By Bulldog Drummond
I normally run the league table of injured players from the most injured to the least but let’s for once try this the other way around and look at the clubs most able to keep their players fit…
- West Ham United: 1
- Arsenal: 2
- Chelsea: 2
- Leicester City: 2
- Crystal Palace: 3
- Manchester United: 3
- Tottenham Hotspur: 3
- Watford: 3
- Brentford: 4
- Brighton and Hove: 4
- Norwich City: 4
- Southampton: 4
- Burnley: 5
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: 5
- Manchester City: 6
- Aston Villa: 7
- Leeds United: 7
- Liverpool: 7
- Newcastle United: 7
- Everton: 8
I am seriously starting to wonder if there is not a direct link between the amount of tackling a club does and the number of injuries it has. It is going to take a bit of sum doing but there could be a link.
Anyway, Arsenal’s injured men are reported by Physioroom as Xhaka and Tierney. Xhaka will of course be free to play in the game against the Tinies, because his was not an injury at all, but a ban across three games, which have now been played. Tierney’s injury is not rated as serious and he has a 75% chance of playing.
Tottenham’s injuries are somewhat different as this table from Physioroom below shows. Only one of the three is liable to be ready to play in this forthcoming game – but even then he is only rated at 25%.
| Player | Reason | Further Detail | Potential Return | Condition | Status |
| Steven Bergwijn | Ankle/Foot Injury | “He has an injury on his foot, he twisted his ankle. It’s very, very painful. The injury needs to settle down and prevent him from feeling pain.” | 26/09/2021 | Currently Being Assessed | 25% |
| Ryan Sessegnon | Other | “improving, day by day,” | No Return Date | Currently Being Assessed | 25% |
| Lucas Rodrigues Moura da Silva | Ankle/Foot Injury | Ankle Injury | No Return Date | Currently Being Assessed | 50% |
As you will have noticed, if you have been paying attention, Arsenal’s last five games have resulted in four wins and one defeat. The goals across those games are 11 for Arsenal and five for the other clubs, which in effect means Manchester City. And yes of course I know that the games other than Manchester City have been against lesser mortals, but you can only play who you are drawn against.
Tottenham’s last five games however only has two wins in the run – against Watford and Wolverhampton (winning the league cup tie in extra time). They drew with Rennes in the Conference and lost to Chelsea at home in the league.
Which brings us onto the head to head, where we are still way out in front. We’ve won 83 (that’s 41%), they have won 66 (33%), and there have been 54 draws. So we are not in danger of losing the historic battle any time soon.
But the last 10 years have not been our best. We have won nine, lost eight, drawn six. Still ahead but not in the way that we used to be.
Looked at by manager we have
- Wenger: 7 wins, 4 draws, 5 defeats (44% victory rating; 31% defeat rating)
- Emery: 1 win, 2 draw, 1 defeat (25% victory rating; 25% defeat rating)
- Arteta: 1 win, 0 draws, 2 defeats (33% victory rating; 66% defeat rating)
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition | Manager |
| 2 Oct 2011 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 26 Feb 2012 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 5-2 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 17 Nov 2012 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 5-2 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 3 Mar 2013 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 1 Sep 2013 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 1-0 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 4 Jan 2014 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 2-0 | FA Cup | Wenger |
| 16 Mar 2014 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 27 Sep 2014 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 1-1 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 7 Feb 2015 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 23 Sep 2015 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | League Cup | Wenger |
| 8 Nov 2015 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 1-1 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 5 Mar 2016 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | D | 2-2 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 6 Nov 2016 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 1-1 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 30 Apr 2017 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | L | 2-0 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 18 Nov 2017 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 2-0 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 10 Feb 2018 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Premier League | Wenger |
| 2 Dec 2018 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 4-2 | Premier League | Emery |
| 19 Dec 2018 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | L | 0-2 | League Cup | Emery |
| 2 Mar 2019 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League | Emery |
| 1 Sep 2019 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 2-2 | Premier League | Emery |
| 12 Jul 2020 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League | Arteta |
| 6 Dec 2020 | Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal | L | 2-0 | Premier League | Arteta |
| 14 Mar 2021 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 2-1 | Premier League | Arteta |
Our best run was from 2000 to 2008 where we had no defeats in 21 games against them.
But we have never, since our first league match against them in 1896, had a worse run than the no wins in five games we suffered between 2 December 2018 and 6 December 2020. We lost the old Wenger magic.
More anon…
