It's incredibly annoying but when one thinks about it it's not unusual to spend a quarter to half a season trying to make up a gap at the top end of the table. Teams this high don't drop points frequently enough
Top 4 Race 19/20 | duffer: "We [Chelsea] are getting 3rd. Despite what the lunatics in here think, Man United are not all that."
- Thread starter Andy_Cole
- Start date
Not feeling confident of a top 4 finish at all. Been let down way to many times to fully believe.
Going for Europa League or keeping our fingers crossed for a City ban is the way to go.
Going for Europa League or keeping our fingers crossed for a City ban is the way to go.
Does anyone know when Maddison will be back for Leicester? They look toothless without him.
Good result because that pushes Sheffield United forward for the Chelsea and Leicester games and gives them something to play for!
Exactly. Now we need to continue our run.
Win tomorrow and if City ban is upheld, that’s CL football sewn up.
Yeah needed a winner for one of em to give them something to play for.
If we beat Villa then that takes Wolves totally out of the running for top 5 and leaves it a three way battle for spots 3 and 4
If City's ban stays then this battle has a possibility to be over by next week. If Wolves lose or draw their next match against Everton and we beat both Villa and Southampton then we would have qualified by Monday
Assuming City's ban stays, I hope we play our 1st team against Villa and Southampton, rest players vs Palace and then play our preferred XI vs Chelsea
All the whoppers in here that were worried about Wolves 
Agree, but Sheffield are now in the mix given they play both Chelsea and Leicester next 2 games. 9 points is a big gap to overcome on Chelsea but if they win their games, they can capitalise on any dropped points by us or Leicester.
No way there isn't some punishment for city even if it reduced to 1 year . I think we more than likely wont need that anyway I think we will keep this winning streak going and Leicester and Chelsea will slip up . But if the pressure is off come Monday we will cruise the remaining fixtures imo
If we win these then we deserve CL
Exactly. This is more than just a loss for Wolves.
If we win tomorrow we would be 7 points ahead of Sheffield with a higher goal difference so they would need 3 wins to catch up with us with just 4 games left. Given their upcoming fixtures I'd say they can't make it
Nah it’s the fans not the players.
Beat Villa, then breath.
We do that and I think we'll likely need only a draw in our final game.
We do that and I think we'll likely need only a draw in our final game.
If we win these then we deserve CL
I'm with you - best of luck. If you win those, you may just get in too (assuming the City ban stays). Will be quite a story. I'll be rooting for you after (and if) we beat Villa tomorrow.
Thats my point. Am not worried about them, if we win tomorrow. Our fixtures don't seem that tricky for us to drop 7 points in those 4 games.
But if we drop points tomorrow, it's a big issue. Leicester play Sheffield (6 pointer), spurs and us back to back. If sheffield win against Chelsea and Leicester, it is definitely possible for Leicester to drop 6 points against spurs and us and allow Sheffield into 5th.
Basically all this points to the fact that a top 5 finish is not totally gone for them yet.
What happens if we get 5th and qualify for Champions league due to City's ban but then Wolves win Europa?
Have to say that a win tomorrow makes it very hard for anyone to catch us due to the big improvement to our GD in the last 3 games. By Monday, we could all be saying that CL is all but done or it could be looking bleak if results go badly and CAS overturn the ban completely. The next 5 days are absolutely huge.
Not sure exactly what City's options are in terms of appeals if they dont get the decision they want. There are different courts they might be able to go to but it depends on the basis of appeal I think.
Not sure exactly what City's options are in terms of appeals if they dont get the decision they want. There are different courts they might be able to go to but it depends on the basis of appeal I think.
Then we both get in. The maximum number of teams in the CL is 5.
Then Wolves get a CL spot in addition to Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester and us. England would have 5 teams. I think England could only have 2 teams in the Europa though. If Wolves finished 6th, then 7th and 8th would get Europa (unless Arsenal win the FA cup and finish lower than that...its complicated).
Ah thanks
The beauty of City's ban if it stands hopefully is that if we win our next two games then we can rest players for the next game before the FA cup semi finals
What are they in the mix for? Europa League spots only.
It's finding out most likely before we play Southampton as well, which means that we could really throw the shackles off and have a barnstormer to end the season, if the decision is on our side, of course. Wrap the likes of Bruno, Matic, Pogba, Martial, Rashford in cotton wool before the big games like the FA Cup tie(s), put miles on the clock for McTominay, Fred, Bailly, James et al so that they're sharp for when they might be needed.
And I'd definitely back us to win the EL as well, with all the pressure off and the likes of Pogba and Bruno being fresh.
Just have to hope that the CAS decision goes in our favour...
With proper squad management, we will qualify for champions league and win either the Fa cup or Europa.
Leicester will most likely drop points before our match on final match day
Leicester will most likely drop points before our match on final match day
Yes which would be huge for a club like Sheffield United and wilder did also say he didn't want their season to just fizzle out after all the effort they put in pre-covid and fully expect them to be motivated to finish as high as possible and there is that outside chance of getting 5th which could still mean champions league football.
I think today's result was the ideal one that I was hoping for, it shows signs Sheffield United may be back to their old form of grinding out victories and whilst wolves seem to be stuttering when it matters they still showed that they are very tough to break down, chelsea are in for 2 tough tests against these teams.
Looks likely we will finish top 5, that’s a nice cushion between us and Wolves.
still don’t feel overly confident though, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot so many times in recent seasons!!
still don’t feel overly confident though, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot so many times in recent seasons!!
If 5th place is going to be enough we can put ourselves in a very good position tomorrow night with a win. Would take us 6 clear with 4 games to go. Got to win.
Should we beat Norwich and Sheff U (and utd match our results) we can afford to lose to Liverpool as we'd still have a 2 point gap afterwards
Wolves lost tonight, so right now we need 5 pts (i think); to guarantee finishing higher than them and no lower than 5th, so if City's ban is upheld, 5 more pts and we are CL secure. Hence by the time we play Wolves, it's quite possible it will be a dead rubber.
Thus, provided we beat Norwich and Sheff U, and CAS don't buckle, we are home and dry
Wolves lost tonight, so right now we need 5 pts (i think); to guarantee finishing higher than them and no lower than 5th, so if City's ban is upheld, 5 more pts and we are CL secure. Hence by the time we play Wolves, it's quite possible it will be a dead rubber.
Thus, provided we beat Norwich and Sheff U, and CAS don't buckle, we are home and dry
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Agreed, as I said above perfect result because they’ll keep scrapping for Europa and let’s their confidence grow again. Need favours from them in their next two games.
I wish I could share in everyone’s optimism about City ban being upheld, even partially. I just don’t trust any sporting organisation as far as I can throw them
I don't know about everyone else but I am not confident about City's ban being followed through at all. The reason for this is that FFP is a blatant cartel system which is against EU law (and most developed economy laws.) I really see them getting out of it through FFP being declared illegal.
If we win all 5 games we can't come lower than 4th anyway. However we will know next week whether 5th will be enough.
All the whoppers in here that were worried about Wolves
It's satisfying watching them finally drop down.
They're a good team in their way, but negative and pragmatic. Playing them is a boring chore.
I don't think you are accounting for our game in hand. Let's say we beat Villa we are 2 points behind you. If we then match results before the Liverpool game we are still 2 points back so if you lost to Liverpool and we won our game we'd be a point ahead going into the last game of the season.
I think he meant 5th earning a UCL position.