Who: Arsenal vs Coventry City What: English Premier League Where: Emirates Stadium in London, United Kingdom When: Friday, August 21, at 8pm ( ) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the buildup from ahead of our live text commentary stream Arsenal not only kick off their title defence, but also the entire Premier League season when they entertain Coventry City on Friday. The match pits the champions of the English top flight flight against the newly promoted winners of the second tier, the Championship. The match also has a history of an opening day upset – which included a hat-trick hero.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a closer look at the curtain raiser for the new season. The Gunners pipped Manchester City to the title, denying Pep Guardiola’s side a fifth straight Premier League title. A seven-point gap separated first and second, but it wasn’t all plain sailing.
A 2-1 City win at Etihad Stadium narrowed the gap to only three points – at which stage The Gunners had only five games to play, while City had six. Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta’s side won all five of their remaining fixtures, while City succumbed to two draws and a final day defeat, although the league was already decided by that point. The title was built on the best defence in the division, with Arsenal only shipping 27 goals compared to City’s 34.
The Gunners were out fired at the other end of the pitch, though, netting 71 goals to City’s 77. This season they are boosted by the signing of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle, with the Brazilian set to significantly bolster the centre of the park. Head coach Frank Lampard’s Coventry sealed the Championship title by 11 points from Ipswich Town in second.
They registered 28 wins to Ipswich’s 23, and netted 97 goals to finish with a goal difference of 52 – double that of any other in the division. The next highest scorers were Southampton, who finished fourth, with 82 goals. Their defence was also the meanest, letting in only 45 goals.
Their home form was the best in the division, but third place Millwall had a better away record, losing one less than Coventry’s five on their travels. Both sides recorded 11 wins in 23 matches on their travels. Coventry’s last season in the English top fight was in 2000-01, when they finished second bottom.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
