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By Bulldog Drummond
Before each game we generally have a look at the merits of each team in terms of the relevant home and away form. Sometimes the figures take me a little by surprise, but this is one of the most surprising that I have seen. The home form of Arsenal against the away form of Liverpool.
At home Arsenal are joint top with Manchester Ciity and Tottenham Hots, all three teams having won all four home games. What separates the three is goal difference, and on this subject we are slipping behind.
Home Games only
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 12 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 12 |
| 3 | Arsenal |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 12 |
Liverpool as it happens are fourth in the home team league, but that need not concern us because they are playing away, and what we find in the away league is that Liverpool are 14th, without a win. An away win in their game against Arsenal would take them up to somewhere around seventh place in the away league – but they would have to win. Here is how the away table stands at this moment.
Away games only
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Liverpool | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 2 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 2 |
| 16 | Leeds United | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 1 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 1 |
| 18 | Aston Villa | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 1 |
| 19 | Nottingham Forest | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | -12 | 1 |
| 20 | Leicester City | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 0 |
So pulling those two sets of data together what do we have? In this table PPG stands for points per game of course.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Arsenal home | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 3.00 |
| 14 | Liverpool away | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 2 | 0.66 |
PPG stands for points per game of course and it is with that figure that the real difference can be seen.
What is particularly shocking is that Liverpool, the team so lauded in recent seasons, are only managing one goal per away game, while Arsenal are on 2.75 goals per game. Rounded that gives Arsenal a 3-0 win.
So what have Liverpool been up to away from home? Here is a run down of all their games away from home this season...
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Aug 2022 | Fulham v Liverpool | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 22 Aug 2022 | Manchester United v Liverpool | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 3 Sep 2022 | Everton v Liverpool | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 7 Sep 2022 | Napoli v Liverpool | L | 4-1 | Champions League |
The first thing to notice is that of 11 games this season Liverpool have played one on neutral ground, and just four away and they have just got nowhere. Well, ok they got a couple of draw, but that is all.
Arsenal’s home form is something of a contrast in that it is a bunch of Ws…
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Aug 2022 | Arsenal v Leicester City | W | 4-2 | Premier League |
| 27 Aug 2022 | Arsenal v Fulham | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 31 Aug 2022 | Arsenal v Aston Villa | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 1 Oct 2022 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 6 Oct 2022 | Arsenal v FK Bodo Glimt | W | 3-0 | Europa League |
And before the media jump in with their tales of how easy Arsenal have had it we might have a look at this. Arsenal have played one of the “big seven” teams and Liverpool have played one in the league and one in the Champions League. But let us be fair, Lazio are indeed top of the Italian league.
However let us look at the overall league table for the three teams they have met away from home.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Manchester United | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 12 |
| 8 | Fulham | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | -2 | 11 |
| 11 | Everton | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
None of these are exactly ripping the league apart.
But let us try one more set of data – this from WhoScored. The figures take us across the major leagues in Europe.
| Team | Goals | Shots pg | Yellows | Possession% | Pass% | Aerials Won | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Manchester City | 29 | 17.5 | 5 | 68.3 | 90.4 | 14.3 | |
| 2. Paris SG | 28 | 16.8 | 19 | 60.4 | 90.6 | 6.6 | |
| 3. Bayern Munich | 23 | 22.6 | 11 | 68.1 | 87.3 | 11.4 | |
| 4. Barcelona | 19 | 18.6 | 16 | 67.1 | 88.8 | 11.7 | |
| 5. Real Madrid | 18 | 19.4 | 9 | 58.1 | 90.3 | 8.3 | |
| 6. Arsenal | 20 | 17.3 | 15 | 58.6 | 85.9 | 11.3 | |
| 7. Napoli | 18 | 18.8 | 12 | 58.1 | 86.5 | 13.8 | |
| 8. Villarreal | 10 | 14.7 | 14 | 53.2 | 84.6 | 10.7 | |
| 9. Newcastle | 12 | 15.9 | 14 | 52.7 | 80.0 | 14.4 | |
| 10. Tottenham | 19 | 14.4 | 16 | 47.7 | 84.5 | 11.9 | |
| 11. Lorient | 19 | 11.7 | 12 | 41.0 | 80.8 | 11.1 | |
| 12. Marseille | 19 | 14.4 | 20 | 55.4 | 82.4 | 14 | |
| 13. Freiburg | 12 | 14.8 | 12 | 46.0 | 76.7 | 22.8 | |
| 14. Athletic Bilbao | 16 | 17 | 11 | 54.5 | 82.4 | 12.9 | |
| 15. Liverpool | 18 | 18.9 | 6 | 66.6 | 83.2 | 14.3 |
Now this is interesting. Liverpool have more shots on goal than Arsenal, far fewer yellows than Arsenal, much more of the ball than Arsenal, a very similar successful pass rate, and they win more aerial contests. Yet still they are way behind us in the league. Why is that? Could it be this sort of data that the media do put out from time to time might look interesting but unlike the home and away figures, or come to that, tackle, foul and yellow card figures, they don’t directly relate to results?
Perhaps we shall see in the match.
I’m watching that lot up Seven Sister play on the road…what can I say? They aren’t winning any neutrals over with their brand of football. Sure, they are winning at HT but they are ceding possession to… Brighton! I can understand playing so defensively against Arsenal….but…really? Brighton? Kind of sad, really.