L | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 7 July | Watford v Norwich City | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 11 July | Watford v Newcastle United | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 17 July | West Ham United v Watford | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 21 July | Watford v Manchester City | L | 0-4 | Premier League |
Two wins, one draw, five defeats, seven conceded in the last two. For Arsenal it goes…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 17 June | Manchester City v Arsenal | L | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 20 June | Brighton and Hove v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 25 June | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 28 June | Sheffield United v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | FA Cup |
| 1 July | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 4-0 | Premier League |
| 4 July | Wolverhampton W v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 7 July | Arsenal v Leicester City | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 12 July | Tottenham Hots v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 15 July | Arsenal v Liverpool | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 18 July | Arsenal v Manchester City | W | 2-0 | FA Cup |
| 21 July | Aston Villa v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
Six wins, one draw, four defeats. Six goals conceded in the last nine.
So we are in the better form, as you would expect. And yet, strange as it is to remember, there was a time when Watford regularly got the better of us. Between November 1982 and April 1988 we played them 13 times and won just three. There was one draw and Watford won nine.
It is figures like that which remind me that our position near the top is never guaranteed. Our positions at the end of those seasons of regularly losing to Watford were: fourth twice, sixth twice, seventh twice, and tenth (that being the year in which we got to the semi-final of the FA Cup, 1983). Charlie Nicholas, who regularly pontificates on Sky on how Arsenal need to improve themselves, played in this team. He was our top scorer just once in 1986 with 18 goals.
But despite that dreadful run we have done better overall in the game against Watford, winning 17 and losing 12 overall, with two draws. Earlier this season they held us 2-2 at their place. Aubameyang gave us the two goal lead, they pulled level with a penalty on 81 minutes.
The BBC tell us Arsenal have scored in 67 of their last 70 league fixtures at home – the three we haven’t scored in have all been against Manchester CAS.
They also note that we have won the last league match in each of the last eight seasons, and have not lost at home on the final day since being defeated by the Tiny Totts in 1993 – 27 years ago.
If we do lose it would be the first time we have lost two games in a row in the relegation zone for the first time since 1983.
The Daily Canon give us a team of
Martinez
Holding Luiz Tierney
Bellerin Ceballos Xhaka Saka
Pepe Lacazette Aubameyang
The Sun tell us we have a DEFENSIVE CRISIS (in capitals of course) but fortunately we still have enough players to put out a team.
Martinez
Holding Luiz Tierney
Cedric Saka
Ceballos Xhaka
Pepe Lacazette Aubameyang
Incidentally Sky Bet have returned to using those pesky tricky adverts which has a link top right that says “skip and return to site” which in fact takes you into their advertising. I thought that technique had been banned, but it seems not.
Anyway the Hard Tackle goes for the same as the Daily Canon. But SofaScore, a site I have not noticed before, has a superb graphic for both teams – the best I have seen. Dead simple, but really neat.
Martinez
Holding Luiz Kolasinac
Bellering Xhaka Ceballos Tierney
Saka Nketiah Aubameyang
However I have saved for last, the laughable and disgracefully appalling BT Sport which this morning at 1020 has this on its website
Arsenal
16:00
Sunday 26th Jul 2020
Watford
This match has been postponed to play at a later date.
And to add to the fun, next to that sign saying the game is postponed they have the announcement
Join the home of live football today
I can only presume that final statement is meant to be ironic.
They are, as ever, completely wrong, lacking in all knowledge, semi-skimmed, and a bunch of turnips who should be laughed out of existence or alternatively thrown into a pit of vipers. They may have taken that statement down by the time you read this, but if not, just to prove my point, this is the link.
Quite how the Premier League can even begin to think of allowing the Sprout to sell peanuts outside the ground, let alone force us to buy a subscription just to watch one match, is completely beyond me. The PL should at the very least (and I mean the very least) take a decision never to deal with BT Sport again on the grounds of its total ineptitude and perfidious nature, and make that decision public.
- Arsenal v Watford: why are Arsenal still getting so many injuries, 2 years on?
- The ten (sorry six) (sorry 3) big big stories about next season’s Arsenal team.
- Still getting Arsenal’s history wrong, after all these years
Souness on Sky PL suggesting Watford go in hard initially to cause the Arsenal players to be scared of getting injured beforw thw FA Cup Final. The old bitching pundits are in play already. Arsenal should fear nothing and play to get Auba the golden boot while allowing Watford a survival chance if they play well.
I’m hoping for a 9 goal game with Auba scoring sufficient to take the golden boot.
Someone needs to thump Souness in his gob with a pizza to shut his evil punditry.
On 38 min. it’s AFC 3-0 Watford. 2 for Auba. Another for the Golden Boot? COYG!
Deeney being relegated will reduce the level of thuggery in the premiership considerably
Dean has clearly seen a chink of light and has now decided to start tilting the game.
Mikey,
True but if Arsenal play even a decent half they win. Watford have nothing.
Getting nervous it’s Arsenal 3-2 David Luiz.
Accidental foul by Luiz not a penalty in most matches but this is Arsenal!! The number of trips and pull back of Arsenal players not punished with a card. The Watford players can grow cohones in the lower leagues under the tutiledge of Deeney.
Arsenal will just have to win the FA cup final on a ski slope designed by Riley.
Arsenal did well to remain uninjured and have done me proud. We have ended up four positions lower than actual because of the corrupt officiating.
Menace sorry your “Souness on Sky” much delayed – the email address was entered with a letter missing, and so the system treated it as a new contributor – and I was already on my way to my pal’s house to watch the game in company.
Same old Alan Smith, finding it impossible to say anything positive and nice about Arsenal. Boy do I hate him with a passion.
The look on Deans face when VAR over ruled him and awarded Arsenal their penalty was just priceless. If anyone doubts Deans dislike of Arsenal just take a look at the frown on his face as he has to point to the spot.
Menace, Aubameyang did not win the PL golden boot award today. But it was due to his fault he didn’t as he has now missed on the award for two seasons running with both his two seasons missing on the award coming on the final day of the Premier League campaign. Hmmm this could hard to him to take as he was compelled to share the award with two Liverpool FC players last season. But this season he lost the award altogether as he was beaten to it today’s evening by the Leicester City ageless striker Jamie Vardy. The pitiable thing for us his admires to lament on as he kept missing on the award for two seasons running is that he was missing on the award narrowly. Which could be attributed to his lack of hunger to win the award despite his has been Arsenal 20 goals per season striker for two consecutive seasons. But he’s without any burning ciga in his mouth to draw in the smoke and inhal it then puff to feel any sense of satisfaction. The big question that comes to mind now after this season’s campaign in the PL that has closed today is, will Aubameyang ever win the Premier League Golden Boot Award even if he extends his contract deal at Arsenal beyond next season’s campaign as being expected he could? Well! Honestly I wouldn’t know.
Nevertheless, what is of paramount to Arsenal Football Club now if I am not making a mistake is to beat Chelsea next Sunday at Wembley to lift the FA Cup that will be contested for lifting it by the duo club sides. But in the case of Arsenal if they lift it, they’ll use their lifting of the Cup as a gate pass to play European football next season. However, Arsenal MUST raise the level of the kind of football far far above the kind of two games they have played in the last week that saw the Gunners lost at away to the Villians and almost got held by the hornets today at Emirates Stadium all in the PL. If Arsenal hold on to this kind of lackadiasical football that they’ve played in their last two games in the PL, Chelsea could punish them severally in the Cup final to lift the Cup to consequently force Arsenal out of European football next campaign. Therefore, Arsenal MUST change from their current lackadiasical way of playing football which I see as a mixed of professionalism and Amateurism football playing. But change to total war way playing football against Chelsea on August 1 in the Cup final which entails full of fights, endurance and perseverance to succeed, skillful and competent to score many goals to put the game out of the reach of opponent team, full concentration on the game and having an eagle eye watching the opponent team players in their moves to foil their attempts at source stopping them from causing any havoc to Arsenal in the game. And shun off any form of momentary loss of concentration on the game and profigacy in front of goal that if allowed to creep in into their game playing could cost them the lifting of the Cup.
Havent seen it yet, did Utd get lucky with their 375th pen this season, or was it justified? I Was, like many predicting the ref/VAR would come to Utds aid if required
Having said that, even if it was dodgy, Leicester have lived by the sword when it comes to dodgy pens
Being refereed by Dean always means any challenge in the box made by Arsenal will result in a penalty.
Have never felt confident that Dean understands that he knows the difference between a fair tackle and a foul.
Still don’t know how you justify a penalty for contact after the forward has struck the ball.
Dean Consistently gives yellow cards for slightly mistimed challenges and actions with no malicious intent- against teams he doesn’t like-such as the yellow card for Martinez for time wasting.
There is no doubt that in this game Deans bias blew wind in Watford’s sails.
As usual, an Arsenal win Despite the referee.
I won’t forecast the FA Cup Final result, except to say that if Arsenal win, it will be despite the referee.
@Goonergerry,
I think this season we have found a way of overcoming Deans anti-Arsenal bias, 5 games this season – four wins and one draw no losses. Better than under all of the other PGMO Stooges! We just need to find a way of combatting the rest of the rats nest.
If Dean doesn’t succeed with us, they just send in Atkinson, Taylor or any number of Riley’s gimps for the following games
This is all about keeping certain teams in the top four., they have pretty much got that this season, and will want to keep it that way.
I am surprised Stan doesn’t have his lawyers all over some of the things that go on in this league
When Dean is put in jail for receiving, only then will football have a chance of getting sport back in its arena. This evil son of Riley’s band of cheats has the gall to take a knee!
Those that take a knee do so because of the unfair nature of society. This bunch of evil are the reason that sport has to take a knee.
They are biased, corrupt and racist, yet the media in the UK do not have the knowledge to tell the truth. Sadly amongst the media are ethnics that play the melody that these bigots write.
Last night’s game did put a bitter taste in the mouth , eventhough we won. We always seem to to slow down whenever we score 3 goals , and often allow the other teams back.
I would love to see us whack teams by 5 or 6 goals , or more. This passing the ball in and around our box is very taxing on my nerves .
Well let us hope for a good show in the FA Cup final , to kick off MA’s reign with a cup.
Up the Gunners !
As for Souness, does anyone ever remind him that he was the one to allow Liverpool to rot ? He dismantled the famed boot room , and was first in the list of Liverpool managers never to have the EPL .
The entire expert panel across the board are all failed managers . Or has been players who were naver asked to be manager .
So what are they experts in ?
That is what I like to know !