Morning all.
Two good results in Europe last night as Liverpool were thumped 3-0 at Anfield by Atalanta meaning Klopp will have to play his strongest team in the next leg if Liverpool are to have a chance on progressing through to the next round. Aston Villa beat Lille 2-1 at Villa Park so they can’t take it easy next week either. I’d imagine both managers had hoped for resounding home victories so they could rest a few players next week however, that’s not the case.
Liverpool losing at Anfield is a rarity. To lose 3-0 is, to say the least, one of the shocks of the season. If the result and awful performance shatters their confidence then all the better. Crystal Palace should go to Anfield on Sunday believing they can get something from the game.
Three big fixtures take place on the penultimate weekend of this 2023/24 season and Sky Sports will be showing all of them. Assuming Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City are still in the race come the 12th of May, the weekend kicks off with Arsenal going to Old Trafford on Sunday 12th, Liverpool travel to Aston Villa on Monday 13th and then Man City travel to north London to face Totts on Tuesday 14th.
Three cracking fixtures which as it stands today, each club involved fighting for something. Utd, Totts and Aston Villa are no doubt desperate to secure 4th place. For City, Liverpool and ourselves, it’s the Premier League title.
The fixture schedule has worked out well for Sky Sports but, much can happen before the penultimate weekend of the season, even with just five fixtures between now and then.
Arsenal: Aston Villa (H), Wolves (A) Chelsea (H), Spurs (A), Bournemouth (H), Man Utd (A) and Everton (H)
Liverpool: Crystal Palace (H), Fulham (A), Everton (A), West Ham (A), Tottenham (H), Aston Villa (A), Wolves (H)
Man City: Luton (H), Brighton (A), Nottingham Forest (A), Wolves (H), Fulham (A), Tottenham (A) and West Ham (H)
For Arsenal and Liverpool there’s at least one extra fixture to add to the above schedule which is next week. but for City, there’s European football and the FA Cup to add to their schedule. Not that it bothered them last season of course but in the last few days, their key midfielder Rodri has publicly announced he’s tired and needs a rest. City have 5 fixtures to play within the next 15 days but no, I don’t feel sorry for them.
Sticking with the TV theme, each of Arsenal’s remaining fixtures are being televised barring one which is the Everton game on the last day of the season. That’ll change of course if the title race goes down to the wire and we’re still involved because Sky Sports won’t want to miss another potential “Aguero” moment.
This weekend Arsenal host Aston Villa. The away fixture earlier in the season was one of the big missed opportunities of this campaign. We battered them in every department other than turning chances into goals. Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard spurned chances throughout the game. Saka did find the back of the net but was ruled offside. Havertz too thought he’d scored but referee Gillet spotted a handball in the buildup. Harsh I thought, very harsh. A different referee than Gillet might have awarded us a penalty too when Luiz caught Jesus in the box.
The officials this weekend are:
Referee: David Coote
Assistants: Tim Wood & Mark Scholes.
Fourth official: Paul Tierney.
VAR: Peter Bankes & Nick Hopton.
The last time Coote officiated an Arsenal game it was against Crystal Palace. We won 1-0 but Coote, having already booked Takehiro Tomiyasu for time wasting, sent him off a ‘challenge’ on Ayew. Honestly, I think he’s one of the worst referees in the Premier League. Along with Gillet of course.
Catch up in the comments.
Morning Rico and Co…
One game at a time Rico, one game at a time, even if Bayern looms large in our subconscious.
Arsenal will have had 48 hours more rest than Villa so that will have an influence on the team Arteta picks?
I mean can he afford to rest a few as Bayern will? It’s risky because we have to beat Villa, there’s no room for error and as it stands we probably have a better chance of winning the Prem than the CL.
Liverpool tried to rest a few yesterday and that didn’t end well.
Man City are beginning to feel the effects of two years of two games a week for most of it. That’s the price you pay of being competitive in every competition.
Funny how some Liverpool fans and pundits pompously stated that they’d win the Quadruple as a send off to Klopp.
How’s that going?
Morning Kev, I know. Jump ahead and start looking at upcoming fixtures at our peril. Arteta won’t be that’s for sure and nor will the players. I just hope we batter Villa as we should have in the away fixture.
Come down our left , Emery won’t be expecting it and frankly neither will I. It was strange being in an unusual place the other night but I got a different perspective on things and the amount of space that Martinelli and Trossard had on the left was amazing. Of course we went to our right most of the time and it was just how Bayern wanted us to as they were set up for it .
As for the remaining fixtures we can only look to ourselves , if the others drop points it’s all well and good. I am sure Arteta is planning on winning all his . If we don’t we regroup and go again.
Spurs and Wolwes are directly involved in the decision of the League.
Theoretically, Arsenal have the most complicated calendar.
The last round, under the current circumstances, is played at the same time.
I can’t really argue with that
Afternoon Rico and all.
As everyone has said, we can only concentrate on our games as the rest is out of our hands.
Just repeating what I said late on yesterdays comments, apparently Arteta has green light the sale of Charlie Patino,
Does anyone know what we could get for him
Transfermarket have Patino valued at £10m, that would be a decent fee if we could get it Geoff.
Apparently Charlie, through his father, has a Spanish passport so moving to clubs in the EU is simplified.
Absolutely agree re our left side. I know Saka seems to be the go to player but Martinelli and/or Trossard can be equally as effective. Different yes, but they’re great players who will cause any defence problems.
Afternoon Geoff.
Fans will always look at the bigger picture re fixtures, I know I do, more in hope that City and Liverpool drop points.
Selling Patino wouldn’t surprise me, the club has to generate funds in addition to what CL etc brings in if we’re to keep investing.
Rico, we have to see the Academy as a source of income, the very best will obviously get into the senior squad but most won’t and we’ve got to be grown up about it, of course it would be amazing to have a 1st team where half or most of them came through our Academy but in truth, at the apex that’s not going to happen.
That’s what I was saying re Patino Kev. We can’t keep spending without selling. We’re no longer a club which looks to bring through academy players imo, not unless they’re brilliant at a young age. Since Arteta arrived, not one academy player has been deemed good enough to keep and I doubt that’ll change any time soon.
I suspect Biereth will be sold too..
Good Morning Rico and Co
Regarding Biereth, TM have valued at £3m so yeah, I think we might sell him as well, but maybe for a lot more.
Morning Kev, we should be looking for £20m plus for Biereth imo.
Saying that, Arteta might just keep him as he joined the club under his management. It seems most of our sales are players who he inherited rather than signed.
On your point about Arsenal not being a club that brings through its own players I’m not sure that I fully agree although I do see where you’re coming from.
I don’t think that our Academy has been quite up to the standard that we’ve had in the past (Rocky,Adams etc), I mean under Wenger we weren’t exactly developing our own players then, we were signing them at 15 and 16 from other european academy’s. Chelsea at the time began recruiting some of our best youth staff and scouting in the UK became almost secondary to signing european wunderkinds.
Now we’re no longer able to do that we’ve had to redevelop our domestic scouting again and that takes time to evolve…
I agree totally on Biereth, on both your points
I realise that much has depended on the quality of player Kev but I still think the academy is very much about raising funds. Perhaps it’s the same for many clubs around the top because few seem to break through and stay put.
Newcastle smashed Tottenham 4 nil
If the academy is not producing players of the quality needed for the first team squad, what’s the point of having an academy?
The transfer fees we are likely to get for academy rejects are hardly going to pay the running costs of the operation.
Take a look at our first choice starting eleven, only Saka is an academy graduate. There are less than a handful of graduates on the bench, Nketiah, Nelson and ESR. Of those three only ESR is in real contention for a regular starting spot.
Is it our academy players that are good enough or is it all these managers that Arteta has selected for the academy that are no good at coaching
Other than Saka Cicero, the rest of our academy players are making up the home grown numbers imo.
More likely Mertesacker Geoff rather than Arteta.
As much as it’s always good to see Spurs get a hiding , it gives Villa an extra incentive tomorrow to open a gap on them
Manchester United are not enjoying their visit to the South Coast. Bournemouth are taking them apart. Leading 2 – 1 at half time, but it probably should be 3 or even 4 – 1.99
Angry pot of glue ( spell checkers eh?) has got his work cut out to keep Spurs in the chase for European football next season. I reckon they will need a complete rebuild, but will Daniel Levy be either willing or able to spend the money.
Isn’t their owner in trouble too, or has been? Lewis something or other, or Joe Lewis?
We have to play Utd, Totts and Chavs so I’m not laughing at them just yet. Powder dry and all that…
Oh, and Bournemouth, we have to play them too…
Joe Lewis has, I believe, divested himself of his shares in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Although It has been suggested that they are still in the ownership of his family. He escaped a prison sentence with a plea bargain and a very large fine.
Ah, ok. Thanks.
New post up