With the return to more intensive training at our Clubs and the Premier League Stakeholders announcement yesterday of a proposed re-start date for the F.A.P.L. it is looking more likely that the 2019-2020 season will be played out. Wednesday 17 June has been given as the date for the outstanding Manchester City v Arsenal, and Aston Villa v Sheffield United matches, postponed for the Carabao Cup Final before the Covid-19 closure. Each Club will then have 9 fixtures left to play giving 90 matches more. Now is perhaps a good time to see where our London Clubs are placed in the Premier London derbies (PLDs) mini-league before rivalries and hostilities resume, since contact will be allowed!
The table below shows games played home and away, goals scored and points so far:
Club. Home. Away. GF. GA. Points. (per game).
Chelsea DWWL WWW 12 6 16 (2.3)
Crystal Palace DWW DLLWD 8 11 12 (1.5)
Arsenal LDDW DDWD 14 12 11 (1.4)
Tottenham Hotspur LDW DLWD 11 9 9 (1.3)
West Ham United LLL LWLW 9 11 6 (0,9)
Watford DLDDL LD 6 9 4 (0.6)
Chelsea, with a strong away record, look to be well ahead this season and set to overtake Arsenal in the PLDs all time league. Palace, who started with 4 away PLDs, are performing well despite a negative goal difference. Arsenal have 5 draws out of 8 matches played, but the highest goals for (GF) and the top scorer on 6 is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Spurs are in the “also rans” as usual in PLDs, and the Hammers have the most defeats. Watford’s PLDs form is much like their F.A.P.L. form with wins hard to come by. It will be interesting to see how this woks out over the rest of the season.
The good news is that it looks like there will be a rest of the season, with all matches likely to be on T.V. of one channel or another. Not the best news for season ticket holders in particular and ticket sales in general, but good for arm-chair fans and the game overall.
Until next time, stay alert, and if you are an essential worker “thank you”, Andrew at PLDs.