By Bulldog Drummond
One of the benefits of the move away from tackling which was introduced by Mr Arteta at the start of last season is that it tends to reduce the number of injuries gained while making ungainly tackles.
What’s more when one team is clattering away at the opponents and the other isn’t, it is apparent to everyone (even a PGMO referee) how things are going and the refs seem to become more inclined to punish the free-kicking opposition.
As a result, Arsenal have persistently been in the lower reaches of the injury table in recent times, and that trend is continuing. Below is the current list of men down as reported by Premier League Injuries
In our eternal quest for links between events in football (such as the obvious links between tackles, fouls and injuries) we thought there might just be a link between tackles and injuries. That is the more a club tackles the more its players get injured – either because the tackles are mistimed or because the opposition retaliates.
| Injury Pos | Club | Injuries | Tackles position | Tackles |
| 1 | West Ham United | 2 | 13 | 204 |
| 1 | Brighton and Hove | 2 | 6 | 237 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 3 | 16 | 193 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 3 | 15 | 195 |
| 3 | Burnley | 3 | 17 | 173 |
| 3 | Crystal Palace | 3 | 4 | 242 |
| 3 | Leeds United | 3 | 1 | 274 |
| 3 | Norwich City | 3 | 8 | 230 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hots | 3 | 11 | 211 |
| 10 | Leicester City | 4 | 3 | 243 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 5 | 18 | 175 |
| 11 | Manchester United | 5 | 20 | 173 |
| 11 | Newcastle United | 5 | 7 | 234 |
| 11 | Southampton | 5 | 10 | 213 |
| 15 | Chelsea | 6 | 12 | 207 |
| 15 | Everton | 6 | 2 | 255 |
| 17 | Manchester City | 7 | 19 | 174 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton Wands | 7 | 5 | 238 |
| 19 | Brentford | 8 | 9 | 222 |
| 20 | Watford | 10 | 14 | 199 |
But no, that one turns out to be a false approach. There is a very slight tendency toward that but it is so slight it could easily be by chance. But one has to do such analyses just in case: if you don’t create the table, you really don’t know.
On the injury front we do have some potentially bad news
| Player | Reason | Further Detail | Potential Return | Condition |
| Sead Kolasinac | Ankle/Foot Injury | Nov 25: “Sead is progressing well in the early stages of his rehab with the current aim to be back in full training in January.” | 22/01/2022 | None |
| Granit Xhaka | Knee Injury | Nov 25: “Granit has progressed his recovery to running outside, with the aim to now be back in full training in December.” | 26/12/2021 | None |
| Bukayo Saka | Other | Nov 27: “It was an action where he said he felt something and wasn’t comfortable to continue. We’ll have to assess him tomorrow and probably scan him.” | No Return Date | Currently Being Assessed |
The Saka injury is still one on which we are awaiting news.
So let’s move onto something else – the relative merits of the clubs in terms of the league positions
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Arsenal | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 17 | -2 | 23 |
| 8 | Manchester United | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 22 | -1 | 18 |
A very similar goal difference but Arsenal are five points ahead. But now if we compare home and away figures we get this
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Arsenal away | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 7 |
| 15 | Manchester United home | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 7 |
Arsenal seem less than happy away and Manchester United less than happy at home which might suggest a goalless draw.
The big worry of course is the Arsenal goalscoring record away from home. Here are the results…
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Aug 2021 | Brentford v Arsenal | L | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 28 Aug 2021 | Manchester City v Arsenal | L | 5-0 | Premier League |
| 18 Sep 2021 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 02 Oct 2021 | Brighton and Hove Albion v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 30 Oct 2021 | Leicester City v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 20 Nov 2021 | Liverpool v Arsenal | L | 4-0 | Premier League |
The moment when it all went right of course was against Leicester City and that is the form we need to see again tomorrow night. If Manchester U supporters turn on their own team that could make life a lot easier for Arsenal. An early goal by Arsenal will certainly help our cause.
- Man U v Arsenal: how Man U failed to tackle and sank to 18th in the form table
- It is true that sheer incompetence will mean Arsenal lose 2 strikers for nothing?
