How dry or wet should a football pitch be?

In the moments after Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday, Viktor Gyokeres cited the pitch’s condition as a contributing factor.The Swedish striker mentioned he felt the grass was “a bit dry” towards the end of the game, adding that it “didn’t help” the goalscoring chances Mikel Arteta’s side created. You could be forgiven for thinking he was talking about Bournemouth’s turf — gamesmanship around football pitches is nothing new — but the dry pitch he was discussing was at the Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal have only lost twice all season.Advertisement