Just us, Liverpool and Newcastle fighting over the last 2 spots. Will be interesting!
Race for top 4 | Finito.
- Thread starter Andycoleno9
- Start date
I have a feeling Newcastle are falling away. If they do it’s a very boring top 4 race by the looks of it.
Chelsea just don't look like they have anything in attack. Havertz and this version of Sterling as your main goalscoring threats will never get you enough goals
I agree on Liverpool.
Would I bet the house on it? Betting against Liverpool and Klopp always scares the crap out of me. But a team with their defense — so far this season — and their offense, that just isn’t that impressive, they don’t at all get that insane press going anymore — “should” not be able to finish 4. But they have a tendency to do things that “should” not be possible.
In addition, the injuries Liverpool always get the last years aren’t freak injuries. They will get a lot of injuries. Milner got injured first game back after a 6 week “break” against City in the CC last week. That shouldn’t happen.
A lot of people will call me an idiot but:
1. We’re 11 pts off top but it’s Arsenal. A young Arsenal team…
2. We’re 4 pts off 2nd
3. We’re definitely on consistently upward trajectory.
4. We have a proper United defense.
5. Casemiro-Eriksen-Bruno - Top midfield
6. Rashford
7. Antony and Sancho still to improve like Shaw, Rashford and Wan Bissaka
8. Identity in play style
We will fight. Top 4 is a modest expectation in my view.
1. We’re 11 pts off top but it’s Arsenal. A young Arsenal team…
2. We’re 4 pts off 2nd
3. We’re definitely on consistently upward trajectory.
4. We have a proper United defense.
5. Casemiro-Eriksen-Bruno - Top midfield
6. Rashford
7. Antony and Sancho still to improve like Shaw, Rashford and Wan Bissaka
8. Identity in play style
We will fight. Top 4 is a modest expectation in my view.
I just saw the spurs and Chelsea results. Those 3 pts v Wolves really made a huge difference now.
It’s in our hands
It’s in our hands
Right out of the RAWK top drawer.
They.are.scared!
Yes, that is idiotic.
Arsenal have to draw at least 6 games or 4 losses and we need to win every remaining game. Even the best ever league teams have not won 22 friggin games in a row.
So, being skeptical as shit just for the sake of being skeptical is a trademark of the Caf?
I think we’d do well to get into the top 4, we just don’t have the firepower to get any higher. 4th and a cup and I’m happy.
22 games works for drawing at least 6 games or 4 losses as well right? We beat them in 2 weeks and it’s down to 8 with half the league season to go if we both win until then. That’s not an unlikely path
You don’t know the future. Predicting the future and being so sure about own prediction is idiotic. The title is unlikely but we are United. We’ve done a lot of unlikely things in our history. Bad times end as well as good times.
Eventually they got Klopp and the title.
It's way too early to look at the table IMO. We know Liverpool and Chelsea have got the pedigree to go on serious runs in the second half f the league. I also think Newcastle will fall off the cliff at some point and drop down. Arsenal? Who knows- could be glory or could drop miserably too!
If I had to put money on it, I'd go with us and Liverpool completing the top 4. However if we don't sign a striker, then there's a real chance that we will miss out.
We got annihilated by City just a couple of months ago and some think we're about to go on a title surge. 
You did not address the 2nd part, is it likely to win 22 games in a row?
So nice to have weekends where we are the big winners for a change sick of being the only one of the big boys to drop points.
sick of being the only one of the big boys to drop points.Who says anybody needs to win 22 games in a row?
The more likely scenario is Arsenal drop 18pts and then we would have to take 60/66pts to overtake them. That would take us to 92pts. Could Arsenal drop 18pts in 22 games? Or course they could. They certainly aren't going to sustain a 102pt pace.
What's less likely is us taking 60 points from our 22 games. We would have to beat Arsenal ourselves and we would be able to afford 3 draws or 2 defeats. We would probably have to avoid defeat against City at the least as well.
All of this is unlikely but I could easily see Arsenal crumbling under pressure particularly if they drop points two weeks in a row. I just don't think we score enough goals to not draw too many games.
I don't know the future, but I can make a very educated guess based on the data we have. In the 130 year odd history of English football, no one has done a 22 game win streak. The highest ever was 18 done by 17/18 City on their way to 100 points, the best ever points total. The odds of this happening are so low, they are basically nil.
How would you propose we make up the deficit? You said that it is down to 8 with half a season to go, That again pre-supposes that they lose 2 and draw 1 game, very likely, but then we go perfect the entire half season, impossible.
Its still kind of early, you'd normally be deeper into the season at this time of year and it'd be easier to judge. Think people are jumping to conclusions a bit about how things will shake out.
There is no way in hell that Arsenal go through the season only dropping points in 4 games out of 38! If they do then they’re the greatest side of all time and there never was a title race.
If we can get to within 8 of them at the very least with the second half still to go then that’s positioning ourselves very well for a title race.
If half way through a season, a team can get 8 more points than your team, then in the second half of the season you can get 8 more points than them. It's really not that bizarre a possibility, not sure whey people are knocking it. It's simply reliant on a slight change in form, and these things can happen.
Will it? Buggered if I know.
Will it? Buggered if I know.
First day on the forum?
People were writing off Liverpool as a spent force half way through the behind closed doors season when they had about 8 centre backs out.
Then watched them storm back into the top 4 and just miss out on the quadruple last year
Someone a post or 2 up has written Tottenham off. Half the way through the season, 2 points behind us!
People seem to forget that City have repeatedly put in massive winning spells in the last 5 years, and Arsenal...haven't.
A couple of key injuries change the picture massively.
Are you kidding? You expect to beat people at the Caf with statistical manipulation? There are 22 games left with 66 pts as maximum. We need to cover 11 point gap in span of 5 months and 66 pts week by week game by game. You are just extrapolating statistical data on real life. Arsenal side is young, they heavily rely on their first XI, they lack high quality experienced players. They’re a lot of variables.
if Marcus get injured, goodbye top 4
Well, it's just 11 points at this stage. That's actually roughly how far out of 3rd place we were when Bruno arrived at the end of January 2020, much further into the season than we are now. And we finished third.
Not that I think it is in any way likely. But it's not particularly outlandish to suggest it might be possible to claw back an 11-point lead held after only 16 rounds. A 6-game winning streak while Arsenal win 2, draw 1 and lose 3, and we're even. Again, not likely, but it certainly wouldn't be much of an earthquake either.
Ten Hag is proving that we can actually win sometimes when we need it to move up a position in the League.
I think our GK and defence is set enough to get top 4.
I think our midfield is set enough to scrape a top 4 with Casemiro and Eriksen for now.
However I feel the front 4 isn't good enough for top 4 and the defence and midfield are what is keeping us in the fight.
I think we NEED a good striker in January whether it's Thuram or Vlahovic to keep momentum going. With either Antony or Sancho looking any value for their price tags for the rest of the season.
So for this season I think we need a ST in January and an in form right winger to achieve top 4.
How we can improve next season would be to get the top CM and 2nd right back that Ten Hag wants. Possibly another striker if Ten Hag decides to replace Martial with another striker.
I think our GK and defence is set enough to get top 4.
I think our midfield is set enough to scrape a top 4 with Casemiro and Eriksen for now.
However I feel the front 4 isn't good enough for top 4 and the defence and midfield are what is keeping us in the fight.
I think we NEED a good striker in January whether it's Thuram or Vlahovic to keep momentum going. With either Antony or Sancho looking any value for their price tags for the rest of the season.
So for this season I think we need a ST in January and an in form right winger to achieve top 4.
How we can improve next season would be to get the top CM and 2nd right back that Ten Hag wants. Possibly another striker if Ten Hag decides to replace Martial with another striker.
Elephant in the room, but I kinda agree with this. No one in the attack is really firing besides Rashford right now. Someone needs to hit some form or we need to get someone in to help out.
Arsenal have no CL distractions and if they can sustain a 6-10 point lead for another month then Arteta could realistically bin off the Europa and focus fully on the League.
But it’s not even half way in the season yet! So it’s anyone’s guess.
But it’s not even half way in the season yet! So it’s anyone’s guess.
Think it will be between us, Liverpool and Newcastle for top 4 with Newcastle just missing out
Much also depends on the type of business that is done in the winter window. One or two signings can be enough to regalvanize a team and kick things on. I think if Newcastle reload this month there's perhaps a chance of this.
This post was idiotic. Are you new to this football thing?
In 96 we reeled in Newcastle who had a 12 point lead on us after more than half the season was played.
In 2003 we trailed a great Arsenal side by 8 points, in March… and won the league.
No one has to go on a fecking 22 game winning run to reel in 11 points.
I think we’ll likely end up 6 points or so behind Arsenal in 3rd, but…
A win at the Emirates makes it 8 points.
A single round loss for Arsenal and win for United then makes it 5. A draw in a round and win for United makes it 3 points.
Let’s also remember Arsenal are yet to play City this season.
In a very realistic scenario, it could be wiped out to 3 points in just 3 rounds of PL football. On the 3rd Jan the true 6 week test of their credentials begins:
3rd Jan: Newcastle (H)
15th Jan: Spurs (A)
22nd Jan: United (H)
4th Feb: Everton (A)
15th Feb: City (H)
I think they come out the other side behind City in the league, if they don’t, then feck me, they have a serious chance.
But let’s not make out it’s some insurmountable lead man
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Agreed. They are a well-balanced side, but a bit short on quality in a few areas - given the weaknesses of the other sides, if they get the right players in this month, they can kick on and potentially secure third.
My biggest worry re united is the lack of goals - nine teams have outscored us so far and we've now lost Ronaldo. If we can't find a striker this month, we're going to find that too many games that could/should be comfortable wins end up being draws, due to our lack of firepower. We'll be very lucky if that doesn't cost us a UCL place.
Not a meltdown but if we could beat all 3 of those games and City can beat Arsenal twice, then the gap gets down to 5 pts. And there is Newcastle that could do something against Arsenal, twice. Because of those double fixtures I think there is something to do for us if we keep doing the jobs