By Bulldog Drummond
Eight historic games against Southampton – the Videos
The anti-Arsenal Arsenal hardly needs an excuse to go on the attack against the club, the players and the manager. But given an excuse they will get every knife out, and of course, the bloggettas will cut and paste and copy.
And certainly, the last four games are an excuse
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Nov 2021 | Liverpool v Arsenal | L | 4-0 | Premier League |
| 27 Nov 2021 | Arsenal v Newcastle United | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 2 Dec 2021 | Manchester United v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 6 Dec 2021 | Everton v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
Nine goals against and five goals for. Not what we had hoped for and not what we need.
As a result we are not only back down to seventh we are also two points behind the Tiny Totts who have a game in hand.
The only tiddly bit of comfort is that Southampton are in a worse position of late…
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Nov 2021 | Norwich City v Southampton | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 27 Nov 2021 | Liverpool v Southampton | L | 4-0 | Premier League |
| 1 Dec 2021 | Southampton v Leicester City | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 4 Dec 2021 | Southampton v Brighton and Hove | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
They have scored four goals in the last four and conceded nine – very, similar to ourselves. And this we should remember from a club whose finances are so awful they have sold their ground and now pay rent.
But there is a moment of respite and that is in the home and away table. This time in the home and away chart I’ll put the top three at home in because I was rather taken aback to see what was at the top.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur home | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 18 |
| 2 | Manchester City home | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 14 | 16 |
| 3 | Arsenal home | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 16 |
| 17 | Southampton away | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 14 | -8 | 5 |
Yes the totties are top of the home league. Who would have thought it. Must be something in the grass.
Anyway, the home and away chart suggests that we ought to win this hands down, while the last four games list suggests we are as bad as each other.
Overall in the league, Southampton are looking down rather than up…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Southampton | 15 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 16 |
| 17 | Watford | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 20 | 29 | -9 | 13 |
| 18 | Burnley | 14 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 10 |
| 19 | Newcastle United | 15 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 30 | -13 | 10 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 31 | -23 | 10 |
... but it will need not just a collapse by them but also an improvement by Watford for them to be seriously challenged with relegation thoughts – at least for a few weeks yet. My view would be that three out of Watford, Burnley, Newcastle and Norwich will go down – with Newcastle perhaps escaping after spending the first of their billions next month.
But if we are struggling with goals Southampton have it even worse. They have as you will see above won three league games this season and here they are:
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Oct 2021 | Southampton v Leeds United | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 30 Oct 2021 | Watford v Southampton | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 5 Nov 2021 | Southampton v Aston Villa | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
Yes all three have been 1-0 wins, and that’s it.
Now although we have not been averse to taking a 1-0 win our results are not quite this bad…
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep 2021 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 18 Sep 2021 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 26 Sep 2021 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 22 Oct 2021 | Arsenal v Aston Villa | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 30 Oct 2021 | Leicester City v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 7 Nov 2021 | Arsenal v Watford | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 27 Nov 2021 | Arsenal v Newcastle United | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
One more straw to clutch in this outing – historically we’ve beaten them 52 times and they’ve beaten us 22, with 28 draws which means 51% of games against the club are Arsenal victories.
In the last 11 games we have lost twice, once in the league and once in the FA Cup. We have won six and lost three. Here is the recent list – and even here there are elements of doubt as we have only won one of the last three games.
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Jan 2017 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 0-5 | FA Cup |
| 10 May 2017 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 10 Dec 2017 | Southampton v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 08 Apr 2018 | Arsenal v Southampton | W | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 16 Dec 2018 | Southampton v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 24 Feb 2019 | Arsenal v Southampton | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 23 Nov 2019 | Arsenal v Southampton | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 25 Jun 2020 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 16 Dec 2020 | Arsenal v Southampton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 23 Jan 2021 | Southampton v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | FA Cup |
| 26 Jan 2021 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 1-3 | Premier League |
More anon.
- Why taxpayers should protest about their money being given to FA
- Sanitisation of English football means the excitement is often elsewhere.
- Why Arsenal need more goals, but why it might not be that urgent.
