Watford (1) 2 v 3 (2) Arsenal
11 Hernandez, assist Femenia 5 Odegaard, assist Saka
87 Sissoko, assist Hernandez 30 Saka, assist Lacazette
52 Martinelli, assist Lacazette
Yellows: Hernandez Soares, Nketiah. Ref. Clive Pawson
Played Sunday 6 March at Vicarage Road, attendance 21,142.
Arsenal furthered their claim to a return to European football rising to 4th place after an entertaining win away to Watford. All 5 goals were high quality, and the Gunners had to work to hold their lead, with a late goal by the Hornet’s skipper Moussa Sissoko setting up a tense finish. Arsenal climbed up into 4th place.
Our mini-table shows the present points per game (pts/game) and predicted points and position of the 5 Clubs expected to contest European football places:
Club. present pts/game predicted points/position
Arsenal 1.92 73/4th
Manchester United 1.68 63/6th
West Ham United 1.61 61/7th
Tottenham Hotspur 1.73 66/5th
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1.48 56/8th
If this is how it works out Arsenal will take the 4th Champions League place above Spurs, whom they will play in a rearranged Premier London derbies (PLDs) match, and pushing the Hammers, who also play Spurs, down to 7th.
All this assumes there is no catching Chelsea who are 3rd with 56 from 27 (2.07 pts/game) and a predicted 79. This week’s events off the field with the UK Government sanctioning the business affairs and freezing the assets of their still owner Roman Abramovich for support of President Putin and complicit involvement in Russia’s horrendous invasion of Ukraine, may yet influence the outcome. Will there be any sporting sanctions imposed by UEFA on the Champions League Champions or the English FA on their participation in the FA Cup? After all UEFA have suspended Spartak Moscow from competition in the Europa League presumably because of Russian ownership.
Until next time, “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.