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Fight for Top 4

Top 4 prediction, assuming Chelsea & City are fighting for title?

  • City,Chelsea,United,Arsenal

    Votes: 157 47.1%
  • City,Chelsea,United,Spurs

    Votes: 120 36.0%
  • City,Chelsea,United,Liverpool

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • City,Chelsea,United,Southampton

    Votes: 8 2.4%
  • City,Chelsea,Arsenal,Spurs

    Votes: 27 8.1%
  • City,Chelsea,Arsenal,Liverpool

    Votes: 2 0.6%
  • City,Chelsea,Arsenal,Southampton

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • City,Chelsea,Liverpool,Spurs

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • City,Chelsea,Liverpool,Southampton

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • City,Chelsea,Spurs,Southampton

    Votes: 18 5.4%

  • Total voters
    333

arunspurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
8,807
35,543
I have not been this optimistic in a long time. We are in 4 competitions - with a realistic chance of winning one and in the mix for top4 with win over leaders Chelsea.

Personally, If its guaranteed, I would rather win one of cups than being 4th in league.

City & Chelsea are guaranteed top 2 IMO.

Everton
Lost 4 in a row now and don't look like stop losing - heading towards bottom half finish

Liverpool
Lost Suarez. Sturridge hasn't kicked the ball after our game. Difference this year, they dont have 60 goals from 2 players. Moreover, there is a huge expectation & pressure on Rodgers. Rodgers had a free ride last season now his seat is on fire.

Southampton
Huge credit to them, especially their manager Koeman. I thought they will drop down the table in the festive season fixture congestion. On the contrary, they have stepped up, getting point with Chelsea & have beaten Arsenal comfortably. Surprising fact is, they have the best defense in the league with conceding just 15 goals in PL -far better than Chelsea or City. They defend as a team and I expect them right up there challenging for 3rd or 4th spot end of season.

United
Started poorly but now in excellent form. Their forward line is one of the best in the league but have a suspect defense. Position they will finish depend on whether, they will get proper defenders in Jan, IMO.

Arsenal
Like their team, their fans blow hot & cold and their like or dislike of the manager depends on the last game's result. All is not well with them .Arsenal had single digit goal difference only once in January. This happened 2 years ago, where our manager lost focus and threw a life line to them.

Tottenham
Started poorly. Poor home form but decent away form. But now we have turned a corner; Team is gelling, playing some good football and at tough times, we are sticking together & getting results. We are also scoring as a team - Kane, Eriksen, Chadli - all 3 have scored 7 goals and are in top15 in PL scoring charts.

Key for us is to keep this trio fit and improve our defending. Also, we need likes of Lamela, Soldado & Tonsend to chip in some goals.

IMO, with other teams faltering, I think we have very realistic chance of top4. I don't believe Arsenal are that good like previous years. I know every year they come out with some fantastic run bullying bottom half teams. This year, till now its not happening. They are not scoring freely. Key difference this season is, they are dependent on one player Sanchez to get the results unlike entire team chipping in with goals. Their defense is as bad as ever. Whether we beat them or not, I cant see them finishing in top4

My Top 4 prediction - City, Chelsea, United, Spurs (y)(y)(y)(y)
 

Archibald&Crooks

Aegina Expat
Admin
Feb 1, 2005
55,533
204,721
Here we go again. The minute we string a few results together :D

It's nice to see some optimism but why do it to yourself? It'll all end with you hugging yourself, rocking back and forth on your sofa staring glassy eyed at a bottle of hard liquor and a handful of strong sedatives scattered across the table.

I'm sticking with pre-season expectations of 6th to 7th. Anything else is a bonus.
 

FITZ

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2004
2,017
1,518
Think it will be utd and arsenal. Would be ok with 5th given the changes and team development throughout the year.

Great to add a cup win to that that too.
 

DaSpurs

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2013
11,816
13,655
Depends on who addresses their needs this month. As is, I think we'll finish 5th.
 

sparx100

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2007
4,612
6,646
Incredible how fans perceptions and views change after a few positive results. Suddenly on the coat tails of 3rd place and the general fans view is positive.

Poch was being hung drawn and quartered just a few weeks ago and now we are getting excited about finishing 3rd.

My gut feel is that we will miss out on top 4. I think United will be there and I think arsenal will get there in the end.
 

arunspurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
8,807
35,543
Incredible how fans perceptions and views change after a few positive results. Suddenly on the coat tails of 3rd place and the general fans view is positive.

Poch was being hung drawn and quartered just a few weeks ago and now we are getting excited about finishing 3rd.

My gut feel is that we will miss out on top 4. I think United will be there and I think arsenal will get there in the end.


I wrote the article - atleast I can say that I always supported Poch. (not Lamela though)...

My gut feel is we will have a very good end to the season - whether its winning a cup or top4
 

ebzrascal

Well-Known Member
Sep 13, 2009
2,635
4,670
I dunno things have changed I really want TOP 4 I don`t even watch the League Cup or FA Cup anymore unless we are playing...

Don`t get me wrong I would love to win a domestic cup but would prefer to get Top 4 or win Europa,,,,,,
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
What did I say all summer & pre-season, 70% for 5th, with a 30% chance for 4th? I also did say that at least one of those "given" for top 4 would slip up. Sooooo, I'll stick with that. Spurs and Arsenal will fight for 4th, and eventually, Spurs will secure 5th. Looking at the season thus far, 5th isn't bad, and we should be excited about that.
 

Mullers

Unknown member
Jan 4, 2006
25,914
16,413
I dunno things have changed I really want TOP 4 I don`t even watch the League Cup or FA Cup anymore unless we are playing...

Don`t get me wrong I would love to win a domestic cup but would prefer to get Top 4 or win Europa,,,,,,
Top 4 I haven't thought about regardless I much prefer a trophy the league cup is very realistic, Europa would be fantastic regardless of the champions league place but that would be very, very difficult to win.
 

Geyzer Soze

Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd
Aug 16, 2010
26,056
63,361
I started the season saying that I would be satisfied with a decent cup run (achieved already) & qualification into Europe next season. I'll stick to that. If we achieve that, are playing well & keep our stand out players goimg into next season my expectations will be upgraded but for now just because we have a good run its unfair on the team & fans to start so quickly building up these high expectations again
 

DogsOfWar

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2005
2,293
3,603
Incredible how fans perceptions and views change after a few positive results. Suddenly on the coat tails of 3rd place and the general fans view is positive.

Poch was being hung drawn and quartered just a few weeks ago and now we are getting excited about finishing 3rd.

My gut feel is that we will miss out on top 4. I think United will be there and I think arsenal will get there in the end.

That's a fair comment to make if there was no reason for the change in results but in this case there is.

Since we have changed to a starting eleven with Kane, Bentaleb, and Mason we have looked much stronger. Now Walker has returned we are unbeaten.
Our bench now has Townsend, Stambouli, Paulinho, Soldado, Dembele, Lennon sitting on it who can influence a result.
The upturn in results/performances has seen Verts, Fazio, Lamela, Davies all improve from their start of season form.

Poch's training regime seems to be paying off with the players even commenting on it.

Of course, this may just be a coincidence but the next 4-8 games should confirm whether this is the case or not.

For what it's worth I agree with you that we will miss out on top 4, I expect United to strengthen further and get 3rd whilst Arsenal will come good eventually for 4th.
But I feel we will put a genuine challenge in now, enough to frighten teams into giving us a bit of respect which was sadly missing at the start of the year.
 

walworthyid

David Ginola
Oct 25, 2004
7,059
10,242
Here we go again. The minute we string a few results together :D

It's nice to see some optimism but why do it to yourself? It'll all end with you hugging yourself, rocking back and forth on your sofa staring glassy eyed at a bottle of hard liquor and a handful of strong sedatives scattered across the table.

I'm sticking with pre-season expectations of 6th to 7th. Anything else is a bonus.
I'm with you, sort of! But I also think that the league is more open than I thought it would be.
Everton are struggling.
Man u have struggled are not really that impressive.
Arsenal are struggling. They can't beat the teams around them and are still just flat track bullies.
Newcastle are struggling and will not recover.
The biggest surprise has been us. We are winning, we are fit, we have momentum. We have harry kane!
The way I see it is that after Chelsea and city the other places are wide open and we are really in the mix. That being said, we are spurs and I'm sure we'll find some way to mess it all up!
 

arunspurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
8,807
35,543
I agree the pessimism, if every one around us is playing at a different level. But its not the case.

I understand most who wants to play down the things. But I think there are really good signs & we are turning it on just at the right time.

We have played 2 in form teams of the league in last 2 games and got 4 points- we have held United & beaten Chelsea convincingly. It was a complete team effort where Pochettino's tactics outclassed Mourinho, especially the way Eriksen was used as decoy with Matic - this would not have happened under Harry or AVB or Tim. IMO, players are playing for their manager and now with Kane inspiring the team, I finally believe players are also playing for the fans.

If we can't be optimistic after the last few games, when can we ?
 

ebzrascal

Well-Known Member
Sep 13, 2009
2,635
4,670
Top 4 I haven't thought about regardless I much prefer a trophy the league cup is very realistic, Europa would be fantastic regardless of the champions league place but that would be very, very difficult to win.
For the future progression of the club we need TOP 4 and start challenging for the league... I have seen us win many cups but I have only seen one title challenge and that was in the mid 80`s I think despite the money of the teams above us with a clever youth and buying policy we can still challenge..
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
If we can't be optimistic after the last few games, when can we ?
This weekend.
No match – no loss. :whistle:
No, seriously, I think most feel it is simply just a wee bit too early to predict 4th. Additionally, I believe most feel that 4th isn't even necessary to be happy, or that "optimism" doesn't equal believing in 4th.
 

NicoClaesen81

Active Member
Jan 2, 2015
201
297
voted citeh, chavs, yanited, & southampton......with us & dial square to miss out

soton are in this for the long haul.....
 

WiganSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
15,974
32,682
City Chelsea United Arsenal.

Top two is pretty much nailed on. Utd without European commitments will claim that 3rd spot with players returning from injuries too. Arsenal, despite the mass panic from their fans, will finish in the top 4 as they always do.

Battle between Saints, Liverpool and ourselves for 5th.
 
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