So it wasn’t so bad after all. Arsenal still five points clear with a game in hand

 

Looking back at today’s results

• WSL Round Up – West Ham v Arsenal Sunday 18:45

By Tony Attwood

So here we are watching West Ham v Arsenal women’s game on Sky, knowing that the league table is still as it was.   Arsenal are five points ahead of Manchester City, eight above Manchester United and 10 above Newcastle, and with a game in hand.   What odds could you have got on that at the start of the season?

As for the league table the reality is still the same…  Tottenham Hots have climbed away a little from Brighton and Hove in the clamber for Europa League places.

 

P	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	20	16	2	2	45	17	28	50
2	Manchester City	21	14	3	4	53	21	32	45
3	Manchester United	21	13	3	5	34	26	8	42
4	Newcastle United	21	10	10	1	34	12	22	40
5	Tottenham Hotspur	22	12	3	7	41	31	10	39
6	Brighton and Hove Albion	20	10	4	6	38	27	11	34

 

Chelsea and Liverpool occupy ninth and tenth place.  And there is no doubt that Arsenal have earned their place being second highest goal scorers, the second best defence and the second best goal difference.   But the point is the top scoring team (Manchester City) is not the top defensive team (Newcastle).

But, and this is the bit you perhaps may not have expected, just take a look at what has happened in the last six games.  What money could you have made from having a bet on Brentford’s form this season.

Premier League Form (Last 6)

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Brentford	6	4	2	0	12	3	9	14
2	Brighton	6	4	1	1	15	8	7	13
3	Arsenal	6	4	1	1	12	6	6	13
4	Man Utd	6	4	1	1	11	6	5	13
5	Nott’m Forest	6	3	2	1	6	5	1	11
6	Man City	6	3	1	2	10	6	4	10

 

Only three of the places in the last six table are taken by the traditional big six clubs.  Liverpool are 12th and Chelsea 13th.

But I am going to take the last ten matches table down further because the results really are worth noting.

 

Premier League Form (Last 10)

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	10	7	2	1	21	7	14	23
2	Newcastle	10	6	4	0	16	3	13	22
3	Man Utd	10	7	1	2	18	10	8	22
4	Brighton	10	6	1	3	24	16	8	19
5	Man City	10	6	1	3	17	10	7	19
6	Brentford	10	5	4	1	17	11	6	19
7	Aston Villa	10	6	1	3	18	15	3	19
8	Nott’m Forest	10	5	3	2	10	12	-2	18
9	Tottenham	10	5	1	4	18	17	1	16
10	Fulham	10	4	2	4	10	8	2	14
11	Leicester	10	4	1	5	15	13	2	13
12	Liverpool	10	4	1	5	12	16	-4	13
13	Wolverhampton	10	3	2	5	10	16	-6	11
14	Crystal Palace	10	3	2	5	7	13	-6	11
15	Leeds	10	2	3	5	15	19	-4	9
16	Chelsea	10	2	3	5	6	10	-4	9

 

The fall of Liverpool and Chelsea really hasn’t been an early season wobble but is now deeply ingrained in the clubs.  Of course the winter transfers for Chelsea might see them revive themselves but they really do have a deep malaise in the club which needs to be addressed before they can make any progress.

One thing I would not have guessed without reference to the charts is that Brighton have become the top scorers in the last ten.  It’s extraordinary – their manager upped sticks and went to Chelsea, and yet they are still marching on while Chelsea are going nowhere but down for the moment.

Newcastle still have the best defence but they keep on drawing games, which isn’t really doing their attempts to get to the top very helpful.

Tottenham will of course be celebrating like mad today because they do tend to celebrate individual victories (probably because they don’t have that many trophies to celebrate) but they are ninth in the league table based on the last ten.

More tomorrow.