Top 4 Race 19/20 | duffer: "We [Chelsea] are getting 3rd. Despite what the lunatics in here think, Man United are not all that."

If United stay clear of injuries on important players, 3rd is doable. But it is a tall order.
 
Shame Bournemouth didn't hold out for the win, even with a win we stay 5th tomorrow :(
 
Andycoleno9 said:
5th is good. I would take 5th right now in a second. City will not get ban canceled. Maybe from 2 years to 1 but ban will stand
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I think everyone would prefer to finish 4th though and be in the UCL by merit not because City have been caught breaking the rules
 
finish 5th and qualify for it courtesy of city being banned, then win it next year while they aint in the competition ;)
 
Ok, starting to get a bit worried about Wolves now. IF they keep their big players fit they could have a really strong league finish. Next four games are Brighton, West Ham, Bournemouth and Aston Villa. Those are all winnable.

Actually think it was a good point for United today in one of our hardest fixtures. Spurs and Chelsea not looking great.
 
Irwin99 said:
Ok, starting to get a bit worried about Wolves now. IF they keep their big players fit they could have a really strong league finish. Next four games are Brighton, West Ham, Bournemouth and Aston Villa. Those are all winnable.

Actually think it was a good point for United today in one of our hardest fixtures. Spurs and Chelsea not looking great.
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All 3 sides had tough games and all 3 teams predictably failed, it's going to be like this till the end of the season imo
 
Am i the only one here who is thinking that 5th place is CL spot?
Just saw Chelsea's schedule. Man, they are fecked. Not a single game where they have nailed 3 points.
 
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Chelsea’s schedule is awful. It’s wolves that look the bigger threat. I still back Leicester to stay in the top 4. We have Man City, Spurs and Sheffield United next which are very tough games. Come out of those with 6 points and it really is ours to lose. The important thing is not to lose two or three of those games though. Fatigue might be a problem with the FA cup and EL.
 
Chelsea's schedule looks easier than ours to me and they'll also have no Europe to contend with.

Wolves have the easiest run in. I'd be surprised if we finish above them.
 
There’s a way to go, but I’m getting 2016 vibes when we fecked it against West Ham (final game at Upton Park).

We put ourselves in contention and then folded.
 
People are overlooking that there are only 10 games left. I think Leicester will hang on, even though I expect them to fall back to the pack, and possibly finish 4th. Those 9 goals against Southampton essentially secured GD as an extra point, and even though one team may emerge to catch them, there's so little to suggest two will.

So hard to call the other team. Points on the board suggest Chelsea are still favourites and they may well exit both cups in the next fortnight. United and Wolves I expect will continue to go deep in Europe and that may well tell. Can't see Spurs finding the consistency, Burnley, Everton and Arsenal are a few points too far back at this stage (8 with 10/11 games to go). I think it will be beyond Sheffield United too, but they could get European football and have to play everyone else so could well be kingmaker.

So Leicester and Chelsea, but it not being pretty.

We could be looking at 65 points getting 3rd! Last time that happened was Liverpool in 97/98 in an almost different era for football before the PL saw massive amounts of foreign investment. The standard is so shit. Even United or Wolves winning all their final ten games and going on a remarkable winning run would only match Chelsea's 72 points for 3rd last season. Teams are so far back from where top 4 contenders would ordinarily be at this stage.
 
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Final day could be tasty though with Leicester vs United and Chelsea vs Wolves.
 
These next two games plus even Sheffield Utd at home will really define whether we are able to stay in the race for that 4th place, if only we hadn't coughed up silly defeats at West Ham, Newcastle, Watford & Bournemouth in the autumn we could afford to drop more points against City & Spurs without it hurting our chances of champions league football.
 
Jacko21 said:
There’s a way to go, but I’m getting 2016 vibes when we fecked it against West Ham (final game at Upton Park).

We put ourselves in contention and then folded.
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We also put ourselves in contention last season and folded. Third time's the charm, eh?
 
Utd have a ridiculous fixture list with City and Spurs next up. But I can see them getting 4 points from that. Then an easy-ish run in.

Chelsea losing Kovacic and Willian along with their current injury list puts them out of top 6 over the next two or three league games. Wolves and/or Sheffield Utd could make a break for 5th (awaiting City's ban). Arsenal won't do anything. Nor will Spurs.

My prediction:
2. City
3. Leicester
4. Utd
5. Wolves
6. Chelsea or Sheff Utd
7. Chelsea or Sheff Utd
 
Remaining games

Leicester
Villa (h)
Watford (a)
Brighton (h)
Everton (a)
Palace (h)
Arsenal (a)
Bournemouth (a)
Sheffield United (h)
Spurs (a)
Man Utd (h)

Chelsea
Everton (h)
Villa (a)
City (h)
West Ham (a)
Watford (h)
Palace (a)
Sheffield United (a)
Norwich (h)
Liverpool (a)
Wolves (h)

Man Utd
City (h)
Spurs (a)
Sheffield United (h)
Brighton (a)
Bournemouth (h)
Villa (a)
Southampton (h)
Palace (a)
West Ham (h)
Leicester (a)

Spurs
Burnley (a)
Man Utd (h)
West Ham (h)
Sheffield United (a)
Everton (h)
Bournemouth (a)
Arsenal (h)
Newcastle (a)
Leicester (h)
Palace (a)

Maybe slightly arrogantly I'm ignore Wolves and Sheffield United

Leicester - good set of fixtures but in piss poor form at present
Chelsea - possibly the hardest fixture list of the lot, very inconsistent, find scoring goals a problem as well as keeping them out
Man Utd - next 3 games could be ugly but after that very favourable but then those are the games we struggle in
Spurs - with a fully fit squad you'd bank on them as favourites but who scores the goals while Kane and Son are out?

All in all feck knows, all 4 sides will continue to drop points and as it was last season it'll be who's least shit that finishes in the top 4/5
 
Chelsea run in is a nightmare. Last home game at Anfield after winning the league as well
 
I expect us to be in with a shout right up until the West Ham loss in the penultimate game and the Leicester game to be a dead rubber.
 
Big points dropped by Wolves in a game you'd expect them to win.
 
Imo United need 4 points from the next two games ( city and Spurs) to have a chance of finishing in the top 4
 
Irwin99 said:
Big points dropped by Wolves in a game you'd expect them to win.
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Yeah did not expect Brighton to get anything today,expected Wolves to kick on after that win at Spurs last Sunday.

Sounds like Norwich gave it a real go in the second half against Sheff Utd but ironically on loan Utd keeper shut them out.
 
The 5th to 8th positions will shuffle a lot over the coming weeks, I suspect. Any points tomorrow would be massive.
 
cyberman said:
Chelsea run in is a nightmare. Last home game at Anfield after winning the league as well
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My only worry is that Liverpool will have already won the league and if they are still in champions league could be more focused on that.
 
Looking at Arsenal's schedule and I can't see them getting anywhere near despite my earlier thinking that they could be a dark horse (there has been improvement under Arteta I think). Think Everton have left it too late as well.

croadyman said:
My only worry is that Liverpool will have already won the league and if they are still in champions league could be more focused on that.
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...and they do have a history of throwing games against Chelsea just to spite United :mad:
 
When was the last time 4th (or 5th) for that matter finished with less than 60 points? Looks like really low tally given no one can string 3-4 wins together.

Arsenal inevitably strung a few wins together and think they've got Brighton and Norwich up next.
 
Arsenal 2 points behind us now, goes to show how shite we’ve been really.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
Imo United need 4 points from the next two games ( city and Spurs) to have a chance of finishing in the top 4
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I think that we can get on a great run from now and until the end of the season. The City game is the most tricky one, but the rest are all winable. If Rashford is back sooner than expected that would also be a major boost.
 
Damien said:
Not until City either lose all of their appeals (which will go on way beyond the season finishes anyway), or change their mind and say they'll accept the ban (never going to happen).
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Surely they have to quickly get to a decision so the team that gets into the CL can plan for the season ahead. You can't go and make transfers hoping CL money is coming in only to be told that it isn't.
 
It feels like Arsenal are having the worst season imaginable yet somehow they're only two fecking points behind us.
 
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