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Race for the Top 4 - 2018/19

Where will we finish in the league ?


  • Total voters
    423
  • Poll closed .

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
Once Chelsea and Arsenal out the way.

Match day 15

Spurs v Southampton
Manu v Arsenal
Wolves v Chelsea

MD 17

Spurs v Burnley
Liverpool v Man U

MD 19

Spurs v Bournemouth
Watford v Chelsea

MD 20

Spurs v wolves
Liverpool v Arsenal
Palace v Chelsea

Some kinder fixtures for us and potential banana skins for our rivals up to new year.

Plus Arsenal have to go away to Bournemouth (I think) when we play Chelsea
 

Lighty64

I believe
Aug 24, 2010
10,400
12,476
Once Chelsea and Arsenal out the way.

Match day 15

Spurs v Southampton
Manu v Arsenal
Wolves v Chelsea

MD 17

Spurs v Burnley
Liverpool v Man U

MD 19

Spurs v Bournemouth
Watford v Chelsea

MD 20

Spurs v wolves
Liverpool v Arsenal
Palace v Chelsea

Some kinder fixtures for us and potential banana skins for our rivals up to new year.

don't think Bournemouth or Wolves at home are kind fixtures just because they are home fixtures. eventually all the other teams involved in the top 4 battle has to play them. I'll be angry if we don't take max points off Southampton and Burnley, but wouldn't be as angry if those teams nicked something, yes very unhappy but not shocked or angry. both teams on their day can cause an upset or problems, just hope they feel the strain of the Xmas period more than us.
 

ljinko888

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2016
2,080
5,376
If we are within 6 points from 1st place come January 1st.....don't rule us out.

We typically pick up speed in the second half of the season and with the new stadium hopefully ready there's going to be a great buzz around the place.
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
Not taking anything away from city but i thought that was one of the worst utd performances i've ever seen.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
Not taking anything away from city but i thought that was one of the worst utd performances i've ever seen.

Yeah they were shit, 1 shot on goal which was the pen and they just sat back and let them have the ball, so easy for City.

That 3rd goal could have been avoided if they bothered to press and get in their faces a bit.

Proper cowardice performance.
 

chinaman

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2003
17,974
12,423
If we are within 6 points from 1st place come January 1st.....don't rule us out.

We typically pick up speed in the second half of the season and with the new stadium hopefully ready there's going to be a great buzz around the place.


Not this year I'm afraid unless we have the balls to defy the FA and pull our boys from meaningless internationals.
 

Saoirse

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
6,143
15,550
Not this year I'm afraid unless we have the balls to defy the FA and pull our boys from meaningless internationals.

It's really not that simple any more - I don't actually see many clubs doing it. The national teams are entitled to bring the player along anyway and conduct their own medical assessment. And if they're unhappy they can force the player to miss the next club match since he's supposedly "injured" - see Kyle Lafferty last month. Because of this you've really got to try and keep up a positive relationship with the national teams and look to manage minutes if possible and build up the trust so you can withdraw players when truly needed.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
It's really not that simple any more - I don't actually see many clubs doing it. The national teams are entitled to bring the player along anyway and conduct their own medical assessment. And if they're unhappy they can force the player to miss the next club match since he's supposedly "injured" - see Kyle Lafferty last month. Because of this you've really got to try and keep up a positive relationship with the national teams and look to manage minutes if possible and build up the trust so you can withdraw players when truly needed.

Pep does it all the time.
 

Saoirse

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
6,143
15,550
Pep does it all the time.

It's Man City. Almost certainly dodgyness going on thanks to their "unique circumstances". Notably it hasn't been so much the made-up injuries, Brazil and Argentina in particular have just been very compliant in not calling their players up to begin with.
 

ItsBoris

Well-Known Member
Jan 18, 2011
7,467
8,604
Yeah they were shit, 1 shot on goal which was the pen and they just sat back and let them have the ball, so easy for City.

That 3rd goal could have been avoided if they bothered to press and get in their faces a bit.

Proper cowardice performance.

Well we also only had one shot on target against City lol. And we were playing them at home.

Maybe City are just that good that they can make otherwise pretty decent teams look crap. I know United aren't the greatest right now but I don't think their loss was down to cowardice or shitness, just that City are a level above anyone else. Only Liverpool seem able to give them a challenge.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
It's Man City. Almost certainly dodgyness going on thanks to their "unique circumstances". Notably it hasn't been so much the made-up injuries, Brazil and Argentina in particular have just been very compliant in not calling their players up to begin with.

Hmm dunno, I think Poch is a honorable man and has huge respect for Southgate and the FA and I get the impression that he would never get in the way of a player if he gets called up by their national team.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
Well we also only had one shot on target against City lol. And we were playing them at home.

Maybe City are just that good that they can make otherwise pretty decent teams look crap. I know United aren't the greatest right now but I don't think their loss was down to cowardice or shitness, just that City are a level above anyone else. Only Liverpool seem able to give them a challenge.

But we gave City more problems and we should have scored if Lamela had his shooting boots on, small margins but the performances are non comparable. If you watched both matches you'd notice there was a stark difference between our performance and Utd's,Utd also gave up 80% possession and decided to sit and try and nick the ball for a counter attack but, the point is that we tried and Utd didn't.
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
Well we also only had one shot on target against City lol. And we were playing them at home.

Maybe City are just that good that they can make otherwise pretty decent teams look crap. I know United aren't the greatest right now but I don't think their loss was down to cowardice or shitness, just that City are a level above anyone else. Only Liverpool seem able to give them a challenge.

City are very good, but utd had 11 men behind the ball the whole game and didn't close down at all. They didn't even have an option for a break.

I thought they were bad. Even at 3-1 they just looked at city with the ball.
 

ohtottenham!

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2013
7,497
13,029
City look a class above everyone.

Liverpool are increasingly showing signs of wear and tear due to their pressing game over the years, just as we have in recent times. And Fulham could have quite easily got a result at Anfield yesterday!

Chelsea are impressive going forward, but vulnerable defensively. There's not much, if anything, that separates us from those two teams, and we've had horrible luck with injuries.

Think Utd could still be a top 4 threat. Arsenal look like a team in transition that doesn't have a solid foundation, especially defensively.
 

Monkey boy

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2011
6,381
17,040
According to reports Klopp is striking a deal with Southgate to rest Joe Gomez. If he does that then we should insist that Kane plays no more than 45 minutes over the 2 games. Dele arguably could do with the minutes under his belt so perhaps that can be the trade off?
 

spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
104,956
Liverpool are away Watford away PSG home Everton.

That’s not easy. I might be wrong but I think they usually struggle against Watford away. They are still unbeaten so I’m desperate for them to lose a league game to see how they react.
 

dickieven

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2006
2,041
2,930
That’s not easy. I might be wrong but I think they usually struggle against Watford away. They are still unbeaten so I’m desperate for them to lose a league game to see how they react.

In a way I am quite comfortable Liverpool and Chelsea continuing their unbeaten run as long as they drop some points in draws. I think over time it becomes more of a hindrance and they will try to protect the unbeaten record and draw too many games. Similarly with Arsenal and their run. Other than City we have more points than everyone in the last 5 games and yet we have lost and the rest of the top 5 haven't.
 

nickspurs

SC Supporter
May 13, 2005
1,608
1,389
It's Man City. Almost certainly dodgyness going on thanks to their "unique circumstances". Notably it hasn't been so much the made-up injuries, Brazil and Argentina in particular have just been very compliant in not calling their players up to begin with.
Mansour has probably threatened to buy their national teams if they don’t comply with Pep’s demands.
 

SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
In a way I am quite comfortable Liverpool and Chelsea continuing their unbeaten run as long as they drop some points in draws. I think over time it becomes more of a hindrance and they will try to protect the unbeaten record and draw too many games. Similarly with Arsenal and their run. Other than City we have more points than everyone in the last 5 games and yet we have lost and the rest of the top 5 haven't.

Agreed, top six head to heads aside, drawing games is a bad result in the current league climate. The year Chelsea beat us to the title they only drew 3 games all season, they actually lost one more game than us. Converting tight games to wins was the difference. Long unbeaten runs do tend to make teams value draws a bit more highly.

Although as we have both Chelsea and Arsenal soon I hope we snap both of their streaks! (Although after yesterday's results I'd probably be content with 2-4 points)
 
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