By Bulldog Drummond
- Southampton v Arsenal: how the refs treat each team, how the managers have done
- Arsenal’s salvation: After 30 games we always improve
- The continuing strange tale of how PL referees punish tackles
There has been some commentary concerning the injury list and how we are being decimated by injuries. We are in fact 12th equal with four other teams according to figures from Premier Injuries.
- Manchester United: 7
- Norwich City: 7
- Newcastle United: 6
- Everton: 5
- Leeds United: 5
- Leicester City: 5
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: 5
- Chelsea: 4
- Crystal Palace: 4
- Manchester City: 4
- Southampton: 4
- Arsenal: 3
- Brentford: 3
- Burnley: 3
- Tottenham Hots: 3
- Watford: 3
Our rivals tomorrow have one extra man down according to the report, but I am not so sure about that. Here are the details… although I am sure you will know all the ins and outs better than I.
For Takehiro Tomiyasu the comment is “Takehiro is making progress in his recovery from a muscle injury. It is hoped he will be back in full training after the match at Southampton.”
Kieran Tierney is having or may have had knee surgery. We don’t have any details of whether it has been undertaken or not.
As for Thomas Partey, the last comment stated that, “It is a little bit ambiguous but he has a significant injury. We have to keep assessing him but he’ll be out for some weeks.” Asked if he could be back before the season ends, the comment was “he could be.”
For Southampton, their men missing are likely to be… or not… because according to Premier Injuries. Armando Broja won’t be playing because he is “unable to face parent club”. But his parent club is Chelsea, at least as far as we know, and so that must be wrong since Soton are playing AFC not CFC. Although the website clearly states that this lack of availability is for the match dated 16 April, and I thought we were playing Southampton then.
According to the same site, Shane Long has a minor injury and will face a fitness test and could be available. Alex McCarthy is “on the way back” as is Lyanco Silveira Neves Vojnovic, so in effect it could be that Southampton have no injuries. Which rather brings into doubt the whole table above – although our three men down seem correct to me.
Although a lot of commentators now don’t count Arsenal as one of the “big six” (a concept they themselves invented and so one which they can, I suppose, muck about with as much as they wish), it is still worth seeing how well or badly the club has done against those clubs we would normally classify as the big six.
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Aug 2021 | Southampton v Manchester United | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 18 Sep 2021 | Manchester City v Southampton | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 2 Oct 2021 | Chelsea v Southampton | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 26 Oct 2021 | Chelsea v Southampton | L | 1-1 (4-3) | League Cup |
| 27 Nov 2021 | Liverpool v Southampton | L | 4-0 | Premier League |
| 11 Dec 2021 | Arsenal v Southampton | L | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 28 Dec 2021 | Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 22 Jan 2022 | Southampton v Manchester City | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 9 Feb 2022 | Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 12 Feb 2022 | Manchester United v Southampton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 20 Mar 2022 | Southampton v Manchester City | L | 1-4 | FA Cup |
| 9 Apr 2022 | Southampton v Chelsea | L | 0-6 | Premier League |
So Southampton’s one win against the traditional clubs of the upper reaches was a glorious victory over Tottenham Hots at their magnificent new stadium on 9 February. Good for them.
Meanwhile, amidst all the doom and gloom you might not have noticed Arsenal’s away record over the last six games. So here it is.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 15 |
| 2 | Manchester C | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 13 |
| 5 | Tottenham Ho | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 6 | Brighton and H | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 10 |
And the home form, for Southampton…
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Everton | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 9 |
| 12 | Brentford | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 7 |
| 13 | Southampton | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 7 |
More tomorrow…
