{"id":4619,"date":"2022-01-16T17:58:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T17:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4619"},"modified":"2022-01-19T19:00:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T19:00:39","slug":"derby-scratched-due-to-arsenal-player-shortage-wherefore-arsenal-and-the-spuds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4619","title":{"rendered":"Derby scratched due to Arsenal player shortage + Wherefore Arsenal and the Spuds?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1342809971\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1342809971?et=6z_sBwL4S0VbCG0hOpgrhA&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;sig=TPp00CaQ_RhPg7mS5RrSLMMRf5_Vr_HT31LFJX_h8ug=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Today\u2019s much-discussed Derby postponement came in the form of the Premier League announcement as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWith Arsenal having fewer than the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper), the Board accepted the club\u2019s application.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The decision is a result of a combination of COVID-19, existing and recent injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations. All clubs are able to apply for a postponement if COVID-19 infections are a factor in their request.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">************************************************************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since I had nearly finished my preview before we found out today\u2019s game is not going to be played, I thought to turn this piece into my random impressions of where the two clubs\u2019 seasons seem to be going at the moment, so here goes my non-preview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The \u2018holics pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First things first: My prediction would have been Spurs 0, Arsenal 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately it may be difficult to find the bookmakers who will accept such a bet at this point but it could well be worth a punt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gunners\u2019 excellent run of five straight wins leading up to the end of 2021 was interrupted in the first two matches of 2022 despite an excellent performance in the loss to Manchester City. The dreadful Cup exit at Nottingham Forest was another story.&nbsp; But after Granit Xhaka\u2019s 25th minute dismissal at Liverpool a heroic rearguard action by the 10-man Gunners prevented a third consecutive defeat in the 0-0 draw in the Carabao Cup first leg.&nbsp; Just the sort of result a coach would have wanted to build on going into the Derby, if the depleted Gunners had had enough players available for it. Over a longer stretch, the Gunners compiled an impressive league record of 11-2-3 in the games bookended by their two defeats to Manchester City on August 28 and January 1. One of those wins came in September when they beat Spurs 3-1 at the Emirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if Sunday\u2019s game had been played and the Gunners had lost it (double portion of pie in the sky), they would have been surpassed in the table by their North London rivals, who also enjoy the advantage of two matches in hand due to Covid-related postponements. Little wonder that Spurs fans threw a fit when the game was postponed, but rules are rules, apparently.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of Arsenal\u2019s unavailable players include AFCON absentees (Partey, Elneny, Auba), loaned players (AMN), suspension (Xhaka) and Covid (\u00d8degaard).&nbsp; No, Xhaka\u2019s suspension was not a factor in the League\u2019s decision to call it off; but yes, our dependably undependable midfielder would have been unavailable for this critical match because he was sent off in our last game.&nbsp; With Auba and Laca growing older, and the AFCON midfield absences, Arsenal have known for a long time that January signings would be desirable if not absolutely essential, so what\u2019s happening, Mikel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his press conference before the Forest game, Arteta said: \u201cObviously we are going to move, and we are going to look for options, because we are very short.\u201d But as James McNicholas wrote in The Athletic after Arsenal\u2019s underwhelming performance at Nottingham, transfer window additions now feel more like a necessity than a bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Odious Opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spurs have been quite solid at home this season with 7 wins in 10 league outings, drawing with Liverpool and losing only to Chelsea and Manchester United (both losses under Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo). Son Heung-min has been a major reason for their good form but a calf injury rules him out until the end of January. Son has been Spurs\u2019 most dangerous attacker with 8 goals, or double the tally of Harry Kane, who used to be notorious for scoring most of his goals in the season\u2019s second half. After Citeh snatched their unlikely victory at the Emirates on January 1st came the unwelcome news of a Spurs late goal that gave them their fifth win in eight unbeaten league matches since September 2 when Antonio Conte took the reins from the beleaguered Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo. Over the last 11 days Spurs played two Carabao Cup semifinal legs against Chelsea, losing 0-2 away before going out with a rather meek 0-1 at home. Between the legs Spurs overcame League One relegation candidates Morecambe in the FA Cup.&nbsp; Press reports say Spurs home support booed their players off at halftime in consecutive matches, and at fulltime after the second Chelsea tie. No doubt, the Gunners would have enjoyed driving an even deeper wedge between them and their supporters with that 13 goal pasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The week ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But with the Derby called off for now, the Gunners must turn their attention to the second chapter of their Carabao Cup semifinal against Liverpool on Thursday evening, and a home league fixture against Burnley on Sunday.&nbsp; Hopefully we will see some player reinforcements arriving soon, others recovering from what ails them, and the rest of the league will nick a few points off the odious opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cheers, \u2018holics, and enjoy your Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Today\u2019s much-discussed Derby postponement came in the form of the Premier League announcement as follows: \u201cWith Arsenal having fewer than the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper), the Board accepted the club\u2019s application. The decision is a result of a combination of COVID-19, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4619"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4645,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619\/revisions\/4645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}