By Bulldog Drummond
- Arsenal v Leeds; Leeds new manager, recent history, levels of fouling.
- Arsenal v Leeds (who have had 27 managers so far this century)
- Arsenal v Leeds: two teams travelling in utterly different directions
- The simple trick that will take Arsenal racing up the league next season
Although Tottenham can overtake Arsenal if their results better ours over the remaining games, both Manchester United and West Ham can now only reach 61 points, which means Arsenal are back in Europe next season, and it won’t mean the dreadful Europa Conference, which has successfully been left once more to the minnows.
And yet it is funny that there has hardly been a mention of this from a media that just a few weeks ago were running headlines like
Here’s how Arsenal could finish in the top four and still not get …
Headlines like this were appearing everywhere, all part of the ceaseless attempt to worry Arsenal fans and knock the club. It was all mindless gibberish of course… yes it could have happened, but then we could run the headline, “Arsenal could secure a top four finish and miss out on the Champions League if a comet strikes the earth before the start of next season.” In fact I think that scenario has always been more likely that the odd set of events proposed by the anti-Arsenal mob in the media.
But now we are back in Europe and it is either the Champions League or the Europa League depending on the outcome of these last games. And that after all the early-season talk of relegation, and West Ham having a break-through season and Tottenham’s relentless rise powered by beer from the bottom of the glass and whatnot. How odd that so many writers could be so wrong.
How can that be?
Here’s the table…
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 35 | 25 | 8 | 2 | 87 | 23 | 64 | 83 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 34 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 84 | 21 | 63 | 83 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 35 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 70 | 31 | 39 | 67 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 34 | 20 | 3 | 11 | 54 | 41 | 13 | 63 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 19 | 5 | 11 | 60 | 40 | 20 | 62 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 37 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 57 | 56 | 1 | 58 |
| 7 | West Ham United | 35 | 15 | 7 | 13 | 53 | 46 | 7 | 52 |
So the table shows that the issue to be decided is whether the Tiny Totts or Arsenal get fourth. They can get 71 points and we can get 75 points, although neither total is likely.
Last season the table ended with the two clubs next to each other
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 38 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 83 | 32 | 51 | 86 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 73 | 44 | 29 | 74 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 68 | 42 | 26 | 69 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 58 | 36 | 22 | 67 |
| 5 | Leicester City | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 68 | 50 | 18 | 66 |
| 6 | West Ham United | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 62 | 47 | 15 | 65 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 68 | 45 | 23 | 62 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 39 | 16 | 61 |
So who are the winners and losers?
Liverpool have had a massive improvement, already easily surpassing last season’s final total.
Manchester City have improved too, and need just four points from four games to beat last season’s total number of points.
Manchester United have had a disaster of a season and will be at least 13 points below last season’s total by the end of the season. If not more!
Chelsea have reached the number of points they achieved last season, with three games to go.
Leicester City are still trying to exploit their ability to tackle with comparative impunity, but that impunity is now declining and they seem to have no alternative tactic. The referees have tumbled them as we suggested they might once we started running the story, and as a result they languish in 14th although with games in hand. Even if they won all their remaining games (which they won’t) they would still be 11 points down on last season.
West Ham have been highly tipped by the media from the start of this season, not least because they have a stadium they have never had to pay for, but they have fallen away when it matters and cannot reach last season’s total number of points.
Tottenham have reached last season’s total of points with three games to go.
And Arsenal have already beaten last season’s total number of points with four games to go.
So of last season’s top clubs, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal are all on the up. The rest are currently being left to drift in a downward spiral of their own making.
Funny ol’ game. The predicted teams will appear in the next post, shortly.
where is Tottenham getting money from, what with the stadium payments to think of?
Mike, at the start of the pandemic Tottenham took out a huge loan to cover the repayments on the loan they had already taken out to pay for the building of the new stadium