The Race for the Top Four Finish

RobertKK

Southampton

My predicted top four:
Chelsea
United
Arsenal
Liverpool

City meltdown...enough to be overtaken by three teams...

Raf32

Raf32 wrote: »

Think its time City got a mention in here. Their form is alarming but they should just do it but who knows. 6 teams for three spots now.

You can get 20/1 on City finishing outside the top 4.

I think they'll do it (finish top 4) handy enough.

2nd and 3rd are essentially the same thing bar some extra place money. They'll take one of these spots I'd imagine

jacool

Southampton

Its all about points on the board.
The top 4 seem to have opened a big enough gap now with 10 games left. The worst of the 4, Manchester United, have a goal difference far superior to the chasers as well, so that's as good as another point.
The excitement now is about who chases home Chelsea, surely.
Liverpool have to play Jonjo Shelvey next, followed by the red teams in 3rd and 4th. Nothing easy there.

ronjo

Southampton

rarnes1 wrote: »

You can get 20/1 on City finishing outside the top 4.

I think they'll do it (finish top 4) handy enough.

2nd and 3rd are essentially the same thing bar some extra place money. They'll take one of these spots I'd imagine

You are probably right but if they stumble again over next two,
West Brom (h) and Palace (a) then it sets up a very tasty Manchester Derby.

ronjo

Southampton

jacool wrote: »

Its all about points on the board.
The top 4 seem to have opened a big enough gap now with 10 games left. The worst of the 4, Manchester United, have a goal difference far superior to the chasers as well, so that's as good as another point.
The excitement now is about who chases home Chelsea, surely.
Liverpool have to play Jonjo Shelvey next, followed by the red teams in 3rd and 4th. Nothing easy there.

No, its as good as another half a point. Sorry, a bugbear of mine

Gbear

Manchester Utd

jacool wrote: »

Its all about points on the board.
The top 4 seem to have opened a big enough gap now with 10 games left. The worst of the 4, Manchester United, have a goal difference far superior to the chasers as well, so that's as good as another point.
The excitement now is about who chases home Chelsea, surely.
Liverpool have to play Jonjo Shelvey next, followed by the red teams in 3rd and 4th. Nothing easy there.

They have to at worst win 1, draw one and lose one of those 3 (with the win coming against Utd) or they've basically no chance (would need 7/7 wins, including Chelsea away) and GD won't come into it.

If Liverpool do what they need on the winning front to get around the 75pt mark, then I can't see there being much difference in GD by the end.
We don't need to batter Utd or anything. Even a 2 goal victory would bring it back down to 8+/- tonight's GD.

jacool

Southampton

ronjo wrote: »

No, its as good as another half a point. Sorry, a bugbear of mine

Bugbear noted !

Paully D

Very important win for Liverpool tonight. and sets up a really superb clash on Sunday. Table is as follows with remaining games below. Presuming Chelsea have it won which is more than fair:



Manchester City: WBA (H), Palace (A), Man United (A), West Ham (H), Villa (H), Spurs (A), QPR (H), Swansea (A), Southampton (H).

Arsenal: Newcastle (A), Liverpool (H), Burnley (A), Sunderland (H), Chelsea (H), Hull (A), Swansea (H), Man United (A), WBA (H).

Manchester United: Liverpool (A), Villa (H), Man City (H), Chelsea (A), Everton (A), WBA (H), Palace (A), Arsenal (H), Hull (A).

Liverpool: Man United (H), Arsenal (A), Newcastle (H), Hull (A), WBA (A), QPR (H), Chelsea (A), Palace (H), Stoke (A).

Southampton: Burnley (H), Everton (A), Hull (H), Stoke (A), Spurs (H), Sunderland (A), Leicester (A), Villa (H), Man City (A).

Tottenham: Leicester (H), Burnley (A), Villa (H), Newcastle (A), Southampton (A), Man City (H), Stoke (A), Hull (H), Everton (A).

syngindub

Tottenham Hotspur

great ending to the season.
Not had anything like this in a while

Alfred Borden

Southampton

City would want to get themselves together very fast. Three teams hitting a bit of steam behind them now.

Paully D

Arsene Wenger believes 72 points will be needed to make sure of getting a top 4 spot.

You can see the quality of the teams behind us. Seventy-two points might be enough.

‘People have finished in the top four with 67 points, but if you look at this year, we have 51 points, so it will be in the 70s. It is a tough run-in, similar to last year.’

Knex*

Southampton

6 wins from the next 9, so, for Liverpool.

shamrock55

Manchester Utd

How the hell has that utd defence only conceded 26 goals:eek:

MightyMandarin

Manchester Utd

shamrock55 wrote: »

How the hell has that utd defence only conceded 26 goals:eek:

David de Gea

Harry Palmr

shamrock55 wrote: »

How the hell has that utd defence only conceded 26 goals:eek:

Sure Liverpool have only conceded four more with Mignolet in goals!

Looking at the for and against across the top 5 its as if everyone is on a diet after last seasons madness.

Iused2likebusts

Liverpool

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Sure Liverpool have only conceded four more with Mignolet in goals!

Looking at the for and against across the top 5 its as if everyone is on a diet after last seasons madness.

mignolet wasnt in goals for 5 of those goals;)

Nalz

Southampton

shamrock55 wrote: »

How the hell has that utd defence only conceded 26 goals:eek:

It's not as bad as you think

Rayne Wooney

Southampton

Biggest game of the season Sunday in terms of top 4 for both clubs

A draw would put Liverpool favourites, a loss would almost rule United out completely imo

A win for United and going 5 points clear may just about give us the breathing room and morale boost required to finish ahead, points will be dropped but I'm not sure that many will

5starpool

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Biggest game of the season Sunday in terms of top 4 for both clubs

A draw would put Liverpool favourites, a loss would almost rule United out completely imo

A win for United and going 5 points clear may just about give us the breathing room and morale boost required to finish ahead, points will be dropped but I'm not sure that many will

A loss would not come close to ruling Utd out. Liverpool still have trips to Arsenal, Chelsea, West Brom, Hull and Stoke. Most of those are very tricky. Lots of twists left yet.

rottie 11

Liverpool

United have the toughest remaining fixtures .. wouldnt be surprized to see them outside the top 4

Limestone1

Liverpool

shamrock55 wrote: »

How the hell has that utd defence only conceded 26 goals:eek:

Not being in the champions league is the best recipe for getting into it !! Look at Liverpool#'s stats last season ....

United had arguably their best performance of the season v Spurs so they go to Anfield full of confidence.

A loss for either team doesn't rule them out, that's nonsense.

niallo27

Manchester Utd

rarnes1 wrote: »

United had arguably their best performance of the season v Spurs so they go to Anfield full of confidence.

A loss for either team doesn't rule them out, that's nonsense.

I don't know a utd win makes it very tough. Have to make up 6 points. I'd take a draw now.

OwaynOTT

Manchester Utd

Utd recent away form should be a bit of a concern for them. Last 6 DDWDLW
They have to play Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, Hull and Palace away. Could drop points in a few of those.

OwaynOTT

Southampton

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Utd recent away form should be a bit of a concern for them. Last 6 DDWDLW
They have to play Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, Hull and Palace away. Could drop points in a few of those.

We only need a draw against Liverpool, 1 loss out of six is a concern to you?
If we perform as we did Sunday with the same 11 a result is defiantly achievable at Anfield.
Its a must win for Liverpool, not Utd
I will be happy with a draw and most importantly a repeat performance to take confidence to Stamford Bridge thereafter

Mr Alan

It's not a must win for a Liverpool.

Have you seen Utd's next few fixtures?

Utd could easily win & yet liverpool could still be ahead of them in the table within the next few weeks.

In my opinion, both teams will be very happy with a draw & as such that'll be the most likely outcome.

Morzadec

Manchester Utd

The impetus on us will be to win. It's not a must-win, but we are at home, we are behind United, we will be the team expected to win.

I don't think Rodgers or any of the those Liverpool players are at all thinking about settling for a draw and rightly so

Mr Alan

Oh I agree, I think we'll be pushing as hard as we can for a win.

However it'd foolish with the fixtures Utd have coming up to go too gung-ho.

Despite the fact most Utd fans would probably be happy with a draw, it'd actually be a better result for Liverpool than Utd.

Paully D

One thing that might be worth looking at is fixtures teams have against 1) fellow teams challenging for the top four 2) teams fighting against relegation. There's always teams who seem to take their foot off the gas once they're safe and/or virtually ruled out of contention for anything else.

Games against teams with "nothing to play for":

City - 4
Arsenal - 3
United - 3
Liverpool - 4
Southampton - 2
Spurs - 3

Games against teams challenging for top four (including Chelsea) or survival:

City - 5
Arsenal - 6
United - 6
Liverpool - 5
Southampton - 7
Spurs - 6

MR NINE

Liverpool

Sundays game is huge but sundays result doesnt decide anything. Even if liverpool lose i wouldnt say its over, though it would be a big blow for them. To suggest itd be over for united if they lose is ludicrous, theyd be a point behind liverpool with a far superior goal difference and 8 games to play...

Oranage2

Southampton

Paully D wrote: »

One thing that might be worth looking at is fixtures teams have against 1) fellow teams challenging for the top four 2) teams fighting against relegation. There's always teams who seem to take their foot off the gas once they're safe and/or virtually ruled out of contention for anything else.

Games against teams with "nothing to play for":

City - 4
Arsenal - 3
United - 3
Liverpool - 4
Southampton - 2
Spurs - 3

Games against teams challenging for top four (including Chelsea) or survival:

City - 5
Arsenal - 6
United - 6
Liverpool - 5
Southampton - 7
Spurs - 6

Wasn't that survival myth debunked? They're still mostly pants except for the rare heroic survival story?

Montroseee

Southampton

MR NINE wrote: »

Sundays game is huge but sundays result doesnt decide anything. Even if liverpool lose i wouldnt say its over, though it would be a big blow for them. To suggest itd be over for united if they lose is ludicrous, theyd be a point behind liverpool with a far superior goal difference and 8 games to play...

Pool are in title winning form though. A win on Sunday would be absolutely huge for them, if it happens I'd bet anything on them making top 4, Utd's remaining games are just too tough.

OwaynOTT

Manchester Utd

M!Ck^ wrote: »

We only need a draw against Liverpool, 1 loss out of six is a concern to you?
If we perform as we did Sunday with the same 11 a result is defiantly achievable at Anfield.
Its a must win for Liverpool, not Utd
I will be happy with a draw and most importantly a repeat performance to take confidence to Stamford Bridge thereafter

2 wins out of 6 would concern me. And more draws than wins.

Oranage2

Southampton

Montroseee wrote: »

Pool are in title winning form though. A win on Sunday would be absolutely huge for them, if it happens I'd bet anything on them making top 4, Utd's remaining games are just too tough.

in the last 10 games in all competitions, united have won 7, L2, D1

Liverpool have won 7, L1, D2.

pretty similar form.

6am7f9zxrsjvnb

United have a tough run in but Liverpool are gone if they lose their next two. United have Villa at home after the Anfield battle, Liverpool have Arsenal away.

garra

Manchester Utd

Paully D wrote: »

One thing that might be worth looking at is fixtures teams have against 1) fellow teams challenging for the top four 2) teams fighting against relegation. There's always teams who seem to take their foot off the gas once they're safe and/or virtually ruled out of contention for anything else.

Games against teams with "nothing to play for":

City - 4
Arsenal - 3
United - 3
Liverpool - 4
Southampton - 2
Spurs - 3

Games against teams challenging for top four (including Chelsea) or survival:

City - 5
Arsenal - 6
United - 6
Liverpool - 5
Southampton - 7
Spurs - 6

This is basically pointing up that LFC (for instance) should benefit by apprx 3 points more than United allowing for difficulty of games, so in that context a draw would be of benefit to LFC. A loss would not be end of world but making up six points is tough

Alfred Borden

Southampton

Here we go :pac:

https://twitter.com/kpsundayworld/status/578690346105905155

bucketybuck

Manchester Utd

M!Ck^ wrote: »

We only need a draw against Liverpool, 1 loss out of six is a concern to you?

Only 2 wins out of 6 isn't a concern for you?

bucketybuck

Southampton

bucketybuck wrote: »

Only 2 wins out of 6 isn't a concern for you?

If we stick with the 11 that started against Spurs we could hit a run of form. All the matches we are going to play till the end of the season are all winnable.

KaiserGunner

Southampton

M!Ck^ wrote: »

If we stick with the 11 that started against Spurs we could hit a run of form. All the matches we are going to play till the end of the season are all winnable.

I'm not having a go per se but, don't Man Utd have to play, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea from now till the end of the season. So basically what you are saying is that any match all season was winnable, as they are 4 of the best 5 teams in the league.

greendom

Southampton

interesting graph here. Based on this Man Utd will have by far the freshest squad going into the final furlongs...

5starpool

KaiserGunner wrote: »

I'm not having a go per se but, don't Man Utd have to play, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea from now till the end of the season. So basically what you are saying is that any match all season was winnable, as they are 4 of the best 5 teams in the league.

What he is saying essentially is that every match for every team is winnable.

Profound stuff that no one had considered before.

Harry Palmr

Its amazing what no Cup football can do for your freshness rating,

Knex*

Southampton

United to win the league so.

5starpool

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Its amazing what no Cup football can do for your freshness rating,

It's a silly chart though. I think utd played several players in the MK Dons tie who have not figured since much or even left the club. The figures should really be based on the 15 or so most likely to start if fit which they clearly are not. The clubs in european competition or those who had a deep run will still be top, but at least it would be an honest representation.

greendom

Southampton

Knex. wrote: »

United to win the league so.

with Palace finishing 2nd ?

KaiserGunner

Southampton

KaiserGunner wrote: »

I'm not having a go per se but, don't Man Utd have to play, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea from now till the end of the season. So basically what you are saying is that any match all season was winnable, as they are 4 of the best 5 teams in the league.

And look at liverpools run in?
Chelsea's?
Arsenals?
Man city's?
They all play top tier sides.
What's the differance? Suddenly there's some crazy impression that Man Utd have no ability to compete.

5starpool

Southampton

5starpool wrote: »

What he is saying essentially is that every match for every team is winnable.

Profound stuff that no one had considered before.

I responded about a question on form and have made it clear that there's no reason Last Sunday cannot be a catalyst for a good run of form.
Typical response from you

The top 4 teams that finishes with the most points will take top 4..

5starpool

M!Ck^ wrote: »

I responded about a question on form and have made it clear that there's no reason Last Sunday cannot be a catalyst for a good run of form.
Typical response from you

I'm sorry to have disappointed, or perhaps just lived up to your low expectations of me Mick. Your disapproval haunts me, truly.