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Race for the Top 4 - 2017/18

Blackrat1299

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2006
5,368
6,404
Chavs 3-0 down..........ha ha ha
bindippers draw 3-3 with watford
the eagles 2-0 down to huddersfield.
 

Kspur

Well-Known Member
Jul 13, 2014
498
739
Hopefully burnley don't have a melt down and we compound Chelsea's poor start next week.

I definitely believe we can win it. We just need a fast start and a couple of signings to bolster the squad.
 

am_yisrael_chai

Well-Known Member
Feb 18, 2006
6,409
10,931
Win today and we will be in great shape given the other results / performances this weekend and Chelski not looking too clever in advance of our first home game.
 

nicdic

Official SC Padre
Admin
May 8, 2005
41,857
25,919
Chelsea could have done us a massive favour here. If we do the business today and then are able to beat them next weekend, we get off to a good start at Wembley and any potential "Wembley Curse" stuff goes out the window.
 

Adam456

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2005
4,453
3,117
So correct me if I'm wrong. The Chelsea side we face next week will be missing Cahill, Hazard, Fabregas, Pedro, Matic (sold) and Costa. With only Morata and Bakayoko brought in so far

We have got to be optimistic
 

easley91

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
18,720
53,767
Chelsea could have done us a massive favour here. If we do the business today and then are able to beat them next weekend, we get off to a good start at Wembley and any potential "Wembley Curse" stuff goes out the window.
We have a huge chance with Cahill and Fabregas suspended. No better time than this early in the season IMO.
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
We have a huge chance with Cahill and Fabregas suspended. No better time than this early in the season IMO.
On the other hand Conte is not the type of guy to accept two poor performances in a row. He'll tear into them and try to get a reaction. Their cupboard does look bare though.
 

philip

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2009
1,347
2,490
On the other hand Conte is not the type of guy to accept two poor performances in a row. He'll tear into them and try to get a reaction. Their cupboard does look bare though.
Their own fault for loaning out so many really good young players.
 

NickHSpurs

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2004
13,626
11,875
Clean sheets from us, City and United (so far) are indicators of who will finish in the top three in my opinion.

It all starts with being solid at the back and I think all three teams will be this season.

Liverpool and Arsenal are going to have to rely on out-scoring everyone 4-3 each week at this rate.
 

SUIYHA

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2017
1,723
8,579
Ranking the main contenders first weekend performances:

1. Man Utd - won emphatically, but against a weakened West Ham side.
2. Tottenham - got a bit of luck with the sending off, but rarely troubled at the other end and eventually our quality shone through.
3. Man City - Deserved winners but Brighton could have taken the lead in the second half, and Brighton look to be somewhat worse than Newcastle.
4. Arsenal - Lucky to win. Some good attacking play but awful at the back and their heads dropped massively when they lost the lead. Leicester threw it away IMO.
5. Liverpool - Also dreadful defending and a complete failure to control the game and see it out
6. Chelsea - I'd be surprised if they're that bad again all season but they completely lost their heads and were all over the place. Better when Morata came on though.

When we've beaten Chelsea in the past, it always seems to be when they're riding high and we halt their momentum, whereas we never seem to take the chances to kick them while they're down. They have Arsenal, City, Everton, as well as tricky away days at Stoke and Leicester, all to play before the end of September. We could REALLY do with beating them next week to open up a six point gap, hopefully leave them bottom of the league and bring on another internal meltdown over there.
 

kursaal

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
2,279
7,973
I don't want to get carried away but if we can replicate today's score in every game we will end up.on 114 points which will be a new Premier League record. No.pressure.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
I don't want to get carried away but if we can replicate today's score in every game we will end up.on 114 points which will be a new Premier League record. No.pressure.

Also we'd let in 0 goals over the 38 matches which to my knowledge, I don't think has ever been done before.
 

guy

SC Supporter
May 31, 2007
4,507
6,182
Lads I've just done the BBC predictor, had us to win the league by 10 points!

Don't fret, we've got this
 

ardiles

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2006
13,228
40,308
Lads I've just done the BBC predictor, had us to win the league by 10 points!

Don't fret, we've got this

But we'll lose the title to Arsenal when they'd score 11 more goals than us after the League changed the rules mid-season
 

am_yisrael_chai

Well-Known Member
Feb 18, 2006
6,409
10,931
Time to be optimistic. While I'm frustrated at the lack of progress on transfers I'm hopeful that by the end of the window we will have a quality replacement for Walker, Barkley and hopefully a wing forward like Keita Balde. If we managed that and the other teams don't add much else I'd be quietly confident about challenging again, with Wembley of course being the wild card.

Once again I think the so called experts / pundits confuse money spent, not even net spend, with automatic improvement in results. I'm not that convinced by the transfer activity at our competitors so far. I also don't think they account for the abilities of the manager. I think we have the best manager with the least ego who can both improve individuals and make the sum greater than the parts. Last year his challenge was to figure out tactically how to defeat teams who defended deep and he did this by moving to a very fluid formation that interchanged seamlessly between 3 and 4 at the back. This year he needs to figure out how to overcome the high press employed by Klopp and Guardiola, I have no doubt he will do this.

Chelsea - have replaced Zouma with Ruddiger, might be an upgrade but unclear, replaced Matic with Bakoyoko, unclear this is much of an upgrade, and Costa with Morata, I actually think this is a backward step as Costa has been so important to Chelsea. However, I very much doubt they are done and if they add then I expect them to be the main challengers for the title.

City - can't argue with the quality of their acquisitions but they still have a weak spine, particularly if Kompany gets injured. Their problem last year was defending and while they have improved their FBs I still think they will be suspect defensively.

Liverpool - I don't get their business, they so need a GK, at least one CB and a quality LB and all they've done is sign an average LB and yet another speedy winger. I think their season will be very similar to last year, they will look exhilarating at times but ultimately be undone by their defence and CMs.

Goons - no doubt Lacazette is quality but the Sanchez saga will hang over them, if he goes it hurts them badly and if he stays it will be talked about all season. Like Liverpool their weaknesses in central defence and midfield haven't been addressed, the final aspect is the poisonous fan split on Wenger, a few bad results and that will rear its head. Famous last words but I don't see them getting back in the top 4.

United - totally over hyped in my opinion. Replaced Ibra with Lukaku which I don't see as an upgrade, bought a fairly average CH in Lindeloff and added another water carrier in Matic. Their issue last year was turning draws into wins at home and they haven't done anything yet to address this.

Everton - spent a lot of money to buy over half a new team, very rarely does this work out. Add to this that they've sold their top scorer and are definitely losing their top creator and again I'm sceptical Koeman can move them forward as much as the media think.

So come on Mr Levy get us the final pieces to our squad jigsaw and let's complete the series:
2015/16 3rd
2016/17 2nd
2017/18 1st

COYS !!!
Not seen anything in the first 4 games to change my view. I'm pretty sure if we were playing at WHL we'd have 12 points so Wembley is the biggest issue for us. I still see Chelsea as the favourites with the 2 Manchester clubs not having rectified their issues from last season sufficiently to win the title.
 

arunspurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
8,807
35,543
I am confident we will have a good season, probably finish in top4. Title may be too far out of our reach again....but you never know....
 
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