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Tiger Taming at the Emirates

Nov 6th, 2026 by

The Dead Tiger, engraved by H.Merke after an original design by Captain T. Williamson

And so to the Stadium of Stone, where there be tigers, come Saturday afternoon.

Our visitors started the season burning bright on their return to the top flight, beating the Red Mancs and Coventry, but their symmetry has become less fearful. Last weekend’s 2-2 home draw with fellow returnees Ipswich was Hull City’s seventh successive league game without a win (five draws and two losses). After nine games, they sit in 11th on 11 points. That, though, is their second-best start to a PL campaign, and it easily defies the consensus among Predictathon players that the Tigers would soon return whence they came.

Our first encounter with Hull City came in the FA Cup First Round in January 1908. It had not been long since the Hull Daily Mail’s columnist, Athleo, had launched a campaign in 1905, urging the club’s fans to adopt the ‘battle-cry’ of ‘the Tigers’, inspired by the team’s amber-and-black striped shirts. 

A tiger did not appear on the club badge until 1947. There was no crest at all on Hull’s shirts until 1935, when a badge featuring the three crowns from Kingston upon Hull’s coat of arms was introduced as part of a switch to playing in the city’s civic colours, blue and white. The unpopular decision was reversed the following season.

Back to 1908. We drew 0-0 in Plumstead, with the First Division side (us) failing to convert multiple chances against Second Division visitors. In the replay, the Daily Mirror’s expectation that ‘the Arsenal can hardly play so badly as they did last Saturday’ proved wildly off the mark. We were mauled 4-1, having gone 3-0 behind within the first quarter of an hour. 

A historical footnote: that was Billy Garbutt’s final game for Woolwich Arsenal, after which he would go on to manage in Italy during the 1920s and 1930s. 

Garbutt’s death in 1964 passed almost unnoticed in England. In Italy, among the glowing tributes, was one from Vittorio Pozzo, who coached Italy’s winning World Cup teams in 1934 and 1938. Garbutt, he said, was ’the most important man in the history of Italian football’. 

Like Johnny Madden, mentioned by Trev in his excellent preview of our Slavia Prague game, Garbutt was a prophet without honour in his own country.

Occasional company

Saturday’s game will be Hull’s 200th Premier League game, but only its 11th against us. We beat them in seven of those, drew twice and lost once.

Matches between the two clubs have been relatively few and far between. Saturday’s will be the first since February 2017. The two clubs never met in the old First Division. In four Second Division matches between 1913 and 1915, we won two, drew one and lost one. 

Throw in nine FA Cup matches and three League Cup ties, and our overall record is 18 wins, five draws and three losses.

Sergej Jakirović

The tall, 49-year-old Sergej Jakirović is in his second season as head coach at Hull, having won league and cup titles in the Balkans, most recently in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb. He arrived via Kayserispor in Turkey after a 9-2 Champions League thrashing by Bayern Munich cost him his job in Zagreb. 

As a player, he earned five caps as a central defender for Bosnia-Herzegovina and played for 20 clubs in Croatia, Bulgaria and Austria. Although born in Mostar, now in Bosnia-Herzegovina, he was raised in Metković, 40 kilometres up the road in what is now Croatia, where his father played for one of the town’s clubs.

In the Premier League, he has abandoned the 4-2-3-1, which often looked more like a 4-3-3 and won him promotion via the play-offs last season. Instead, he has adopted the more defensively solid 5-4-1, a realistic assessment of what a newly promoted club needs to survive in the Premier League — although he reverted to 4-3-3 in the second half of the Ipswich game after falling behind and says Hull won’t beat us by sitting back in a 5-4-1. 

His teams are known for disciplined, compact defensive organisation, comfort with the opposition having the majority of possession (they were 19th in the Championship for possession last season) and aggressive counter-pressing after losing the ball, a tactic employed against us with some success by Slavia Prague, Leeds and Brighton. The goals come from fast counter-attacks and set pieces.

Jakirović brought his coaching staff from Dinamo Zagreb and Kayserispor to drill his approach into his new charges. The club backed him with its recruitment, buying direct forwards who will run and shoot, wingers who will carry the ball upfield quickly, and defenders whose mentality is as important as their playing ability.

The opposition

Young Greece international Konstantinos Tzolakis, a €23 million summer signing from Olympiacos and the joint most expensive part of Hull’s €176 million rebuild for life in the Premier League, has started his career as a glove-butler in the top flight of English football in fine form.

In front of him will be three big, physical centre-backs, Semi Ajaya, once of this parish and who has since won 53 caps for Nigeria, the veteran Ireland international John Egan, and one of the two young centre-backs bought in the summer, 21-year-old Senegal international Nobel Mendy, who cost €23 million from Rayo Vallecano, and 18-year-old Lucas Harrington, a €15 million acquisition from KSE’s Colorado Rapids in the MLS.

To flank them, Jakirović will likely perm two from another one formerly of this parish, England U-21 right back, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, a summer arrival from Genoa (where Garbutt made his name), former England U-20 defender Ryan Giles, and club captain Lewie Coyle, who is Hull-born but was raised in Leeds’s youth system. Ex-Newcastle man Matt Targett, another summer arrival, has been kept out of the side by an ankle injury.

Yet another summer arrival, Tim Iroegbunam, the ex-Everton 23-year-old, is likely to be partnered in central midfield by Regan Slater, as Hidemasa Morita, who anchors Japan’s midfield and was signed from Sporting on a free in the summer, was injured in training midweek. Slater was bought from Sheffield United’s U-23s four and a half years ago.

Algeria international Mo Belloumi, who is the club’s leading goal scorer and assist-maker this season, will provide width on the right. On the left, Sweden international Elliot Stroud, signed from Mjällby in the summer for €2.5 million, has recently displaced Wales international Sorba Thomas, who arrived from Stoke in the summer for €8.8 million.

Up front, Oli McBurnie serves as the target for the long balls that spring Hull’s direct counter-attacks. Picked up on a free at the start of last season from Las Palmas, McBurnie brings more than 100 games of PL experience with Sheffield United and Swansea, and the mix of patience and efficiency with which he waited until the 95th minute of last season’s play-off final to score the only goal of the game — although, for Scotland, he is so patient that he has yet to score in 20 appearances.

For the bench, Jakirović has  Joe Gelhardt, who cost €7.6 million in the summer from Leeds, and another striker, 19-year-old Frenchman Robinio Vaz, who is on loan from AS Roma. Like Thomas, Vaz has been dropped to the bench of late, with Jakirović saying neither is fit enough to start. 

Mohamed-Ali Cho, bought from Nice for €15 million in the summer, has been providing fresh legs on the right wing. Former France U-21 international DM Lucas Gourna-Douath is also available after missing four games due to a calf injury. However, the go-to sub in central midfield, veteran Matt Crooks, is suspended after accumulating five yellow cards.

Defender Charlie Hughes, forward Ilyas Ansah and midfielder Eliot Matazo are all off-games.

The Arsenal

We return home after three away games in seven days, having shown the weariness of travellers in the second half in Prague midweek. Nonetheless, I doubt that Arteta will give Declan Rice an extra day off to unpack, even though this might be an ideal game for a Guimarães-MLS pairing. Thus:

Raya

Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori

Rice, Guimarães

Madueke, Ødegaard, Tzolis

Havertz

Like Daniel Farke at Leeds, Jakirović has drilled his outfit into a well-organised, high-intensity and physical side. He will likely copy Farke’s blueprint that caused us to huff and puff for two-thirds of the match against Leeds last month. 

We will start this game as heavy favourites.  It might not be a pretty watch for much of the time unless we can get an early goal, but we should run out at least 2-0 winners.

Enjoy the game, ‘Holics, near and far.

Posted in Match Preview | 13 Drinks »

A Tale of Two Halves

Nov 5th, 2026 by

Arsenal arrived in Prague to play Slavia on the heels of an impressive team defensive display Sunday last at Anfield, which brought us to a 1-0 victory. We are undefeated in this year’s league phase of the Champions League, with the only apology our 2-2 draw against Bayern. To say we arrived on a bit of a high might be incorrect, but I wouldn’t put it past our squad to feel like purring into Prague feeling something…asiprational (tipping hat to Trev).

While we ran out winners 2-1 and ascended the league phase table to 3rd (one of only 4 teams to remain unbeaten), it was such a game of two halves. In the first half we scored two, and could have run up towards a scoreline that resembled what Como did to Lens (9-1!), but our profligacy very nearly came back to haunt us as Slavia pulled a goal back late in the second half…

The First Half
In his preview Trev called the squad excepting Rice and Gyökeres started rather than MLS and Bruno. Arteta thus rang in 6 changes from who started at Anfield; I would have preferred it be 7 or 8 changes, with Rice and Gabriel starting from the bench, but those decisions why they pay Mikel the big bucks. Surprisingly, and frighteningly, Saliba made the bench. We started thusly:

Raya
White – Konsa – Gabriel – Hincapié
Zubimendi – Merino – Rice
Madueke – Gyökeres – Eze

And very quickly it was shown to be a good lineup. In the first few minutes we had a couple of attacks fizzle out, one for offside and one due to a slightly overhit cross cleared by Slavia’s defense. Then, after a break by Slavia Raya cleared the ball past midfield for Gyökeres to bring down, hold up, and in the same motion lace the ball upfield ahead of Madueke. Noni beat his defender to the ball, and after a couple of fine touches snaked a sharp shot through the legs of Slavia’s keeper Domchak for Arsenal’s first goal. It was outstanding work from back to front; kudos to Gyökeres for his awareness and skill to get the assist, and to Madueke for his control and shot placement.

Arsenal 1-0 Slavia (Madueke, 9)

We continued as we started, and as the half wore on we had half-chance after half-chance. On 24′ Merino headed over after good work again by Gyökeres; only three minutes later Merino would test the keeper after a lovely move involving Madueke feeding White, who cut back to Merino from the byline…only to have Domchak stick out a strong hand to block the goalbound shot. In other circumstances we could have been up 3-0 and away…

Arsenal were having their way with Slavia’s defense, but Slavia kept threatening to break. Our defense held, but one such foray led to a Slavia throw-in from the right side facing goal, about twelve yards from the corner flag. They played the near-post routine almost perfectly, and a Slavia player connected with the flick-on putting it just outside Raya’s post. It would have been a miracle goal, but it certainly served fair warning to our defense.

On 38′ Merino won the ball back in their half, feeding Rice to drive forward, finding Gyökeres. He played a 1-2 with Merino, then took three exquisite touches to sit Slavia’s defense and curl the ball into the far corner of Domchak’s net, off the post. A truly beautiful goal.

Arsenal 2-0 Slavia (Gyökeres, 38)

Fair play to Slavia, they didn’t let their spirits drop, though they were distinctly second best to our second goal, and beyond. Gabriel nearly made it 3 with a header saved by a Slavia defender, and we went into half time after a minute of stoppage time. We had something like 75% possession in the first half, and could easily have been up 5-0 on another day. Our defense showed the same energy and solidity it had showed at Anfield, and all we needed was to play the second half like the first to run out easy winners.

The Second Half
But of course, it being Arsenal, it didn’t work out that way.

Slavia made two changes, a defender and a forward, and within the first minute of the half Kubiak’s shot on target forced Raya to save low to his left. That should have been a warning to us, but again it went unheeded. We looked like we’d shifted down a gear, almost to a level of somnolence, and Slavia seemed to take heart from our torpor. The were first to balls in the second half that we were first to in the first and they won free kicks all over the pitch. Fortunately none of them led to anything other than poor attempts at goal, but they were picking up speed even as we were shedding ours.

On 62′ Arteta appeared to have enough of this. Mosquera came on for the yellow-card-burdened Konsa, and Tzolis replaced a very quiet Eze. The hope seemed to be that the subs would gee us up and bring us back into the game, which was beginning to pass us by. Rice earned a yellow card for kicking away the ball in annoyance at a soft foul called for his slight touch of Slavia’s masked man; I think that was the opportune moment to substitute either MLS or Bruno and give our man Declan a chance to rest. But no, he stayed on.

On 72′ Madueke nailed Domchak with a stinging shot to his chest, one that he knew little about. Another chance missed. And a couple minutes later Slavia threatened from a corner, and it led to two chances; the first Gabriel headed away, the second Raya blocked. In that passage of play Slavia had a penalty shout, but Merino’s aerial challenge was deemed legal.

Arteta’s next move to rouse his slumbering troops was to bring in Mø and Timber for Vic and White. Bravo to Victor for an excellent game in the first half, though he was as anonymous as the rest of the squad in the second. My only thought, at that time, was “No Injuries, Please”. After another round of Slavia substitutes they played in a right-sided cross that led to a goal-bound header past a beaten Timber. Raya tipped it onto his post, then used all of his hands and head to keep the ball from crossing the line as he gathered it into his control. The closest call yet!

Until the 90th minute. A Slavia throw-in led to a left-sided cross into the box; Timber and Gabriel marked the same man, getting in each other’s way. The ball bounced through to an unmarked Praguelodyte who laced it into the top of the net. There will need to be some discussion about this one…

Arsenal 2-1 Slavia (Nowak, 90)

And that was pretty much the end of the game, though some inability of the Arsenal defense to clear the ball led to a very last-second shot that was easily gathered by Raya. We’d made it through with another victory, though we lost the clean sheet. It was a game we should have had out of sight at the half, but a combination of good enough defense from Slavia and poor finishing from those who should finish better meant we were limited to our two goal advantage going into the second half.

And was a horrible second half it was. That may be an overstatement, but we looked slow, tired, and nowhere near the squad we’d looked in the first half. Were Slavia a better side they could have punished us; it’s our luck that we faced them tonight rather than our next Champions League opponents Dortmund, who are pushing to rise from 12th into the top 8 by the start of the knockout stages. That Dortmund team just today gave a very good Betis team their first loss.

Well, onwards. Rice needs a rest, and with Max’s 3-game ban in the league we’re thin beyond Madueke up front right. Victor had a man-of-the-match performance tonight; can he continue in such a vein of form in the league?Saliba is clearly ready to be involved (but please have him be “injured” through this coming Interlull!), and our defense as a whole looked good, regardless of the goal. We just looked tired. One more game before we break for two weeks, home against Hull. Can we win that and hope some of our internationals can catch some rest while away on duty? Newcastle away awaits us upon our return to league play, and then Dortmund and C115y* to round out November. Let us pray to Dennis that our tired legs see some healing and renewal in the meantime.

COYG!

Posted in Champions League, Match Report | 34 Drinks »

Arsenal Aspire to Inspire in City of 100 Spires

Nov 3rd, 2026 by

On Wednesday evening the Arsenal play SK Slavia Prague for the sixth time in the club’s history. So far Arsenal remain unbeaten against the Czechs, having won three and drawn two of their five previous encounters.

The first meeting took place in our second season at the Emirates, on 23rd October 2007 in the Champions League, and resulted in a mighty 7-0 win. Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Theo Walcott scored two each in that win with The Greatest Striker That Ever Lived rounding off the seven. I was there for that memorable evening of Wengerball at its finest. A brilliant performance.

The return leg, a mere two weeks later, produced something of a turnaround and a 0-0 draw in the Czech Republic. Anyone travelling to this week’s fixture will find themselves now heading for “Czechia”. In case you share my confusion, the new moniker is the country’s short geographic name (adopted apparently as long ago as 2016!) while The Czech Republic remains its full formal name. Why have I bothered to go into such detail about the country’s name? Only because while looking up the explanation, I was very surprised to find a similar example much closer to home. France, apparently, is only the short geographic name for that country’s full formal name which remains The French Republic. I have never heard anyone use it outside of a history lesson, far too many years ago. Every day remains, for me at least, a school day.

Our other games against Slavia have proved somewhat all or nothing – a 1-1 draw and a 4-0 win in the Europa League in April 2021, and a 3-0 away win in the Champions League in November last year.

The Opposition 
To give them their proper name, Sportovni Klub Slavia Praha – bless you! – was founded in November 1892 by medical students in Vinohrady, Prague, as a literary and cycling club. It lasted only three years and was succeeded by a new club in 1895. The new iteration was initially focused on cycling, and expanded to include football in 1896. On 25th March of that year, Slavia won their first match against AC Prague 5-0. Four days later they played against Sparta Prague in a 0-0 draw and the country’s main rivalry, which continues to this day, had begun.

In 1905, the Scottish manager and former Celtic player, Johnny Madden brought new tactics and views on football to the club. He managed to set up an early golden age for the club that lasted 25 years. They won their first league title in 1913 and then mirrored Arsenal’s own decade of dominance in the 1930s. In the 1934 World Cup the Czechoslovak team included eight Slavia players. Madden retired from both Slavia and professional football at the age of 66, though he remained in Prague for the rest of his life.

In the 1940s Slavia enjoyed a second period of domination led by Josef Bican from Admira Vienna and produced titles in 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943 while many Czech footballers were away at war, and then again in 1946/47. The 1950s and 1960s brought a decline in their fortunes. They were relegated twice in the early 1960s but returned to the top flight in 1965.
Since the foundation of the Czech league in 1993 they have won nine league titles – and a host of domestic cups. They mirrored another Arsenal achievement in their 2020/21 title winning season by going undefeated and setting a Czech record for the longest top-flight unbeaten league run of 54 games.

In Europe they have a good record in the Europa League with quarter and semi final appearances in 1996, 2019 and 2021. Their Champions League qualifications came in 2007/8, 2019, 2025 and obviously this season too. They finished last season’s campaign in 34th place.

If you are an expert on European football you may recognise the name of the Slavia manager, Jindrich Trpisovsky, who has been in post since 2017. I didn’t. I also didn’t recognise the name of a single one of their squad and will risk your disappointment by not attempting to go into any detail about them. In a search for famous names amongst their former players I found Vladimir Šmicer, Karel Poborský, Patrik Berger, Vladimir Coufal and Tomáš Souček. Sorry, but that was it. 

They currently lead the Czech First League by 7 points from Mladá and Sigma after 13 games – for context Sparta Prague are a point further behind in fourth place, but we really should be quite confident of beating them – whoever and however they play.

The Arsenal
Although this is a Champions League game, the level of opposition should allow for some significant rotation. The game at Anfield will have taken a lot out of the players and another physical challenge awaits in less than three days when Hull City visit the Emirates. And, after all, those rotated in to my suggested XI include two Spanish World Cup winners, four England internationals and a Brazilian international and an Ecuadorian international. Sunday’s starters can switch to being finishers. 

I don’t think Mikel Arteta will start Tzolis again, so soon after an albeit impressive return from injury, and Madueke has little option but to continue at the moment after a much improved appearance against Liverpool. Konsa and Gabriel seem certain to continue their partnership, with Mosquera to come on if we are comfortable. Hinkapié is a more natural fit with Eze on the left for me, as he is a bit more stable in position while Eze tends to drift inside. There has been mention of a slight muscle injury for Eze but he was fit enough for the bench at Anfield and is expected to be available.

The player I really don’t know what to do with is Viktor Gyökeres. He should be able to bang a few in against last season’s 34th placed team but he even looked lost against Fleetwood Town last week. He came on at Anfield to relieve Kai Havertz but made bad decisions and repeatedly lost the ball. For that reason I’ve left him out and picked Mikel Merino up front as he is technically far superior and has a great scoring record both for us and for Spain. 

All the squad players need to play if they are to find and maintain form. The eleven I’ve chosen would, I think, still be the envy of most Premier League sides, and that is without even considering William Saliba and Bukayo Saka.

And so, I’d start with:

Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Hinkapié; Zubimendi, MLS, Guimarães; Madueke, Merino, Eze.

In Other News 
Apparently there will not be any pre-match photographs taken at the Fortuna Arena as the club photographer was badly injured at the weekend. He was taking a group photo at a wedding reception when a huge block of cheddar fell on him. The people in the photo had even tried to warn him.

And, a violinist in the Prague Philharmonic noticed that he couldn’t keep his violin in tune so he asked the conductor of the orchestra if he could help. “Take it to Opporknockety,” said the conductor. “He is a genuine violin expert.” The violinist packed his things and made the trek to the village where the expert lived. Sure enough, Opporknockety fixed the problem and the violin sounded great. A few years later, the violinist noticed that his instrument was once again failing to stay in tune. The violinist said to his conductor, “I guess I’ll have to take it back to Opporknockety.” “No, you can’t,” said the conductor, “Opporknockety only tunes once.

And Finally
Clock End Rider and son, 21CG are travelling to Prague for this one. Safe journeys to them. Enjoy the game wherever you’re watching.

Kick off is 20.00 UK time. TV coverage on TNT Sports.

Come on you Reds! 

Posted in Match Preview | 41 Drinks »

A Statement Win at Anfield

Nov 2nd, 2026 by

The Countrymen celebrate at Anfield

It was a misty autumnal morning as we set off to the North West in search of three elusive points at Anfield. Four hours later and after a quick swap of drivers, we drew up at our reserved parking space, a drive in a modern development of houses which were, literally, within sight of Anfield. Five minutes later we were in the ground. 

As always here, the local stewards, while numerous, were pleasant, helpful and funny. I was patted down by a middle aged steward who explained that I needed to open my jacket for inspection and would I mind him doing it as he could see I had my stick in one hand and my phone (and hence ticket) in the other. I replied not at all, in fact in was the best offer I’d had in weeks. He guffawed and said in his broad Scouse accent “me too lad, me too!”. 

I think Anfield is a magnificent stadium. The away fans are given a very similar slot to those at the Emirates, all lower tier, and about half of the Anfield Road end. Like at Villa Park, every seat has a fantastic view. Liverpool were an early adopter of safe standing and the rails are at a perfect height. I pointed out to my son, like I always do, the spot from which Mickey Thomas fired home that goal to win the league in 1989. 

The team news was good and interesting.

Raya, Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori, Bruno, Rice, Ødegaard, Noni, Havertz, Tzolis. 

Before the game, we got the usual rendition of ‘You’ll never walk alone‘. I’m sure you all know that it was written for a Broadway musical, ‘Carousel’, in 1956, and not by Gerry and the Pacemakers. Still it got the Anfield faithful up and roused, until the MC announced the Remembrance Day ceremony, the laying of poppy wreaths and the playing of the Last Post. These were observed, as you would expect from two classy clubs, in total silence.

So we were off, kicking towards the Kop. We started really well. Young Nyoni announced himself by two Achilles raking tackles on Ødegaard and Havertz and was lucky to escape without a card. Mateta was sent off yesterday for Palace for a very similar tackle. 

We were buzzing around the Liverpool penalty area when, in the 16th minute, we scored a beautiful team goal. Ødegaard recycled it to Noni, on our right, and he laid in Rice on the overlap. Declan fizzed a perfect ball across the 6 yard box, defeating the defenders there, to find Kai on the back post to fire it in. Cue quite delirious celebrations in the away end. When they eventually calmed down I found the guy from the row behind me reaching across me to the row in front of me. His spectacles had flown from his head in the scrimash and were lying on the floor. Fortunately we were able to retrieve them and return them safely. 

‘Waka waka‘ and ‘1-0 to The Arsenal‘ rent the Liverpool air. 

Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal (Havertz, 16)

Now, how would they respond? Very well, as it happened. For the next 30 minutes they laid siege to our goal. Barcola was being given lots of space on his left wing and created all sorts of mischief. A lovely cross almost found Isak. Later viewing of highlights showed me that he was being tugged back by Timber and that we were very fortunate not to have a penalty awarded against us. A few moments later, a cross did reach MacAllister unmarked on the penalty spot and he should have scored with a header, but blazed it over, to the great relief and hilarity of the Gooners behind the goal. Wirtz hit the crossbar, with Raya beaten, with what looked like another intended cross.

At half time we were still winning 1-0 but a Liverpool goal looked a certainty. But in the second half it didn’t arrive. The subbing on of Myles for Bruno added control to our midfield. Bruno is looking a game changing super sub but hasn’t done well in the games he’s started. Later, we ended the game with two left backs on the left wing as Hincapié came on for Tzolis, negating the dangerous Ngumoha who came on for an out of sorts Gakpo. Merino came on for Ødegaard and Gyökeres for Havertz. Liverpool rained in cross after cross but they were all headed away comfortably. They did not have a shot on goal in the whole game. Shot after shot from outside or just in the area were blocked

Late on, a clearance found Ødegaard on the edge of our box. He was fouled and a free kick given. MacAllister took extreme exception to this and stood over our Captain who was prone on the turf, screaming at him and finally pushing his head into the ground. Our lads naturally took exception to this and rushed to the skipper’s defence. Timber was to the fore, as was Noni, who was on a yellow card, and who went face to face with MacAllister. There was the very slightest touch of heads but the odious Argentinian went down dramatically clutching his face and stayed down for two minutes. Cheating South American bar steward! Andy Madley used his common sense and didn’t start waving red cards about. He was strongly backed up after the game by various media commentators who saw nothing in it. 

The longer the second half went on the less likely it seemed that Liverpool would score. In the 96th minute Madley blew the final whistle and we had won at Anfield for the first time since 2012. Your correspondent had never seen us win there live. The Arsenal faithful, many of whom were in the same boat, were jubilant.

‘That’s why we’re champions! That’s why we’re champions!‘

‘Say we are, top of the league
‘Say we are top of the league!‘

I believe Gary Neville (who he?) described this as a defensive masterclass. It’s not often he gets anything right but it certainly was. The whole defence was magnificent. I’m going to single out Ezri Konsa who was superb, but they were all good. It was a clear MOTM performance from Declan Rice, both in defence and attack. Truly, he is the heartbeat of our team. 

Off and into the car by just before seven. Unfortunately the M6 (closed near Birmingham) and the A14 (closed near the M6) did their worst and it took six hours to get home. We stopped briefly for a quick KFC at Keele services. It’s not all award winning Indian restaurants in our life on the road you know. 

Our first five away games have been Villa, Sunderland, Brighton, Forest and Liverpool. From those same games last season we took five points. This season we have taken 12. Next up Slavia Prague (good luck to CER who assures me he will not be joining any stag parties whilst over there) and then our last game before the Interlull will be Hull at home, in an old school 3pm kick off. 

Posted in Match Report | 30 Drinks »

There is a Tide in the Affairs of Men…

Oct 31st, 2026 by

Santi Cazorla fires in Arsenal’s second goal at Anfield in September 2012

November opens with one of our most difficult away trips; a trip that has always been a test of our mettle. 

Since our very first visit in the Second Division in January 1884, as ‘The Woolwich Arsenal’, a 2-0 defeat, we have played at Anfield 111 times, winning 27, drawing 25 and losing 59. It took six visits to win our first point, a 2-2 draw in League Division 1 on 27 December 1909, and a further 5 visits to get our first win, 3-2 on 1 September 1919. 

The Arsenal’s last Premier League victory at Anfield was in September 2012 when goals by Podolski and Cazorla secured a second consecutive victory for a team featuring Mikel Arteta in midfield. Our last five visits have seen a relative improvement in our fortunes at this venue with four draws and a solitary undeserved 1-0 defeat, last season, due to a spectacular Szobozlai free kick. However, in the Premier League era (when socca began, of course) our record at Anfield is disappointing with 5 wins, 12 draws and 19 defeats.

Liverpool were rather a basket case last season and have been described as being ‘in a transitional period’ this season. Unfortunately, over the last couple of weeks, it does look as if Iraola’s methods may be beginning to bear fruit at Liverpool. The ‘dippers had a slow start to the season with draws against Newcastle, Forest and Fulham and unconvincing away wins against Ipswich and Bournemouth before their tame defeat to Shitteh* (albeit handicapped by a harsh red card), since when they have beaten Brentford and Brighton while winning all three of their Champions League games. While none of these wins were comfortable, there is no doubt that Liverpool look a better team than they did last season, with Wirtz and Isak developing an understanding since the Interlull and the Swede scoring six goals in seven Premier League matches. Meanwhile, Jacquet and Araujo appear to have added security at the back. They now sit in fourth place in the league on 15 points with 11 goals scored and 8 conceded; for context Arsenal are 2nd on 21 points with 13 scored and 5 conceded.

Liverpool prepared for this match by resting key players in their Carabao Cup tie with Chelsea while the Londoners played a full strength side whom the Scousers more than matched despite their absentees. Alisson, Jacquet, MacAllister, Wirtz, Barcola and Isak started on the bench while Koumas and van Dijk were rested after 59 and 72 minutes respectively. Wirz and Barcola joined the fray on the hour mark and Isak and MacAllister after 80 minutes but couldn’t prevent the stalemate and penalties. Gomez, Gravenberch and Gakpo played the full match. In contrast to our dispiriting shoot-out failure against Fleetwood the evening before, Liverpool survived a couple of Chav misses to win the tie. Their key players effectively had a low stress warm-up for our visit and are undoubtedly looking forward to it with little trepidation about our blunt forward line. On Friday, Iraola suggested that Munoz and Szobozlai could also be available to face us.

So what about the Arsenal? The outing against Fleetwood Town didn’t exactly prove ideal preparation for a visit to Anfield. In theory, we were able to rest our first-choice goalkeeper, back four, midfield and wingers and give our two underperforming ‘strikers’ an opportunity to rediscover their goalscoring reflexes while giving a few underused legs a run out under match conditions. “The best laid plans o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley!” as Rabbie said or, rather less elegantly, if you prefer mid-20th century American vernacular, “Shit happens!” I will not revisit that debacle as ClockEndRider has more than adequately covered it.

Our squad is already looking slightly ragged despite having been widely hailed as the squad most replete with talent in the UK, only a few weeks ago. Of course, we will be without long term absentees Saliba (back), and Saka (thigh) with possible return dates quoted on premierinjuries.com as 21/11/26 and 2/12/26 respectively. Those are clearly rough estimates rather than precise targets. In his press conference, Arteta reported that Saka has made good progress and could be available to play before the international break. He also stated that Tzolis could be available for this match.

At the time of writing, Rice (thigh), Calafiori (other!) and Madueke (ankle/foot) were listed as ‘late fitness test’ with the first two quoted as having a 75% chance of playing on Sunday and the Madueke with a 50% chance. In his press conference, Arteta observed that Rice and Calafiori trained on Friday and are likely to be ready but Madueke must be re-assessed after training on Saturday.

Of course, we must also add Max Dowman to the absentee list because of the red card for what was, in context, a pretty mild reaction (IMHO) to assault by northern louts particularly to a potentially leg-breaking challenge. The failure of Arsenal’s appeal against the three match ban for ‘violent behaviour’ was to be expected from the powers that be, given the usual response we get from English football authorities. Arseblog nicely highlights the crass stupidity of a system of punishment that gives Max the same duration of suspension that Ryan Shawcross received for his deliberately. violent GBH on Aaron Ramsey.

Arsenal’s goalkeeper and centre backs for this game (indeed, atm for any game!) are clearly a no-brainer. Hopefully all our fitness testees recover fully and make the cut. I think White and, if fit, Calafiori will be our starting full backs but Timber and Hincapié do offer able alternatives though both looked extremely rusty against Fleetwood. Indeed, the latter was SO erratic that Charles Watts suggested that MLS should play at left back in this game if Calafiori isn’t fit enough to start.

If Rice is fit, the second biggest decision for Mikel Arteta is whom to play alongside him and Ødegaard in midfield – I would choose MLS over Guimarães for off-the-ball security (This is Anfield – as the sign says). However, I would replace Rice with Guimarães if the Anglo-Irishman is not fit enough to start and replace him after 45-60 minutes if necessary. Zubimendi will be standing by to replace any of the starting midfielders incapable of going the distance.

Arteta’s biggest decision is who to play up front. Hopefully, Madueke will be fit enough to start but, if not, I would start Havertz on the right of the front three with either Merino or Gyökeres in the centre. Havertz’s recent poor finishing has, for many Gooners, eclipsed his work rate and his ability to get on the end of moves and, if he is not needed to fill a gap on the right, I would definitely start him in the centre over Gyökeres, as I think would Arteta. The Swede’s persistent failure to hold up the ball and his inability to get on the end of crosses reliably, renders him, for me, third choice at ‘centre forward’ behind Havertz and Merino. Unless Tzolis has fully recovered, Eze will surely start on the left and he really must now grab this opportunity to claim that position as his own. Where better to build on his achievements last season against the Spudz than Anfield?

Hence, I expect the following starting XI:

Raya

White Konsa Gabriel Calafiori

Ødegaard MLS Rice

Madueke Havertz Eze

Liverpool’s attack looks threatening on paper but their scoring record this season suggests that, as a team, they are no better at putting the ball in the net than us and their victories this season have really not been as convincing as the score-lines would suggest. Although our attack has frustrated us regularly for months with ponderous build-up play and clunky finishing, we have scored more goals than Liverpool this season. Further, our defence, whilst not looking as secure as last season’s, has been the most miserly in the league to date, despite the leakage of three goals at Brighton. It does seem unlikely that this will be a high scoring match. 

The Holic Pound? The weight of history in this fixture inclines me to predict a low/no scoring draw. Indeed, that is what last season’s Anfield fixture was heading towards until Szobozlai scored his ‘worldy’ from a free-kick, so late in the game that we had no time to salvage a point.

Bet365 offers the draw at 5/2 and Paddy Power offers it at a slightly more parsimonious 23/10. The latter offers exact score odds of 11/1 for 0-0, 5/1 for 1-1 and 10/1 for 2-2. Those odds rather confirm my pre-match instinct. However, if you are of a less pessimistic disposition than I am, you can splash out on 0-1 or 1-2 to the good guys, both offered at 15/2, or, if you are even more optimistic (aka slightly bonkers), you can have 0-2 at 11/1, 1-3 at 14/1 or 0-3 at 20/1.

Enjoy the game, Holics, however and wherever you view it.

Summon the spirit of ’89, fellas!

COYG !

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