Ed Aarons was at the Brentford Community Stadium tonight. Here’s his verdict. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Mikel Arteta, in philosophical mood, talks to TNT. “A really tough place to come … we knew that … difficult to dominate … they are really good … any time you put the ball out for a throw-in … it is like a casino … anything can happen … something really bad can happen … we had to navigate through that … we scored a goal … after that we lacked composure … unnecessary free kicks … they are really good at it … credit to them … [the half-time change of Odegaard for Eze] was tactical … we had a massive chance at the end … it was not meant to be … we have to do our job … we have to come to all these places … be at your best every game … the luck that you need as well for three points each week.”
Keith Andrews speaks to TNT. “We didn’t get the win but I thought we were excellent … in most aspects, for most of the game, against a top, top team … got control … created better opportunities in the first half … Odegaard changed the dynamics and they were in control for 15, 20 minutes … I felt we were excellent for the last 30 minutes and looked the team likely to win … I’m not surprised [at Brentford’s reaction to falling behind] … I see it every day … the attitude … the intent … the character … resilience … players lead by example … gone are the days when people are roaring and shouting motivational nonsense (!) … now there’s real clarity … the way we play is constantly evolving … we want to be unpredictable.”
Arsenal’s lead at the top is now four points. It was nine on Saturday evening. That’s not a wholly fair observation, given Manchester City had a game in hand, but it won’t stop Arsenal feeling a sense of loss. Especially as City seemed almost down and out after 83 minutes at Anfield last weekend. Plenty of twists and turns coming up, with a dozen games remaining! Meanwhile Brentford maintain their involvement in the European chase.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 26 | 32 | 57 |
| 2 | Man City | 26 | 30 | 53 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 26 | 10 | 50 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 26 | 10 | 45 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 26 | 17 | 44 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 26 | 6 | 42 |
| 7 | Brentford | 26 | 5 | 40 |
| 8 | Everton | 26 | -1 | 37 |
| 9 | AFC Bournemouth | 26 | -2 | 37 |
| 10 | Newcastle | 26 | 0 | 36 |
| 11 | Sunderland | 26 | -3 | 36 |
| 12 | Fulham | 26 | -5 | 34 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 26 | -4 | 32 |
| 14 | Brighton | 26 | 0 | 31 |
| 15 | Leeds | 26 | -9 | 30 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | -1 | 29 |
| 17 | Nottm Forest | 26 | -13 | 27 |
| 18 | West Ham | 26 | -17 | 24 |
| 19 | Burnley | 26 | -23 | 18 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 26 | -32 | 9 |
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The final xG score was 1.34 to 0.6, and it’s hard to make a case against Brentford being the better side tonight. They deserved a point at the very least, and had the majority of chances to win it. Having said that, Arsenal took the lead thanks to Noni Madueke’s clever header, had a good opportunity to make it 0-2, and had a huge chance of their own to claim all three points at the end. So there will be opinions. But there’s no doubt that Brentford will be the happier of the two teams tonight. Magnificent entertainment, and if this is a harbinger of the title run-in, we’re in for a treat.
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Keane Lewis-Potter speaks to TNT Sports. “A big point in the end … it could have gone either way in the end … we deserved a point … I’m happy … with the squad we’ve got, we can do special things … I should have scored the first [header] but I wasn’t going to make the same mistake … we’ve got a special group … we can definitely do something special this season … [a European place] is the aim … we’ll see at the end of the season.”
FULL TIME: Brentford 1-1 Arsenal
The whistle goes after a wonderfully entertaining second half. Anything could have happened during that period of injury time. In the centre circle, Declan Rice embraces Jordan Henderson, game recognising game. Breathless stuff.
90 min +7: Nope. Raya claims. Arsenal unsuccessfully try to counter. Brentford are allowed one last shot from distance, but Ouattara’s effort is blocked. Damsgaard was in space in the middle, too.
90 min +6: One last chance for Kayode to fling a throw into the box from the left. This is where the equaliser came from. Could Brentford steal it at the death?
90 min +5: On TNT, Lucy Ward names Sepp van den Berg as her player of the match.
90 min +4: Henry is down getting some treatment. He won’t continue. Hickey prepares to come on. This will now go past the plus-five-minute mark.
90 min +3: This is absurd basketball brilliance! Now Arsenal should score, Timber romping down the middle. He’s got the choice of shooting or finding Martinelli to his left. He feeds Martinelli, who enters the box, one on one with Kelleher, and looks for the bottom right. Kelleher extends an arm to save brilliantly! What a finish to this game!
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90 min +2: Another huge moment for Brentford, as Thiago strides into the Arsenal box from a tight-ish angle, but fails to work Raya with his shot, larruping a rush-of-blood-fuelled thriker miles over the bar!
90 min +1: Henry plays Ouattara into space down the left with a cute pass. Ouattara enters the box and cuts back for Damsgaard, rushing towards the penalty spot. He’s about to shoot when Rice arrives from nowhere and pokes the ball away. What a saver!
90 min: There will be five additional minutes. Penny for the thoughts of Pep Guardiola and Unai Emery right now.
89 min: The xG is now 1.25 to 0.53. Brentford doing nearly all of the pushing forward.
87 min: Yanelt creams a glorious pass down the left to give Thiago something to chase. Thiago drops a shoulder to barge his way infield, and past Mosquera. He’s clear on goal! But the defender recovers to arrive on the striker’s shoulder and block, just as Thiago prepares to shoot! This really is on the knife-edge.
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86 min: Ouattara is booked for complaining after being lightly tugged by Timber. Everyone bubbling at 99.9 degrees. A feeling that a winner here for either side would be huge.
84 min: Janelt whips it in high. Raya fingertips it away from danger, at the expense of a corner. Jensen comes across to take. Raya falls over. The referee issues some diktats. Jensen eventually takes. Arsenal clear. The atmosphere continues to bubble. This is monstrous fun.
83 min: Ouattara nips in ahead of Gabriel down the right. The defender hangs a leg around the attacker and brings him down. A second booking? It should be, but the referee shows clemency. It’s a free kick in a dangerous position, though, just to the side of the Arsenal box. Chaos ahoy!
81 min: Arsenal make a double change, replacing Trossard and Hincapie with Martinelli and Calafiori.
80 min: … and it nearly pays off, Van Den Berg shoveling a shot from the middle of a melee, Ouattara missing the ball from six yards with an air-header. That was a half-chance, though Ouattara had little or no time to react. Goal kick.
79 min: Henderson bustles down the right and crosses low for Damsgaard, who can’t get the ball under control for a shot, but earns a corner off Gabriel. A chance for some more of that sweet chaos.
78 min: The xG at the moment is Brentford 1.09, Arsenal 0.53.
76 min: The atmosphere at the Community Stadium is electric. So much at stake for both sides. Arsenal after that elusive 14th league title, of course, but Brentford fancy some European action next season. Plenty on the line, and three points would be huge.
74 min: The game restarts. As does Odegaard.
73 min: While Odegaard receives some treatment, Brentford make a double change, replacing the scorer Lewis-Potter and Yarmoliuk with Henderson and Damsgaard.
72 min: Odegaard has hurt himself while trying to stop Lewis-Potter’s run. He might have whacked his knee. He stays down. On comes the physio.
GOAL! Brentford 1-1 Arsenal (Lewis-Potter 71)
The corner leads to another of those long Kayode throws from the left. Van den Berg towers to flick on. Lewis-Potter, racing in from the back, can’t miss from six yards, and crashes a header across Raya and into the top left. Power working this time!
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70 min: Before the corner can be taken, Saka replaces the goalscorer Madueke.
69 min: Jensen bombs down the middle and feeds Kayode, who sails past Hincapie down the right, then Zubimendi infield, before lashing a shot that’s deflected wide left by Gabriel. This is great fun now.
67 min: Odegaard steals the ball off a snoozing Jensen and races down the right. He finds Rice in the middle. Rice thinks about shooting but tries to tee up Trossard instead. Kayode nips in to clear. Thiago counters, barrelling down the left. He enters the Arsenal box and shoots. Straight at Raya, who saves. It could/should be 0-2, it could/should be 1-1.
65 min: … but that’s a good reaction to falling behind from Brentford, who up until conceding hadn’t turned up for work during this second half.
64 min: … some of that Brentford chaos in the six-yard box causes Raya to flap again. Hincapie heads behind for another corner. The second one’s sent long, and Lewis-Potter is all alone, just past the far stick, six yards out! He must hit the target at the very least, but his powerful downward header flies wide right. Madueke and Lewis-Potter proving, in turn, and in short order, that scoring with a header is less about power, more savvy.
63 min: Brentford look for an instant reply. Kayode flings long from the left. Raya flaps at the near post, but Thiago doesn’t know where the loose ball is, and so can’t poke home. Gabriel slashes out for a corner. From which …
GOAL! Brentford 0-1 Arsenal (Madueke 61)
Hincapie finds space near the left-hand corner flag. He loops a cross into the six-yard box. Madueke rises above Henry and guides a header across a wrong-footed Kelleher and into the left-hand side of the net. Not much power, but that was all about placement!
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59 min: Rice works his way down the left and cuts back for Trossard, who dummies and lets the ball roll to Odegaard. Arsenal’s captain has time and space, but takes his shot instantly, and flays it wildly over the bar. A look of high irritation washes over his face. He knows he should have done better.
57 min: Arsenal have enjoyed 80 percent of possession since the restart.
56 min: … Arsenal probe down both flanks, swinging a couple of crosses into the box, but to little real effect. The ball eventually pings out for a goal kick. This is an improved version of Arsenal, though. They’ve really upped the tempo, with Odegaard conducting.
55 min: Trossard dribbles in from the left and takes a whack. Ajer, who has done his fair share of blocking tonight, deflects the shot wide left. And from the corner …
54 min: Jensen is booked for cynically hugging Madueke, who would have rather made good down the right.
52 min: Lewis-Potter advances elegantly down the left and feeds Thiago, who runs into Gabriel. A promising move over. But that’s better from Brentford. “The first half of a match seems an odd time to be nervous,” suggests Ian Copestake. “The last 15 minutes if it’s still 0-0 is usually reserved for that. So in summary, the true angst is yet to come.” Do you mean tonight, or during the run-in as Arsenal edge closer to their holy grail? Or both? Reader, he means both, doesn’t he.
50 min: On the touchline, Keith Andrews theatrically mimes deep breathing, demanding his team calm down. They’ve been seriously on the back foot since the restart, and need that instruction for sure.
48 min: Some pinball in the Brentford box leads to Trossard slamming a shot goalwards. It’s blocked. Arsenal scream handball, but it hit Ajer’s chest. Mikel Arteta has clearly given his charges the half-time what-for, because Arsenal are first to everything now, having taken it up a notch.
47 min: Odegaard is instantly involved, feeding Hincapie down the left. The defender fires a dangerous cross through the Brentford six-yard box. All it needs is a touch, but Gyokeres must have cut his toenails last night, and that’s cost him a poke-home.
46 min: A long pass down the right for Gyokeres to chase. Ajer comes across to intercept and guide the ball back to Kelleher, who clears. Meanwhile here’s Justin Kavanagh on the Brentford manager’s potty mouth (18 min): “Good to see Keith Andrews keeping up Dubliners’ reputation for still flinging the odd f-bomb, despite living abroad. A few years ago at a book launch here in the US, Roddy Doyle was asked by a very earnest American woman why (oh, why?) Irish authors felt the need to pepper their prose with such salty curse words. He groaned long and hard before spitting it out: ‘Ahhhhhh… I don’t (expletive—ing) know!’”
Brentford get the second half started. Arsenal have made a change, sending on their captain Odegaard in place of Eze. “To me, Brentford seem like they’re a markedly better in attack this season than last,” begins Kári Tulinius. “Statistically nothing much has changed: possession average is about the same and goals per game too. However, where they’ve improved a bit is in goals against, and that’s meant that they’ve turned a healthy amount of draws into victories. I wonder if it’s because they feel more dangerous, so opponents don’t fully commit when going forward, making defending easier. Either way, they’re looking good for a European place.”
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Baz on top form today. And as for “Big” Sir Jim … well, Bobbie sings it best.
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HALF TIME: Brentford 0-0 Arsenal
Arsenal got better as the half went on, but the early bar was set low. Thiago the closest to scoring, his header spectacularly parried by Raya. Both sides have plenty of room for improvement.
45 min: There will be one additional minute. “I don’t blame Arsenal for being sloppy,” writes Peter Oh. “That’s what happens when you’ve got one eye on the ball and the other on the rearview mirror, where the image of a bounding Erling Haaland is getting bigger and bigger.”
44 min: A long ball down the right nearly releases Ouattara. Raya comes out of his box to batter clear. But this is an opportunity for Kayode to dispatch one of those dangerous long throws into the Arsenal box. In it goes. Lewis-Potter meets it by shanking a shot miles wide right.
42 min: … and the fare on display matches that mood. It’s not a smooth, easy watch. Arsenal especially seem anxious.
40 min: Both managers are prowling their technical areas in irritable style. The first two minutes of this on loop in their heads.
38 min: Madueke dribbles hard into the Brentford box from the right. Henry lays hands on his back. Ever so softly, but hands nonetheless. Madueke opts to go over, looking for the penalty. You can see the logic, but he’s not getting it. VAR confirms the referee’s position.
36 min: … though to be fair, Arsenal are enjoying their best spell in Brentford territory for a while. Their best form of defence tonight may well be attack.
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35 min: Madueke shoves Lewis-Potter in the back as the pair contest a high ball on the edge of the Brentford box. Just a free kick, worth nothing more, but it needlessly releases some rare pressure on the home defence, and it’s a manifestation of Arsenal’s increasing frustration.
33 min: … and the corner’s not worth the wait. Ouattara starts a sprint upfield, and is nicked by Eze. Free kick but no booking this time. The home fans fume.
32 min: Gyokeres bustles down the left and wins a corner off Ajer. Rice saunters over to take the set piece. No huge rush.
30 min: Madueke and Gyokeres try to launch a counter. But Brentford break it up easily, Kayode putting a hat on a hat by juggling the ball insouciantly in his own box, and then Gyokeres is booked for tugging back Yarmoliuk as the hosts attempt to counter the counter. “Official emergency!” begins Charles Antaki. “This Is Not Looking Great flags are being run up the Arsenal flagpole, as the game descends into mid-80s penalty-box chaos. it’s never a good look where the defence is in-anywhere-will-do mood this early in a game.”
28 min: Ouattara makes himself some space near the right-hand corner flag and hooks a low cross into the mixer. Mosquera hooks clear under intense pressure from Thiago. Brentford are well on top … but you feel they need to score while the going is good.
27 min: Brentford are stroking it around with supreme confidence, and forcing Arsenal into mistakes. The league leaders can’t get out. Whenever they do get the ball, they’re handing it straight back.
25 min: Brentford have enjoyed 91 percent of possession during the last five minutes.
24 min: Brentford must have been mentally chalking that one up as a goal. An unbelievable save by Raya. You couldn’t really call it a miss by Thiago, who headed firmly downwards. Perhaps a little bit too close to the keeper, but you’d be a harsh critic to go down that road.
22 min: Kayode flings long from the right. Raya claims. He carelessly flings the ball to Lewis-Potter on the left. Lewis-Potter’s excellent cross finds the head of Thiago, who plants his effort towards the bottom right. It’s surely a goal, but Raya makes up for his error with a stunning point-black parry. What a reaction stop! What a balls-up beforehand, mind. Arsenal have looked really unsure of themselves at the back.
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20 min: … but now a decision does go Brentford’s way, as Gabriel is booked for a late slide on Thiago. There’s a wee edge developing here. Nothing too dramatic yet, but the germ of a brouhaha has been planted.
18 min: Trossard is penalised for a garden-variety foul, and then Keith Andrews is booked for making a possibly sarcastic point about some earlier decisions that went Arsenal’s way. He unambiguously mouths: “A [word redacted by Family Website editor] shambles.”
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17 min: Trossard and Gyokeres combine down the left and nearly open Brentford up … but Ajer and Kayode ensure there’s no way through. Arsenal are concentrating all of their attacks down this left flank.
15 min: Yarmoliuk hassles Rice and steals away with the ball. As he advances on the Arsenal box, the whistle goes for a generous free kick. There wasn’t much in that. Rice and Arsenal get away with one.
14 min: … so having said that, Lewis-Potter chases a long pass down the middle, and nearly takes advantage of a brief moment of confusion between Gabriel and Timber, who threaten to clank into each other. The defenders get their act together soon enough, but there’s another sign, albeit small, of nerves in this Arsenal back line.
13 min: The rain is teeming down in west London. That’s not the only thing putting a dampener on the spirits of the Brentford fans: Arsenal are hogging the ball in the sterile style, establishing the sort of domination you’d expect from league leaders.
11 min: … nowt.
10 min: Rice hits long. Gabriel wins a header at the far post. Actually there’s plenty of shoulder in that. Either way, it’s heading towards the top right. Kelleher and Van den Berg combine to turn it out for another corner. From which …
9 min: The first opportunity for Kayode to launch one of his trademark monster throws into the mixer. He overflings it, straight out for a goal kick. Up the other end, Hincapie has another chance to cross from the left; this time he wins a corner. From which …
8 min: Ouattara glides in from the right and thinks about checking back, before bursting into more space down the inside-right flank. His forward pass, intended for Thiago, is overcooked. But that run was so easy on the eye. Then Raya lets a Gabriel backpass run under his boot, and he’s forced to spin and hoick off the line, just in time. Arsenal have looked uncharacteristically jittery at the back in these early exchanges. A couple of big unforced errors. Ah well, no harm done.
6 min: Hincapie finds a little bit of space on the left touchline. His cross is deflected into the arms of Kelleher. It’s been an underwhelming start at both ends of the pitch.
4 min: Raya claims the corner without fuss. That should settle some early Arsenal nerves. The visitors break upfield, and Janelt takes a huge fistful of the in-flight Gyokeres’s shirt. He gives the referee no option: yellow card. A long time to be walking along the disciplinary tightrope.
3 min: … but then Gabriel inexplicably toe-punts a wild backpass out for a corner. So careless. An early chance for Brentford to cause some of that six-yard-box chaos their manager was talking about before the game.
2 min: Brentford stroke it around a bit. Then Arsenal stroke it around a bit. One of those starts.
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Arsenal get the ball rolling. The Community Stadium bouncing after a pre-match singalong to the coda from Hey Jude. You know the one.
Here come the teams. Brentford wear their red and white stripes, forcing Arsenal into second-choice blue with “iconic lightning bolt graphics” and lovely retro cannon. Shame the old AFC cannonballs aren’t on the crest as well, for that truly accurate 70s/80s feel, but nostalgia isn’t as good as it used to be. [SFX] We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
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Mikel Arteta’s turn to talk to TNT. “For seven months we have been [shutting out external noise and pressure] … from the first day in the Premier League … you have to win, you have to do this, so we are used to it … [Brentford] really merit where they are.”
He also reports that Kai Havertz picked up a “little niggle … we need to wait and see how long he will be out for.”
Meanwhile last night … here are the reasons Arsenal will be looking anxiously over their shoulder.
Brentford boss Keith Andrews, exuding supercool, speaks to TNT Sports. “[We will] approach the game in a very confident but humble way … we’re very aware of what will be thrown at us tonight … [Arsenal] are a phenomenal team with phenomenal individuals … well-coached in every aspect of the game … we’ll have to match that and perform very, very well … but equally we’re a pretty good team ourselves … I hope [this game] is chaos … I like creating chaos … you want to feel like you’re in control [so] if you can alter that plan in any way, and you can remain calm amongst it, then that puts you in a good place … we’ll try to make it uncomfortable for them … we’ll have to raise our levels, and our levels are pretty good! … we’re a humble, hungry group … hopefully we can achieve something special.”
Brentford make one change to their starting line-up following the 3-2 win at Newcastle United on Saturday. Yehor Yarmolyuk replaced Jordan Henderson during the second half of that match; he does the same thing from the start tonight. Henderson is on the bench.
Arsenal make four changes to their starting XI from the one named for the 3-0 victory over Sunderland last weekend. Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze, Piero Hincapié and Cristhian Mosquera step up; Gabriel Jesus and Riccardo Calafiori drop to the bench, while William Saliba (ill) and Kai Havertz (injured) miss out altogether. Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard both begin their journey back from injury on the bench.
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The teams
Brentford: Kelleher, Kayode, Ajer, van den Berg, Henry, Yarmolyuk, Janelt, Ouattara, Jensen, Lewis-Potter, Thiago.
Subs: Bentt, Furo, Donovan, Damsgaard, Collins, Henderson, Pinnock, Hickey, Valdimarsson.
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie, Eze, Zubimendi, Rice, Madueke, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Lewis-Skelly, Calafiori, Norgaard, Martinelli, Jesus, Odegaard, Saka, White.
Referee: John Brooks
VAR: Stuart Attwell
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Preamble
Arsenal were nine points clear of Manchester City five days ago. Given they haven’t played since their 3-0 win over Sunderland established that advantage, it’s a bit rum to point the finger now that gap is only three, City having since won sensationally at Liverpool on Sunday and in a more conventional manner against Fulham last night. But scoreboard pressure is scoreboard pressure, and suddenly the visit to Brentford looks a little more difficult than it would have done on Saturday evening.
To be fair to Mikel Arteta and his men, they’d have considered this match a tricky assignment when nine ahead anyway. Brentford are in fine fettle right now, coming off the back of wins at Aston Villa and Newcastle, and they’re one of the stories of the season. However, Arsenal have responded well to a triple-bump in the road – those goalless draws against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, followed by dramatic defeat against Manchester United – by recording four wins on the bounce in all comps. So this is all set up for some piping-hot west-versus-north cross-capital action! Should be fun, not least because it means so much in terms of the title. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 25 | 32 | 56 |
| 2 | Man City | 26 | 30 | 53 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 26 | 10 | 50 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 26 | 10 | 45 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 26 | 17 | 44 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 26 | 6 | 42 |
| 7 | Brentford | 25 | 5 | 39 |
| 8 | Everton | 26 | -1 | 37 |
| 9 | AFC Bournemouth | 26 | -2 | 37 |
| 10 | Newcastle | 26 | 0 | 36 |
| 11 | Sunderland | 26 | -3 | 36 |
| 12 | Fulham | 26 | -5 | 34 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 26 | -4 | 32 |
| 14 | Brighton | 26 | 0 | 31 |
| 15 | Leeds | 26 | -9 | 30 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | -1 | 29 |
| 17 | Nottm Forest | 26 | -13 | 27 |
| 18 | West Ham | 26 | -17 | 24 |
| 19 | Burnley | 26 | -23 | 18 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 26 | -32 | 9 |
