Tottenham v Arsenal how the season has panned out home and away
As we saw in the last article Tottenham have progressed this season to the extent that in the last 24 games they have equalled us on points and overtaken us in terms of goal difference.
But, of course, local derbies don’t fit into the normal pattern of events, and thus it is also necessary to have a look at how the games between the two sides have been going.
Taking all the games into consideration except friendlies (so that means including the United League and London League in the early days) we have played 204 games against Tottenham. Not surprisingly given the disparity between the two clubs in terms of trophies, Arsenal have come out on top across the years, Arsenal winning 84, Tottenham 66 with 54 draws.
Since 2014 there has been a certain equilibrium between the clubs, with 17 games being played – 15 in the League and two in the League Cup.
Arsenal have won five, Tottenham have won six, and six have been drawn. Even if we narrow this down to the last five games we still find the same close balance – two Arsenal wins, two Tottenham wins and a draw.
Taking the last ten years Arsenal we can compare the finishing positions of the two clubs….
| Position | Arsenal | Tottenham |
| 2nd | 1 | 1 |
| 3rd | 2 | 2 |
| 4th | 2 | 2 |
| 5th | 2 | 3 |
| 6th | 1 | 2 |
| 7th | ||
| 8th | 2 |
However, in the land of cups things are a little different.
Tottenham have not won any cups while Arsenal have won the FA Cup four times in the past ten years. (We’ve also won the Community Shield four times, but that doesn’t really count).
So the league table finishes in the last ten years have looked remarkably similar, both clubs having exactly the same achievements at the top end (once reaching the runners-up spot, twice finishing third, twice finishing fourth.
Tottenham have however not had a rebuild programme that has taken them outside the top six, whereas Arsenal has sunk to eighth twice. On the other hand, they have had a stadium re-build programme which has left them with significant debt. Fortunately for them, the financing and the refinancing has been with money borrowed at incredibly low interest rates.
I think we are about to see just how much benefit has been gained from that rebuild, (particularly in the first third of last season), and the total replacement of the defence last summer.
As to the squad, Arsenal have a core squad of 21 players and have used six other youngsters who were not listed in the official squad but were under 21 and so could be played without being officially registered within the “25”. The average age of the squad players is 24 years 3 months. The youngest in the league.
Tottenham have used a core squad of 22 players, and have added just six youngsters within the season. Their average age is 26.1, making them the 8th youngest squad of players.
As all these figures show, along with those in the last article, that over the past years of Arsenal’s change of managers through Wenger, Freddie, Emery and Arteta, Arsenal have been rebuilding. Tottenham have at the same time raised themselves up the league, and have been three times runners’ up in cups – once in the Champions League and twice in the League Cup.
So it is fair to say that while they have indeed avoided sinking down to eighth place, as Arsenal have done for two seasons, they have not actually won anything, and instead have collected three runners’ up medals. Arsenal on the other hand have won the FA Cup three times in this spell.
Arsenal v Tottenham: the free video collection
- 5 September 1970: Arsenal beat Tottenham on the way to the Double
- 9 December 1972: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Arsenal (9th Dec. 1972) Relive the game on video
- 26 April 1975: Arsenal v Tottenham as Tottenham seek to avoid relegation: the video
- 10 September 1988: A surreal free for all. The ultimate Tottenham game
- 31 March 2001: A minute’s silence for Rocky then taking Tottenham apart
- 16 November 2002: The greatest goal ever against Tottenham
- 15 December 2002: Tottenham v Arsenal, the complete game from 2002
- 8 Nov 2003: Beating Tottenham in the unbeaten season
- 13 November 2004: The amazing Tottenham 4 Arsenal 5
- 3 December 2006: Gilberto Silva is captain in this superb win over Tottenham
- 31 January 2007: Beating Tottenham 3-1 oh what fun!
- 15 September 2007: The Tottenham Arsenal game with the most brilliant goals
- 31 October 2009: Cesc scores the ultimate goal of the season – beating Tottenham
- 17 November 2012: Slamming five past Tottenham
- 1 September 2013: Arsenal v Tottenham 2013
- 16 March 2014: That wonderful Rosicky screamer against Tottenham at the very start
- 23 September 2015: Beating Tottenham in 2015
- 15 May 2016: Swamping Villa and destroying Tottenham and Arteta’s last goal
The teams being fairly even of late I think Paul Tierney might be the right ref for the match. The recent UA article on Referee Bias included a table showing Tierney officiating home and away matches almost equally. Looks like a good opportunity for a win or draw. Of course, three points would pretty much close the deal so…..COYG!!!
yep the Woolwich Wanderers May have fared better over the years, but we have a true fan base that is loyal, not just glory hunting and fickle spectators! Plus we have a bigger and better stadium and the club is also on a sound financial footing.
We are not a puppet for the league or the FA as you seem to be, really pathetic, yet you still bang on about us, makes me think you’re just a scared and pathetic bunch, which you are naturally!
Thank you for that Bobby. We have had a number of comments of this nature over the years, but no one ever provides any evidence to back up what they say. Without any evidence such posts give more of a reflection upon the writer than on the topic.
If we “bang on” about Tottenham, then if you had bothered to do 30 seconds worth of research you’d see that we also “bang on” about every other team Arsenal play, for we always do five or six articles, most with a fair range of statistics examining issues that seem interest.
The notion that a personal opinion is of more significance and value than a range of research is an interesting one, and we have seen it here many times, but try as I might I still can’t find any reason to treat it seriously. It can be quite amusing, but otherwise, until someone can put forward a reasoned argument for accepting personal opinion over researched facts, it will continue to reflect more on the writer of the comment than the facts in the article.
Bravo, bravo…👏👏
With apologies to Tony. I don’t usually respond.
Bobby
You’re either a kid or a moron, or perhaps both. Nothing you’ve said here makes any sense. Do you think Spurs fans are more loyal than Villa’s fans or Newcastle’s? Arsenal fans are “glory hunting”? We don’t have to hunt glory, the team provides it. Your lot can keep hunting. And the stadium? It is big – world’s largest toilet. To go into debt for that abomination is the joke here. And just what are we supposed to be scared of? All of your league titles? FA Cup trophies? Consecutive seasons in the Champions League? But why am I banging on about this childish drivel? Just calling the Spud a spud.
@Bobby,
I must say that you are spelling out one truth : Tottenham are definitely not glory/trophy hunting otherwise, there’d be trophies to show off, would there not ?
As for the sound and financial footing, I wish you well, even if I do think Tottenham may discover that at some point in any economy under stress interest rates rise and drive up costs massively. But then again, I could care less. Arsenal have pretty much paid their stadium a decade at least ahead of yours. So at banks are not going to be getting more money then the Arsenal players.
I’ll admit that I’ll be financing a little bit of your stadium myself by coming to see the Packers play this autumn. But then, the stadium will be green and gold, so that ought to be fine. And helping a neighbour in need is always a good thing.
As for Arsenal being a puppet for the league or the FA, I just don’t understand that comment. You’d be talking about ManU, City, Pool, I’d kind of get it.
FYI, Untold is the only blog that has repeatedly shown in the past years that Spurs were being really mishandled in terms of refereeing – as Arsenal are. So just aknowledging the fact would be nice.