Blackpool v Arsenal: the match preview and team guesswork

By Bulldog Drummond There is little point trying to write out a team sheet because far too much is unknown for this match.  We do know that various academy players have been used this season so far, with Bukayo Saka being the last when he came on against Fulham.  But which ones are still in …

The FA Cup Third Round – All the games and match officials including those on VAR duties

by Andrew Crawshaw Here courtesy of thefa.com are all of the games and officials including those on VAR duty.  Kickoffs are at 15:00 unless noted:- Friday 4 January 19.45pm Tranmere Rovers FC v Tottenham Hotspur, Referee Andre Marriner Assistant Referees Edward Smart & Marc Perry Fourth Official Paul Tierney.  The result was 0-7. Saturday 5 …

Arsenal in the FA Cup, and when unbeatable challengers finally fall flat.

By Tony Attwood When it comes to records in the FA Cup there really isn’t much point looking beyond the top two clubs, since they are so far above the rest, no one else could get close for years.   Club Wins Last win Runners up Last 2nd Total finals Arsenal 13 2017 7 2001 …

Blackpool v Arsenal: contemplating the past and the line ups.

By Bulldog Drummond For Arsenal of course this is the start of the FA Cup this season.  For Blackpool it is match number four.  Here are their results thus far… Date Match Result Score 10 Nov 2018 Exeter City v Blackpool W 2-3 30 Nov 2018 Solihull Moors v Blackpool D 0-0 18 Dec 2018 …

The money available: how each of the top six clubs gets it money

By Tony Attwood Accoding to the Swiss Ramble website, between 2008 and 2017 Premier League clubs had over £8 bn of available cash. Of this 54% came from their own operation – that is TV money, marketing income, sponsorship, gate money, prize money and transfer income.   That money is down to the club’s own operating …

In the men’s team, Arsenal could have two new players. Here are the options

By Tony Attwood Following Andrew’s review of the women’s team (see link at the foot of this article) I thought I would return to my contemplations of the men’s squad, and in doing so I have found that for some weeks I’ve been getting things wrong.   So no surprise there.   But then so has the …

Arsenal have two new players – a Central Defender and a Left Footed Winger

by Andrew Crawshaw OK I know that they are both for the Women’s team, but nevertheless they are welcome additions to our wonderful group of players who are currently short in numbers following a real injury crisis. The Club have announced today that they have signed Katrine Veje a 27 year old left footed winger …

Now and then: Arsenal after 21 games compared with previous years.

By Tony Attwood So how are we now doing after the Christmas and New Year rush, having played 21 games, compared with recent seasons?  It’s a question that fascinates me, even if no one else wants to rush into the numbers. It seems to me to be a relevant question since the whole purpose of …

What we are not allowed to talk about concerning Premier League football

By Tony Attwood In our society there are many things that one doesn’t talk about.  Notions that are considered so awful that they simply can’t be debated – at least not in public.  Notions that, if we had the Thought Police actively working on the streets, would lead to instant arrest just for thinking about …

Final score and live match report Arsenal -Fulham : 4-1

By Walter Broeckx A few changes compared to our last match of last year. Lihtsteiner drops to the bench and Koscielny comes in the team to play in a 3 man defense with Mustafi and Sokratis. Maitland-Niles and Kolasinac as wing backs. Torreira also drops to the bench after having played a lot recentely. Aubameyang …

Arsenal v Fulham: can we recover?

By Bulldog Drummond Mesut Ozil will return it seems or at least he will be assessed before the game against Fulham.  And if he doesn’t play – well there will be another outburst of rumours, all without a trace of evidence. In fact as far as we can tell the problem is a knee injury …

Operation clean hands, when will it start in England?

By Walter Broeckx It has been a rather interesting year for football in Belgium.   Belgium, as you may recall,  reached third place in the world cup,  but at the same time not all was well in Belgian football. It might not be a story that has moved across the Channel but in 2018 a …

How four clubs commit fouls with impunity, while others constantly get punished

Below is the data analysing the fouls and cards awarded by referees.   The key findings are Manchester City commit over three times the number of fouls as Arsenal for each yellow card they get. Arsenal at home have had 22 yellow cards this season whilst Manchester City have just five  and Tottenham and Liverpool have seven …

Matchweek 21 – All the Games and Officials, and predictions

by Andrew Crawshaw Here courtesy of premierleague.com are the New Year games.  Please note that kickoffs are at 15:00 London time unless noted otherwise:- Tuesday 1 January 12:30 Everton v Leicester City Referee: Martin Atkinson Assistants: Stephen Child, Lee Betts Fourth official: Anthony Taylor Everton v Leicester: the predictions 15:00 Arsenal v Fulham Referee: Graham Scott Assistants: Richard West, Neil Davies Fourth official: …

Peter Hill Wood and the end of the dream of an Arsenal owned by its fans

By Tony Attwood As you will probably have heard Peter Hill-Wood died this week at the age of 82.  He came onto the board in 1962 and became chairman in 1982, serving until he stepped down through ill health in 2013. The Hill-Wood engagement with Arsenal goes back to the time of Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, the …

Why the failure against Liverpool was inevitable, and what Arsenal need now.

by Tony Attwood During the past two seasons there was a fair amount of talk, not to mention poster waving, along with a spot of aircraft flying and marching, concerning the future of Mr Wenger.   Not particularly to deny what he had done for the club in the past, but rather to question what he …

Final score live match report Liverpool – Arsenal : 5-1

By Walter Broeckx Arsenal team at the start: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Mustafi, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Ramsey, Iwobi, Aubameyang On the beach: Cech, Koscielny, Elneny, Guendouzi, Willock, Saka, Lacazette A first dangerous attempt from Liverpool after some 6 minutes when Salah tries to flick a shot but the ball goes wide. Arsenal keeping Liverpool mostly out …

Liverpool v Arsenal: the teams and the possibilities

by Bulldog Drummond A win in this game would be an absolute miracle or a reason for the media suddenly to discover the dark forces that exist within the footballing underworld.  Or if they don’t want to admit anything might be odd in the world of football it might be simply “inexplicable”.   At least we …

Liverpool v Arsenal. All change at Liverpool, or more of the same?

By Tony Attwood The regular daily praise of Liverpool FC piece in the press today has taken a new twist, as shown in this comment in the Telegraph… When Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool in 2010, John W. Henry reserved particular praise for one English club. “I admire Arsenal very much,” Henry said, citing Wenger’s …

Liverpool v Arsenal: the injuries and the title winners predictions

  By Bulldog Drummond Here is the injury list for the top of the injury league 1 10 West Ham United 2 7 Tottenham Hotspur 2 7 Arsenal 4 6 Manchester City 4 6 Liverpool 4 6 Watford 7 5 Chelsea However one thing to remember is that clubs do far fewer updates than normal …

Liverpool v Arsenal: the preview

by Bulldog Drummond At the end of last season Untold boldly predicted that this season Manchester City would win the League again, quite simply because they would spend, spend, spend and spend, and do everything they could to ensure that they would stay top. In fact we were wrong, they didn’t go on another mass …

Matchweek 20 – All the Games, All the Officials

by Andrew Crawshaw Here, courtesy of premierleague.com, are this weekend’s matches:- NB All matches start at 15:00 UK time unless otherwise noted Previews will appear shortly in https://Predictions.org.uk – links are added below as the previews are published. Saturday 29 December Brighton v Everton Referee: Andy Madley Assistants: Simon Long, Mick McDonough Fourth official: Andre Marriner …

Reality can be very boring but can be quite useful in football

by Tony Attwood Consider this headline Arsenal ‘willing to pay’ €16m to make transfer happen, decision now rests with player That seems quite straightforward, except that the player is Keylor Navas of Real Madrid.   So let’s see if the “Willing to pay” story hangs together. 1: Do we need another goalkeeper?   In their ultimate …

How is Arsenal doing compared with half way through previous seasons?

By Tony Attwood Last season the media and some fans made a lot of noise about getting rid of Mr Wenger as manager.  Within the noise there were claims that Arsenal were clearly not keeping up with the rest of the league, and demands that at the very least Arsenal should be challenging to win …