By Bulldog Drummond
In the 104 Arsenal v Southampton games across the centuries Arsenal have won 53, Southampton 23 and 28 have been drawn. Which means we have won just over half – and naturally we hope to keep that fraction rising today.
Of the last ten games between the two clubs, Arsenal have won five – which is maintaining that average of around 50%. For the last five at Southampton however, we’ve slipped below that average winning just two of the three…
| Date | Game | Res |
Score | Competition |
| 16 Dec 2018 | Southampton v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 25 Jun 2020 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 23 Jan 2021 | Southampton v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | FA Cup |
| 26 Jan 2021 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 16 Apr 2022 | Southampton v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
But Southampton are in the midst of a bad run in the league as the “last six” table shows. And we should remember that the “last six” table and others of the same variety, have given us a very good insight into current form, as we’ve tested it out over the last couple of seasons.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 15 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Man City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 13 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| 6 | Man Utd | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | Bournemouth | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Everton | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 |
| 10 | Brentford | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 8 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 8 |
| 12 | West Ham | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 13 | Fulham | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 13 | -2 | 7 |
| 14 | Leicester | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 13 | -2 | 7 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 6 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 10 | -7 | 6 |
| 17 | Brighton | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 5 |
| 18 | Nott’m Forest | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 5 |
| 19 | Southampton | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 4 |
| 20 | Leeds | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 2 |
Form changes over time of course and on a historical basis (rather than the hysterical basis adopted by the media and Mr Klopp) Liverpool might well recover to get into the top seven. But the top six clubs in the table are all part of the Big Seven that we talked about during the summer so that prediction of adding Newcastle (admittedly not a very hard guess to make) is coming to pass.
On the basis of that table if we take Arsenal’s figures Arsenal will win 2-1. If we take Southampton’s it could be 3-0 or 3-1. I’ll be happy with any of those.
Here is the team…
The Standard go with
Ramsdale;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu;
Odegaard, Partey, Xhaka;
Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Sports Mole have exactly the same but with a slightly different formation
Ramsdale;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu;
Xhaka, Partey;
Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli;
Jesus
But really I think that is semantics.
The Short Fuse agree with the line-up and helpfully add a bench of
- Eddie Nketiah
- Fabio Vieira
- Marquinhos
- Reiss Nelson
- Albert Sambi Lokonga
- Rob Holding
- Kieran Tierney
- Oleksandr Zinchenko
- Matt Turner
Yahoo goes with exactly the same team, and when we get four in a row all agreeing with each other then unless the manager has a sudden insight or someone is injured walking from the coach to the ground I think we can take it that’s it.
So to finish, here’s the actual league table, for no reasons other than it shows the top seven places are the Big Seven and we are top of the league.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 27 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 11 | 25 | 26 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 23 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 21 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 20 |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 16 |
- The Saints can put in 56% more tackles than Arsenal before getting a card
- Arsenal play Southampton as League attack Arsenal with discipline charge and brawls become commonplace
Not too much of a surprise in the team:
Ramsdale
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu
Xhaka, Thomas
Saka,
Odegaard (c) Martinelli
Jesus
Substitutes: Turner, Cedric, Holding, Tierney, Lokonga, Vieira, Nelson, Marquinhos, Nketiah
When I see how Caretta-Car is hugging Jesus everytime he is near him I’m starting to wonder if the guy should not out himself. Visibly the PGMOL employee on the field must think so as he lets him give his love all the time…
The refereeing is such a charade….
That being said, we are definitely lacking energy in this second half.
That was easily the worst refereeing performance I have seen this season, and I’ve seen quite a few bad ones.
Why no red card for the blatant head butt on Eddie.? Dominant all-in wrestling display by their centre-back and outrageous yellow card for Bukayo for being flattened by 2 opponents.
I think we were being punished today for the VAR performance last week when they (rightfully) overturned the red card/penalty. The ref today was completely awful. How many times Jesus was completely held and even in the penalty area (VAR should have corrected the ref as it was a clear holding foul – and even a red card should have been given) and he just ignored it time and again.
Mind you we had enough chances in the first half to have 2-0 advantage and that would have put the game to bed. But it was difficult against a team that was allowed everything on the field and a ref who was either incompetent or plain biased.
Mr Jones the referee was truly appalling and he definitely played a significant part in us dropping 2 points but the truth is our finishing was so poor in the 1st half when we had them on the rack.
Still, we go again on Thursday.
We were always going to be made to pay for all those correct VAR calls going our way last week, and there we have it.
As seismic says, worst refereeing performance of the season. Biased doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Man I was pissed watching the ref dismiss the rugby tackles. Shaka yellow was a joke Eddie getting headbutted took the biscuit and the whole tin. Every time we get some form the refs decisions go crazy
Robert Jones gave Bukayo Saka a yellow card for being fouled. Even the anti-Arsenal media agreed that the card was wrong.
GJ spoke to Jones after the game and asked why his being manhandled by Caleta-Car did not warrant a penalty. Jones apparently said “if you go down before maybe I can give a penalty”.
On the one hand Saka gets a yellow card for going down after being fouled.
On the other hand the referee is encouraging GJ to go down in order to award a penalty.
Am I the only one who sees a very serious problem when referees encourage players to dive? No wonder football is in such a godforsaken mess.
I thought it was interesting that Jones stopped play to award Saka the yellow card, and gave a free-kick to Southampton. Isn’t that type of offence dealt with the next time the ball goes out of play?
I watched Dermot Gallagher on Sky today. Every time he tries to justify a bad decision, he wheels out the old “it’s a contact sport” chestnut. Players handle the ball in the box, and he starts on the “natural position” explanation, depending upon which teams are involved. Is he the best that the 21st Century has to offer?
Another Dermot Gallagherism – “a tangle of legs”. From where I was sitting the Southampton player had both arms wrapped around Jesus’ torso and was pulling his shirt. If Gallagher cannot distinguish between arms and legs, he should be looking for alternative employment.