{"id":6707,"date":"2022-09-30T11:18:44","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T10:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6707"},"modified":"2022-10-01T16:59:11","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T15:59:11","slug":"we-are-top-of-the-leagues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6707","title":{"rendered":"We Are Top Of The Leagues!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On 10th May this year, around a mere four and a half months ago, I handed over the preview for the Tottenham vs Arsenal match at the Armitage Shanks Arena to be played on 11th May. It was a pleasure to write, poked lots of fun at Spurs, included our new anthem by Louis Dunford, amongst other comedy songs, and the mood and expectations were high that a point from that game would virtually assure us of a coveted place back in the Champions League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, however, the fun, the expectation and the pleasure all ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We blew it. Or at least Mr Paul Tierney blew it – his whistle, that is – a time or two too many and our season was done. A penalty awarded against Cedric for a challenge you see go unpunished every week. Apparently he jumped, is my recollection, and stopped Son, from memory, getting to the ball. Those of a certain age will remember Frank McLintock making a career out of doing that with Peter Simpson. But those were different times. Now, or at least last season, defenders were required to go about their business like panicking waiters – hands tucked behind their backs and making all efforts to avoid the slightest brush with a paying customer. Who was Son paying, remains the only question for me ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One – Nil to Tottenham – the penalty converted by the ever more gargoyle like Harry Kane. He who is causing concern to England\u2019s management ahead of the upcoming World Cup as he just can\u2019t seem to master the new words, since Queen Elizabeth\u2019s demise, to our national anthem. Two more blasts of Mr Tierney\u2019s whistle and two soft bookings for stand-in centre back Rob Holding, and our evening was done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


A little under five months later and things have changed. We sit proudly at the top of the league at the end of this latest international interruption, as indeed do the Arsenal Ladies following their 4-0 demolition of the Lady Spuds a week ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


We have world class new signings in William Saliba (LANS), Gabriel Jes\u00fas, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Granit Xhaka. Whaaat ?! I hear you shout. Well let me tell you doubters, in his new role as a \u201cleft 8\u201d, Xhaka is equal top chance creator in the Premier League this season. Equal, that is, with Kevin de Bruyne and Mo Salah – thereby proving that literally all things are possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cTop of the league ?\u201d the cynics cry – \u201cbut we haven\u2019t played anyone yet !\u201d Well, as the clich\u00e9 goes, you can only beat what\u2019s in front of you and apart from Man Utd – who for the most part we comprehensively outplayed – we have. In climbing to the top of the table, we have played opposing teams in an average league position of 11.8. Tottenham\u2019s opposition, meanwhile, has occupied an average position of 14.4, and Manchester City have been whacking teams down at 15.2. So, cynics, we are very worthy of our place at the peak of the hardest league in the world. So there !<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Things have changed at Tottenham too. In the summer window they signed a total of seven players, the most notable being Christian Romero from Atalanta and Richarlison from Everton. Romero has already shown himself to be something of a thug with a series of nasty looking, violent challenges, while Richarlison will fit nicely alongside Kane and Son in a front three of diving cheats. I imagine long hours of planning were involved at the Lane, in working out quite how to make themselves even more dislikable than they already were. For his part Richarlison must have thought long and hard about where his greatest strength was most likely to go unpunished. 
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Note: However objectionable I, or we, may find Richarlison as a player, following the recent incident involving him, it goes without saying that throwing bananas, or any other racist acts or chanting is totally unacceptable. Fortunately that sort of thing does not happen at the Arsenal, but it is still worth making the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The Statistics <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


To be honest I would rather do a few Spurs jokes at this point, but the current cost of living crisis and general financial turmoil seem to have dampened down my, and probably all our senses of fun a touch. Well, that and the fact that there aren\u2019t many good Spurs jokes left that haven\u2019t been done before. Instead it might be worth a look at a few stats to give hope for optimism ahead of this difficult but very winnable game.
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This fixture will be the 171st game between the two clubs but only the 162nd true North London Derby since The Arsenal moved up from south London in 1913. Tottenham were incensed at the time that we had invaded \u201ctheir\u201d territory and we have been royally – quite literally it turns out as the late Queen Elizabeth II was a gooner too – pissing them off ever since.
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Arsenal actually lead the all-time Football League head to head record in this fixture, with 68 wins to Tottenham\u2019s 55, although just four of those wins have come in the last 16 meetings (W4 D6 L6). Taking only our home fixtures, the record is very different as we have lost only one of the last 29 home league games against Spurs (W17 D11) and we are unbeaten against them in the last 11 encounters at The Emirates, since a 1-2 loss in November 2010. Overall, the clubs are closer, as in the table of Best English Top Flight Win Ratios, we sit 3rd behind Man Utd and Liverpool, with our ratio of 45.7%, while Tottenham are fourth with 41.8%. In total, we have accumulated 1,948 points while Tottenham are almost 500 behind on 1,471.
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What does that all mean ? Basically, however much the Spuds huff and puff about power shifts every time they win a game, there never has been one. Their trophy haul will confirm that they are, as Jack Wilshere has famously had it, quite shit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Team News<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Firstly, everyone is no doubt aware that Emile Smith-Rowe has now undergone surgery on a tendon in his groin following around ten months of recurring problems. Countryman100 has asked me to give a view on that situation which I will try to do, as fairly as possible, after this preview is published as I\u2019ve just run out of time.
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Martin \u00d8degaard played both games for Norway and is fit for the weekend despite some previous concerns expressed by the Norway management. Kieran Tierney was subbed off during his Scotland game after a clash of heads. While that was thought to be precautionary, the club has not released any expected availability date as yet. Thomas Partey is also currently a mystery, having returned early from international duty because of a knee problem. Oleksandr Zinchenko is reportedly fit and available again. Takehiro Tomiyasu also returned early from duty with Japan, due to what they have reported as \u201cclub circumstances”. Your guess is as good as mine!
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Bearing all that in mind, I am taking this as an optimistic stab at our line-up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Ramsdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard, Xhaka, Zinchenko<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka, Jes\u00fas, Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holic Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bookies seem to have us as favourites to win this one with Paddy Power offering typical odds around 21\/20, with the draw at 13\/5 and a Tottenham win at 12\/5. If you are looking for a bit more value, you can get Gabriel Jes\u00fas at 5\/1 to score the first goal, or Gabriel Martinelli at 7\/1 to pull off the same feat. In terms of correct scores, Arsenal are around 9\/1 to win 2-1, or 17\/1 to win 3-1.
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Match officials <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The referee will be Anthony Taylor, who should have sent off the aforementioned Christian Romero for violent conduct against Marc Cucurella of Chelsea in their 2-2 draw this season – he threw Cucurella to the ground by his hair. Taylor was also in charge on the opening day of the season when we beat Crystal Palace 2-0 and had a pretty decent game. The fourth official will be Peter Bankes and VAR will be Stuart Attwell.
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There are differing opinions on referees\u2019 decisions, impartiality and VAR. Some are in the school of \u201ceverything evens itself out over the season\u201d, some are convinced it doesn\u2019t because their team are constantly on the wrong end of decisions and, in turn, some believe those unfavourable decisions are genuine mistakes while others are convinced of bias. VAR was supposed to end all the controversy but few people would deny that it has only made everything worse. Nobody seems to be sure when VAR is meant, or allowed, to intervene and when not.
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VAR has made a total of 94 decisions so far this season and apparently the league table would look very different if those decisions were to be wiped away. ESPN has done an analysis of the effect of the first VAR decisions of each game, form and expected goals at the time of those incidents. In the new table Arsenal would remain top, having seen the 1-3 defeat at Man Utd converted to a 1-0 victory. Man Utd would drop down without those three points and Tottenham would rise to second, as their 1-1 draw at West Ham would be converted to a win. Leeds and Everton would rise while Liverpool would drop. Bournemouth and Wolves would each rise four places, while West Ham would regain one of the points lost to Spurs, as Cornet\u2019s strike against Chelsea would ultimately have counted.
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I can\u2019t imagine anyone now has a mentally redrawn picture of the league table in their heads, but did anyone really imagine that VAR would be distorting the sport to this extent. Is this really what it was intended for ?
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However, there will not only be VAR available to our match, but there will also be Olympic Diving judges on duty to help Anthony Taylor with controversial penalty box incidents involving the Tottenham Tumbling Team. They have a lot of experience in dealing with incidents like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kick off is at 12.30pm on Saturday 1st October. TV coverage on BT Sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy the game, Holics! We are top of the leagues!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 10th May this year, around a mere four and a half months ago, I handed over the preview for the Tottenham vs Arsenal match at the Armitage Shanks Arena to be played on 11th May. It was a pleasure to write, poked lots of fun at Spurs, included our new anthem by Louis Dunford, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707"}],"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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6707"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6717,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707\/revisions\/6717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}