The Premier League (PL) restarts on Saturday 21 October 2023 and, in the fixture list is the keenly fought Premier London Derbies (PLDs) match Chelsea v Arsenal. This season they come to it, in contrasting PL positions and form. Despite spending over £900 million on new players since new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital came in, and another new Head Coach – Mauricio Pochettino – they have started poorly. The Blues are 11th in the PL with only 11 points from their 8 matches. Unbeaten Arsenal are riding high in 2nd place behind great North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on goals scored with 20 points from 8 games. The Gunners consistency may not have reached that of last season but they have not lost this one in the last 4 seasons and will make it very hard for Chelsea.
The Monday match on 23 October is Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham, again with contrasting form. Spurs are also unbeaten and in top spot with 20 points from 8 matches. You have to go back to the 2016-17 season for a better PL start when they went 12 matches before a defeat, and that also under Mauricio Pochettino! Not as good as the 1960-61 “Double Season” when Fulham were the last team they beat (5-1) before losing their 17th match away to Sheffield Wednesday. Shortly after the beginning of the latest horrific and brutal conflict in what some still call The Holy Land, Tottenham Hotspur – whose Jewish links are well known – were one of the first sporting bodies to issue a statement on the situation. They expressed their compassionate concerns for all those in Israel and Gaza affected in any way by the conflict and finished their statement with words of hope and peace.
Fulham come to the match just behind Chelsea in 12th place also with 11 points from 8. Their goal difference is much worse being -5 against +4 for The Blues and reflects Fulham’s loss of their reliable striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to the wealth of the Saudi Pro League. The Cottagers have only 1 draw and 2 defeats from this match over the last 5 seasons. It looks like another win for Spurs but they have some injury issues following the International break and lost to Fulham in the EFL Cup early season so there could be a surprise.
Until next time, “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.