Race for 4th (or higher) 4.0

[Leachie]

1 time

The Norwich goal on his debut was almost important but it was soon cancelled out anyway

His only important goal (his only other goal) was the one in Lyon which got us through the Europa round and didn't impact out race for fourth (what this thread is about)

I can't remember him scoring another goal?

His Norwich goal was the equaliser I am sure - making it important too.

 

[AngerManagement]

His Norwich goal was the equaliser I am sure - making it important too.

no it wasn't

He came on and scored, we then went on the ultra defensive sitting back and allowing Norwich to attack us (which they then had to do) and they scored a laste equaliser

Cancelling out Dembele's goal

 

[Leachie]

no it wasn't

He came on and scored, we then went on the ultra defensive sitting back and allowing Norwich to attack us (which they then had to do) and they scored a laste equaliser

Cancelling out Dembele's goal

Ah yes - I see that. My memory was working in reverse.

 

[AngerManagement]

Arsenal and Chelsea's odds of finishing top four have been slashed on the back of Bale's injury while we are odds against for the first time in a while

Those of you confident we'll still do it are probably looking at a good time to put your money with your mouth is because if we beat Everton and or Bale's injury turns out to be not as bad as first thought our odds will probably go back to odds on

 

[Mr Pink]

Arsenal and Chelsea's odds of finishing top four have been slashed on the back of Bale's injury while we are odds against for the first time in a while

Those of you confident we'll still do it are probably looking at a good time to put your money with your mouth is because if we beat Everton and or Bale's injury turns out to be not as bad as first thought our odds will probably go back to odds on

Indeed - just noticed as well that the odds have shifted pretty dramatically for Sunday's game.

 

[ItsBoris]

Arsenal and Chelsea's odds of finishing top four have been slashed on the back of Bale's injury while we are odds against for the first time in a while

Those of you confident we'll still do it are probably looking at a good time to put your money with your mouth is because if we beat Everton and or Bale's injury turns out to be not as bad as first thought our odds will probably go back to odds on

It would be crazy to put money on us to finish top 4 given how poor we look recently, the fact that our strikers can't score, and that Bale and Lennon are both injured.

 

[AngerManagement]

It would be crazy to put money on us to finish top 4 given how poor we look recently, the fact that our strikers can't score, and that Bale and Lennon are both injured.

there are people who are confident that we will make top four, might as well take advantage of the change in odds

Personally I wouldn't because I am not confident that we will make CL football but those who are should take the odds now (if we beat Everton I suspect they'll revert given that Bale's only out for 2 weeks now)

 

[Shea]

You'd have to be crazy not to think Arsenal have the much easier run in

Reading last week and WBA today followed by Norwich both of whom look like they've forgotten how to play football

bottom line for me is this- if you were offered the chance to swap run in fixtures with Arsenal would you do it?

Either as a Spurs fan you would or you're a liar.

Arsenal are in better form and have easier fixtures, they're favourites for a CL place and perhaps Chelsea will be the real target for Spurs when push comes to shove. Strange results always happen this time of year though and Arsenal might drop unexpected points still

We must beat Everton and Bale must come back asap or we'll end up 6th let alone top 3

 

[dontcallme]

Not too worried about who has the easier run-in.

We have 7 games to play and if we perform under pressure then we'll reach top four.

 

[Shea]

Not too worried about who has the easier run-in.

We have 7 games to play and if we perform under pressure then we'll reach top four.

It's a factor though of course because the easier game you have the more likely you are to perform well

Stoke look lost but if they lose today by the time we play them they may have to fight for their lives

If we perform well we may still lose to teams like Chelsea and Man City where as if we performed well under pressure to teams like Norwich and WBA we'd beat them because we've got more quality than them- if that makes sense

What I agree with is the notion I think you're getting at- it doesn't really matter and we just have to get on with it. Results aren't won on paper so what looks easier may not work out that way

 

[dontcallme]

It's a factor though of course because the easier game you have the more likely you are to perform well

Stoke look lost but if they lose today by the time we play them they may have to fight for their lives

If we perform well we may still lose to teams like Chelsea and Man City where as if we performed well under pressure to teams like Norwich and WBA we'd beat them because we've got more quality than them- if that makes sense

What I agree with is the notion I think you're getting at- it doesn't really matter and we just have to get on with it. Results aren't won on paper so what looks easier may not work out that way

Naturally we want easier games.

We have to play:

Everton (H)
Man City (H)
Wigan (A)
Southampton (H)
Chelsea (A)
Stoke (A)
Sunderland (H)

We are arguably favourites to win 5 of those and I believe we have the ability to beat anyone in the Prem.

Arsenal and Chelsea won't win the rest of their games.

We are currently 3rd. If we perform to our ability then we get top four.

 

[kitchen]

You'd have to be crazy not to think Arsenal have the much easier run in

Reading last week and WBA today followed by Norwich both of whom look like they've forgotten how to play football

bottom line for me is this- if you were offered the chance to swap run in fixtures with Arsenal would you do it?

Either as a Spurs fan you would or you're a liar.

Arsenal are in better form and have easier fixtures, they're favourites for a CL place and perhaps Chelsea will be the real target for Spurs when push comes to shove. Strange results always happen this time of year though and Arsenal might drop unexpected points still

We must beat Everton and Bale must come back asap or we'll end up 6th let alone top 3

Agree. Problem is that Arsenal are again waltzing to a comfortable win against WBA. With Wilshere out, Gervinho has started playing well. I doubt they'll lose again all season, especially considering that they are in no other competitions. Their only tough game is Manure, and by then Utd will probably field a B team.

With Bale out for 2 games and Lennon missing tomorrow, It's going to be really tough. We won't come away from the City and Chelsea games with 2 wins, and now Everton tomorrow is going to be extra tough... We've seen how we look without any pace in the past and it isn't pretty at all.

Our only chance is for Adebayor and Defoe to step up, but they haven't looked like great or even good players for a while.

 

[WiganSpur]

Arse will win 2-0

 

[scat1620]

Arse will win 2-0

They've just got their second.

The bastards always come into form at this time of year, can't see us finishing above them this season.

 

[Legacy]

Agree. Problem is that Arsenal are again waltzing to a comfortable win against WBA. With Wilshere out, Gervinho has started playing well. I doubt they'll lose again all season, especially considering that they are in no other competitions. Their only tough game is Manure, and by then Utd will probably field a B team.

With Bale out for 2 games and Lennon missing tomorrow, It's going to be really tough. We won't come away from the City and Chelsea games with 2 wins, and now Everton tomorrow is going to be extra tough... We've seen how we look without any pace in the past and it isn't pretty at all.

Our only chance is for Adebayor and Defoe to step up, but they haven't looked like great or even good players for a while.

Why are Arsenal suddenly going to be so much better than they have been all season? They currently have 15 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses from 30 games. Take that same form into the final 8 games, and they'll get 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. Considering they've got Everton and Man Utd at home, and still have to go to Loftus Road and St James Park, that doesn't seem at all like an unreasonable prediction.

Arsenal won't get more than 69 points. Whether or not we get into the top 4 will be entirely down to us achieving the 13 points we need to hit the magic 70. Do that, we finish at least 4th. 4 wins (Wigan, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland) and a draw (Everton). Again, not unrealistic outcomes. Get a result other than a loss at Chelsea and that'll put us in an even stronger position for 3rd, especially with Chelsea current favourites in two cups.

 

[Shea]

Naturally we want easier games.

We have to play:

Everton (H)
Man City (H)
Wigan (A)
Southampton (H)
Chelsea (A)
Stoke (A)
Sunderland (H)

We are arguably favourites to win 5 of those and I believe we have the ability to beat anyone in the Prem.

Arsenal and Chelsea won't win the rest of their games.

We are currently 3rd. If we perform to our ability then we get top four.

You have to take form and need to win into account as well as over all quality, things will change of course

But looking at that we potentially have 4 teams who will be fighting for their lives or at least looking over their shoulder for survival which makes them tougher games - although for Saints may well be safe by then and Sunderland could already be down by the last game of the season

We've also got a lot of teams of the type that we struggle to break down

Yea all the top clubs can look at the fixtures and say "we're good enough to beat anyone" and rightfully they should all focus on their own games. If we win all ours we'll be above Arsenal and Chelsea, if Cheslea win all theirs they'll be above us and if Arsenal win all theirs they'll at least be above us or Chelsea

But in terms of determining a favourite, Arsenal have easier games and better form. Chelsea have tricky fixtures and congestion of fixtures and sketchy form but more match winners than we do- as perhaps do Arsenal.

We're capable of going on a run, but without Bale and Lennon and with the run of fixtures we have it will be very tricky for us to stay in third- if Chelsea win their game in hand we're fourth anyway.

I agree with the notion of just concentrating on your own fixtures and taking each game as it comes. We have to beat Everton, especially if WBA don't do us a favour against Arsenal.

 

[Legacy]

They've just got their second.

The bastards always come into form at this time of year, can't see us finishing above them this season.

Reeeeeeally? I'll paste a post I made in a different thread this morning with regards to that notion.

"Well, that's a crock of shit. Lets set the goal for Champions League positions at 70 points, which seems to be the magic number.

Arsenal, currently on 53 points, need 17 from a possible 24 points.

Arsenal's results for the final 8 games of the season over the last 6 years:

06/07
3 wins from 8 (13pts)

07/08
5 wins from 8 (16pts)

08/09
5 wins from 8 (17pts)

09/10
3 wins from 8 (11pts)

10/11
2 wins from 8 (9pts)

11/12
3 wins from 8 (12pts)

So only once in the last 6 years have they achieved a points haul sufficient enough for 70 points. Over the last six seasons, their average points total for the final 18 games, is 13 points, which would put them on 66 points at the end of the season. Their average points total in the last three seasons is 10.6 (say 11), which puts them on 64 points.

Dunno where you got this idea that they don't fuck up the run in. Only reason they finished in 3rd last season was because we fucked up the run in more than they did."

 

[Shea]

Why are Arsenal suddenly going to be so much better than they have been all season? They currently have 15 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses from 30 games. Take that same form into the final 8 games, and they'll get 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. Considering they've got Everton and Man Utd at home, and still have to go to Loftus Road and St James Park, that doesn't seem at all like an unreasonable prediction.

Arsenal won't get more than 69 points. Whether or not we get into the top 4 will be entirely down to us achieving the 13 points we need to hit the magic 70. Do that, we finish at least 4th. 4 wins (Wigan, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland) and a draw (Everton). Again, not unrealistic outcomes. Get a result other than a loss at Chelsea and that'll put us in an even stronger position for 3rd, especially with Chelsea current favourites in two cups.

because they've found form for the first time really and because they have an easier run of fixtures than they've been afforded the rest of the season.

They've been good at beating the weaker teams this year and poor against the top sides and now they have a run where they only really have to play one top side, with home advantage and that side will probably have already won the league at that stage

They'll win today and they'll beat Norwich after that, if we don't beat Everton tomorrow they'll already be above us

 

[Shea]

Dunno where you got this idea that they don't fuck up the run in. Only reason they finished in 3rd last season was because we fucked up the run in more than they did."

This is true, they even fucked up in the crunch time of the run in - we just fucked up more and let them off the hook

 

[Spurger King]

To be honest I've stopped worrying about finishing above Arsenal. It's not going to happen this season.

I'm more interested in how Chelski get on. For me they're the team we're in competition with.