PREMIER LEAGUE: ROUND 29 (Tue/Wed/Thu)

first instinct is leeds a bit short at evens

I didn't expect Tottenham to be such clear favs v Palace

i've laid leeds 1.91 now

Arsenal have the longest time delays before taking corners in the Premier League this season, over 2 hours in total, averaging 4 minutes 18 seconds per match.

Opta



2 hours, that's more than an armful.

backing Sunderland 4.9

New balls, not many goals

Thats the name of the game, mama Mia...

disallowed goal for leeds. i'm thinking of greening out

luckily i held off 0-1!

the irish woman comm on radio 5 live, just now , utter pathetic,,,   ( sunderland have been awarded a FREE for a handball in the box )

Leeds unlucky not to get a pelanty, then give one away.

Sunderland should have had one at weekend, it's really
getting a bit random.

Wolves Liverpool, what a dull match...

yawn fest

Wolves take the lead with their first shot on 77 minutes

Slot seems a one season wonder like Conte at Chelsea

Amazing scenes.

Well it livened up eventually. Wolves a different team no longer under pressure.

André’s winner for Wolves was the first time ever a team in the relegation zone has scored a 90th minute winner against the reigning Premier League champions.

Opta

Villa 1-0 Chelsea

1-0 Arsenal, Saka. Deflected.

TV feeds about 20 seconds behind real time. Assume BF pay for updates from the data company who go there, opposed to a TV feed 20 seconds faster than ours.

deflected goals must be at record levels

1-0 City, Semenyo.

1-1 Villa Chelsea, Pedro.

big 40 minutes in title race now with Arsenal 1-0 up and City 1-1 with Forest

West Ham lead against Fulham

Villa choking a CL place

ramsey already on a yellow decides to dive , how thick are these footballers

Harsh 2nd yellow for me, Ramsay went down but didn't appeal for a foul. I've seen some way more blatant dives go unpunished.

Casemiro is a true warrior.

City are so ****. They've handed the title to Arsenal.. and I think Spurs are getting relegated.

nightmare set of results for Spurs

Yes..Could not have been a worse day as far Spurs are concerned.

Spurs will stay up.
They'll win tomorrow.

Man Ure run ends against ten men Geordies

Bizarre, looking forward to watching the Newcastle v Man Ure on MotD. I didn't get any bets in tonight. Watching Arsenal play like this is worse than having teeth pulled out. I much preferred how they were playing in 2023/24, even though they eventually succumbed to City playing at the top of their game.

Newcastle winner worth switching on for!

Only one substitute in Premier League history has scored a 90th-minute winner against Man United...

William Osula

Arsenal took 30 minutes and 51 seconds to restart play against Brighton last night, their highest total in a Premier League match this season.

Opta

There have been 195 games where a team has taken longer than that this season in the PL out of 290 games played so far.

There is only ONE sensible solution. Stop the clock!

31.4 seconds average to get the ball back in, 195 times a team has taken longer than that on average. Boring to watch. Hurzeler's total head loss much more entertaining.

Lol, is this the latest moan about Arsenal now?

I guess there is so much noise because Arsenal are challenging for the title. Also Arsenal take a long time over corners, I'm fairly certain that means for everything else (throw-ins, goal kicks etc) they would probably be mid-table. Having said that I do think the way they are trying to see out games is awful to watch and a regression compared to 2023/24.

For the record, this season:
33.1 Sunderland
32.3 Brentford
31.2 Crystal Palace
30.8 Newcastle
30.4 Leeds
30.2 Arsenal
30.0 Burnley
29.8 Aston Villa
29.8 Tottenham
29.6 Chelsea
29.6 West Ham
29.4 Everton
28.9 Wolves
28.0 Man Utd
27.7 Forest
27.7 Bournemouth
26.7 Fulham
26.6 Man City
26.5 Brighton
25.8 Liverpool

One other thing the occurs to me, is Brighton only have themselves to blame for constantly giving away freekicks. 14 fouls on Arsenal players resulting in freekicks yesterday, that inflated restart figures.

Being ahead by a single goal only for 80+ minutes is the main reason. That and being very poor in possession/Brighton being well set up. If Brighton were ahead that long they'd have been doing the same.

Before the game Arteta said that in the PL this season, all the teams have figured out how to stop the top teams getting into 4v3, 2v1 etc overloads high up the pitch and they are more dangerous on the counter with more athletic players. First time I've heard him give a reason why he plays like Southgate.

Fouls were 14-12 and Brighton had 60% possesion

Brighton gave away a FK and player got booked fouling Saka after a quick throw-in. They also fouled Raya when he was trying to release a ball quickly for a counter.

If you are ahead for 80 mins away from home you generally have less possession and take your time more. It is the same thing reflected in 2 different stats. If Brighton were ahead for 80 mins, Arsenal would have had more possession and Brighton took their time more.

If you are hanging on, that's right.

Of course you don't need to win by 2 or 3,but
if you get 3 up it's easier to cruise and ball comes
back into play more quickly.

Arsenal have brought pressure onto themselves by
failing to see out games, and respond by more of the same.

Brave tactic, but arsenal are so much better in this league
that they win league despite negative tactics.

They have no duty to entertain, of course, but they'd
surely be further clear simply out playing teams.

Agree with that. I can only assume that Arteta has been wounded by 3x 2nd places and decided to try and win by closing down matches. He seems to have a blind spot and not realised that Man City and Liverpool are way below their very best this season for some reason. Arsenal of 2023/24 would be out of sight by now, imho.