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Race for the Top 4 - 2018/19

Where will we finish in the league ?


  • Total voters
    423
  • Poll closed .

dudu

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2011
5,314
11,048
I don't think it's time to disregard Arsenal in the race for top four, they won't catch us, none of them will but the other two are not safe.
Having said that I am not necessarily backing them this year, however I do think they are doing right thing, unlike Chelsea they didn't just go out and hire the latest name manager to get them into the CL and unlike United they weren't blinded by the romance of an old star coming back to save them as United may well do this summer so watch then next year and beyond.

My best mate is an arsenal fan and we watch a lot of football together so I watch them often and talk to him about them all the time in a pretty honest way. He himself feels they are unbalanced all over the pitch, have no real creative outlet in midfield to rely on, no real plan B going forward and a pretty unreliable defense. He is worried how much it going to realistically cost to invest and be able to rebuild the entire squad.

i agree they are trying to do things the right way and I have been impressed that they did not slip further away from the top 4 but Wenger did truly leave them in bad state and I think it will take them longer than a season to recover from it.
 

Adam456

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2005
4,453
3,117
Apologies in advance for longish post.

I have to say we are still very much outsiders for the title but having looked at the fixtures and after this week's results I'm more optimistic than before. And I think it really justifies Poch's decision to go weak in the FAC Vs Palace.

The tough bits were obviously:

1. The Chelsea - Arsenal - CL R16 (Dortmund away) run in 6 days

2. Liverpool & Citeh away

3. Injuries

So in (1) as well signposted we're going to play Chelsea 3 days after CC Final but also they will have played Europa on the Thursday before plus FA cup Vs Man U this coming Monday (4 games in 9 days) whereas we will have only Burnley the Saturday lunchtime in between now and then. Arse's game with us is also the 4th in 9 days (and because they lost 1-0 to Bate they are going to need to play a strongish team to make sure). And again I don't think that they are playing so well that they can afford to be complacent against either Southampton or Bournemouth in between. Those sides will be all over any signs of tiredness.

And because of the 3-0 Vs Dortmund I don't think we need to be considering resting anybody beforehand. There's literally no reason why we can't beat Chelsea and Arse in a row and go through against Dortmund

In (3) injuries seem to be clearing up and of course we will benefit from the rest that those injured players have had.

(2) remains the hardest part. Which is why we are still outsiders. We need to at least take a point off whoever is furthest ahead (or has most points) at the time. It is great that Citeh are (basically) guaranteed to go through in the FAC and ideally (very likely given who is left) they'll keep going to the latter stages

Furthermore, I noticed that Citeh have Schalke in the CL midweek before going away to Man U in March. Whereas Man U will have a week's rest (FAC replays aside) because they play PSG the week before and will probably be out of the CL by then and have a point to prove

Liverpool's bad run (that we know of) is coming up next - Bayern Munich, Man U away, Watford and Everton away in 12 days. We have to hope they drop points somewhere there. If they win those (league) games comfortably then it will be difficult to overhaul them unfortunately :spitoutdummy:

But overall with the above and the way we took Dortmund apart on Weds I am definitely more confident than I was a few days ago (y)
 

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
Apologies in advance for longish post.

I have to say we are still very much outsiders for the title but having looked at the fixtures and after this week's results I'm more optimistic than before. And I think it really justifies Poch's decision to go weak in the FAC Vs Palace.

The tough bits were obviously:

1. The Chelsea - Arsenal - CL R16 (Dortmund away) run in 6 days

2. Liverpool & Citeh away

3. Injuries

So in (1) as well signposted we're going to play Chelsea 3 days after CC Final but also they will have played Europa on the Thursday before plus FA cup Vs Man U this coming Monday (4 games in 9 days) whereas we will have only Burnley the Saturday lunchtime in between now and then. Arse's game with us is also the 4th in 9 days (and because they lost 1-0 to Bate they are going to need to play a strongish team to make sure). And again I don't think that they are playing so well that they can afford to be complacent against either Southampton or Bournemouth in between. Those sides will be all over any signs of tiredness.

And because of the 3-0 Vs Dortmund I don't think we need to be considering resting anybody beforehand. There's literally no reason why we can't beat Chelsea and Arse in a row and go through against Dortmund

In (3) injuries seem to be clearing up and of course we will benefit from the rest that those injured players have had.

(2) remains the hardest part. Which is why we are still outsiders. We need to at least take a point off whoever is furthest ahead (or has most points) at the time. It is great that Citeh are (basically) guaranteed to go through in the FAC and ideally (very likely given who is left) they'll keep going to the latter stages

Furthermore, I noticed that Citeh have Schalke in the CL midweek before going away to Man U in March. Whereas Man U will have a week's rest (FAC replays aside) because they play PSG the week before and will probably be out of the CL by then and have a point to prove

Liverpool's bad run (that we know of) is coming up next - Bayern Munich, Man U away, Watford and Everton away in 12 days. We have to hope they drop points somewhere there. If they win those (league) games comfortably then it will be difficult to overhaul them unfortunately :spitoutdummy:

But overall with the above and the way we took Dortmund apart on Weds I am definitely more confident than I was a few days ago (y)

It might be stating the obvious, but I think we'll end up needing to win all of our remaining league games to win the title. Possibly, we could draw one of them, probably against Liverpool, but that's about it.

Trouble is, I don't see Man City dropping any more points, even though they've got Utd to play.

I think the only way we win the league is for Liverpool to lose against Utd and lose another, and for us to win all our games until we play City and then basically beat them in a 'Cup Final' at theirs. After that, we've got 3 winnable games to see the season out.

I know football always has its twists and turns, but I think that's how it will play out if we do win the league.
 

ButchCassidy

Well-Known Member
Jul 12, 2012
3,986
15,843
It might be stating the obvious, but I think we'll end up needing to win all of our remaining league games to win the title. Possibly, we could draw one of them, probably against Liverpool, but that's about it.

Trouble is, I don't see Man City dropping any more points, even though they've got Utd to play.

I think the only way we win the league is for Liverpool to lose against Utd and lose another, and for us to win all our games until we play City and then basically beat them in a 'Cup Final' at theirs. After that, we've got 3 winnable games to see the season out.

I know football always has its twists and turns, but I think that's how it will play out if we do win the league.
If we win all of our remaining games we'd set the all-time Premier League points record. Liverpool and City both have weaknesses, as shown in previous weeks, and they will drop a few points when they shouldn't just like everyone else does.
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
It might be stating the obvious, but I think we'll end up needing to win all of our remaining league games to win the title. Possibly, we could draw one of them, probably against Liverpool, but that's about it.

Trouble is, I don't see Man City dropping any more points, even though they've got Utd to play.

I think the only way we win the league is for Liverpool to lose against Utd and lose another, and for us to win all our games until we play City and then basically beat them in a 'Cup Final' at theirs. After that, we've got 3 winnable games to see the season out.

I know football always has its twists and turns, but I think that's how it will play out if we do win the league.
I don’t know. I think the CL will still be a factor. If City draw Barca in the QF say, they will be vulnerable to fixtures around those games, through fatigue, lack of focus, etc etc.
 
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spids

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2015
6,647
27,841
If we want to win the title I think we need to win away at Man C and Liverpool. Not impossible, but very, very difficult.
 

Giovanni

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
2,587
3,614
If we want to win the title I think we need to win away at Man C and Liverpool. Not impossible, but very, very difficult.

I think we could draw both and win the rest. I think that could see us pip them both to the pl. Either way very very tough and unlikely. We just need to hang in their. If we can stay close and the stadium opens in april as said above then we could take max points from our last 6.
 

easley91

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
18,719
53,767
If we want to win the title I think we need to win away at Man C and Liverpool. Not impossible, but very, very difficult.
This season has shown me anyone can drop points to anyone else on any given day, especially if the weaker team is at home. A good atmosphere and quick start and you never know.

Hopefully United do the business against Liverpool and then West Ham show up against City. But, ultimately we have to do our job first and win at Burnley to get it down to 2 points.
 

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
This season has shown me anyone can drop points to anyone else on any given day, especially if the weaker team is at home. A good atmosphere and quick start and you never know.

Hopefully United do the business against Liverpool and then West Ham show up against City. But, ultimately we have to do our job first and win at Burnley to get it down to 2 points.

As I've said above, I think this absolutely has to happen. Can't think of other realistic ways we haul in Liverpool's 5pt lead without at least this result
 

ajspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2007
22,985
31,166
If we want to win the title I think we need to win away at Man C and Liverpool. Not impossible, but very, very difficult.

The two most difficult fixtures in the league IMO. Incredibly difficult, but somewhat exciting knowing its in our hands, even if I admittedly don't believe we'll prevent ourselves dropping points over the two games.

Funnily enough the Liverpool game is the one I feel we can get something from if we play very well. With City though I unfortunately just feel like they need to have somewhat of an off day for us to get something.
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
Don't actually know whether I'd want to move into the new stadium any more this season. Wembley is a know factor now and to a certain degree we know how to play there. Playing for the first time on a new pitch in conclusive run-ins of the season, might not be a blessing.
 

Giovanni

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
2,587
3,614
Don't actually know whether I'd want to move into the new stadium any more this season. Wembley is a know factor now and to a certain degree we know how to play there. Playing for the first time on a new pitch in conclusive run-ins of the season, might not be a blessing.

Dont see how in our case tbh. It maybe new surroundings but the atmosphere alone would give us an extra boost whilst it would be a daunting prospect for opposition players. Its entirely different to spam for example who it totally hindered mainly due to most fans not being able to see the pitch as its so far away. Many of them had to go to specsavers and get sorted before they could even watch their team play there.
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
Dont see how in our case tbh. It maybe new surroundings but the atmosphere alone would give us an extra boost whilst it would be a daunting prospect for opposition players. Its entirely different to spam for example who it totally hindered mainly due to most fans not being able to see the pitch as its so far away. Many of them had to go to specsavers and get sorted before they could even watch their team play there.
Dunno bout that. We are in a flow at the moment. What we need are injury free players and a bit of luck. We don't need to throw unknowns at a period of already good results.
 

spursgirls

SC Supporter
Aug 13, 2008
19,160
38,939
Don't actually know whether I'd want to move into the new stadium any more this season. Wembley is a know factor now and to a certain degree we know how to play there. Playing for the first time on a new pitch in conclusive run-ins of the season, might not be a blessing.
I can't decide whether it would be beneficial or detrimental to play the last 5 games in the new stadium. Part of me agrees it might disrupt things to change and I don't want us to be affected that way, but also part of me says the atmosphere will be amazing and intimidating to the teams going there. Then again, wouldn't those teams play out of their skins to be able to say they beat us there?
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
I can't decide whether it would be beneficial or detrimental to play the last 5 games in the new stadium. Part of me agrees it might disrupt things to change and I don't want us to be affected that way, but also part of me says the atmosphere will be amazing and intimidating to the teams going there. Then again, wouldn't those teams play out of their skins to be able to say they beat us there?
That's it. For instance hosting West Ham in the new stadium. The added uncertainty is just too much. For instance, we don't KNOW whether the atmosphere will be that grand. Did Arsenal deliberately build a stadium void of atmosphere? Of course not, they too thought that the new stadium would be so amazing to play at. Turns out it is just another stadium. Personally, I just think we are doing to well to actively want to experiment if we don't have to.
 

spids

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2015
6,647
27,841
I'm sure the new stadium, especially compared to Wembley this season, will be absolutely rocking. However, statistics do show that clubs moving to a new stadium experience an initial dip in home form. You could argue we had one last season, despite still being terrific, compared to our last season at WHL.
 
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