Top 4 race 2016/17

Only at WHL. They turn into another team away from home, only won 4 games away all season so far.

Their points split is Home:38 (played 14) Away:18 (played 13)

Spurs have also had a brutal away schedule so far - playing all of the top 10 away already and barely none of the bottom teams. Spurs away fixtures for the run in are: Crystal Palace, Burnley, Swansea, Leicester, West Ham, Hull ... not particularly a murderers row. Spurs should get around 11 points from those fixtures (3W, 2D, 1L) give or take and then would need 13 from the home fixtures to get to 80 (Southampton, Watford, Bournemouth, Arsenal, United). That would required 4W-1D-0L, which is probably asking a lot even with Spurs tremendous form at WHL. I think realistically Spurs will finish short of 80 points, but anything over 75 should be enough to guarantee CL football (72 is the most points to ever miss out on CL - Spurs and then Everton a few years back).
 
Only at WHL. They turn into another team away from home, only won 4 games away all season so far.

Their points split is Home:38 (played 14) Away:18 (played 13)

If they keep up both their excellent home form and their mediocre away form then they should get a further 9 points at home (3 wins from 3) and 5 points away (1 win 2 draws) which will give them 80 points ....... err which will be plenty for top 4 :lol:

I don't want to move to Wembley next year :(. Feels like 38 away games.
 
Only at WHL. They turn into another team away from home, only won 4 games away all season so far.

Their points split is Home:38 (played 14) Away:18 (played 13)

If they keep up both their excellent home form and their mediocre away form then they should get a further 9 points at home (3 wins from 3) and 5 points away (1 win 2 draws) which will give them 80 points ....... err which will be plenty for top 4 :lol:

Seems I have reduced the league to a 34 games season !!!

I reckon Spurs will get 13 more home points from 5 games and 7 more points away from 6 games meaning they will finish on around 76 points.

I really shouldn't try to do this stuff while I'm working !
 
I don't want to move to Wembley next year :(. Feels like 38 away games.

Interestingly there's a decent amount of research that shows that it takes teams about two to three years after moving to a new home ground to regain full home field advantage. You can see it this season with West Ham and Spurs' form in Europe, definitely a potential worry for you lot next season.
 
Don't be surprised if our game against Middlesborough in a fortnight, also happens to be the first game in charge for Karanka's replacement.

New manager comes in. Game is televised. You know the rest.
 
Interestingly there's a decent amount of research that shows that it takes teams about two to three years after moving to a new home ground to regain full home field advantage. You can see it this season with West Ham and Spurs' form in Europe, definitely a potential worry for you lot next season.

We might be playing at Wembley too.
 
I'd just checked the table after calming down about our result and been encouraged by it. Then I wander into this thread and I'm depressed again.
To the Europe League thread!
 
I'd just checked the table after calming down about our result and been encouraged by it. Then I wander into this thread and I'm depressed again.
To the Europe League thread!

I still think you have a good chance, its more what position your in leading up to that run of 3 tough games in a row ( Thinks its us, arsenal and spurs)

If your 5th or 6th going into them games that's when I feel that you wont make it, you need to be in a fairly strong position in the table because I don't see you getting a result at WHL.
 
Interesting look at the run-in from WeAintGotNoHistory.

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Uses the Fantasy Premier League Fixture Difficulty Rank (FDR) to work out who has the easiest run-in.

http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2017/3/7/14836658/top-6-remaining-fixtures-comparison
 
Not to annoy anyone here but it would be hilarious if after all the insults towards Liverpool and Spurs, United still finish below the 2

Sample of comments
Liverpool - Klopp has been found out, their style of football can't work in the premier league, poor squad etc. If this is all true and Liverpool still finish ahead of United, what does that say about you lot?
Tottenham - Perrenial chokers. If this is true and Spurs finish above United, what level of choking must United be on?

Only time will tell but I thought I would put it out there
 
Not to annoy anyone here but it would be hilarious if after all the insults towards Liverpool and Spurs, United still finish below the 2

Sample of comments
Liverpool - Klopp has been found out, their style of football can't work in the premier league, poor squad etc. If this is all true and Liverpool still finish ahead of United, what does that say about you lot?
Tottenham - Perrenial chokers. If this is true and Spurs finish above United, what level of choking must United be on?

Only time will tell but I thought I would put it out there

We will suck it up, as we've had to do since SAF retired. No denying it would hurt though. Especially finishing below Liverpool, who are bang average.
 
So basically, Liverpool got the most difficult program? Only City and Everton looks winnable.
 
So basically, Liverpool got the most difficult program? Only City and Everton looks winnable.

Well according to that chart I posted, they have the easiest run-in of the 6.

*EDIT* Not sure why I didn't read that as obviously sarcastic..
 
Well according to that chart I posted, they have the easiest run-in of the 6.

*EDIT* Not sure why I didn't read that as obviously sarcastic..

Haha,

I guess we'll have to see what happens.

I thought Liverpool would come back strongly after their two week trip, but then they lost to Leicester in an awful manner. Top four is definitely Liverpools to lose imo, but they are absolutely able to do so if we take their record against the weaker sides, especially in 2017 into account.
 
Spurs have also had a brutal away schedule so far - playing all of the top 10 away already and barely none of the bottom teams. Spurs away fixtures for the run in are: Crystal Palace, Burnley, Swansea, Leicester, West Ham, Hull ... not particularly a murderers row. Spurs should get around 11 points from those fixtures (3W, 2D, 1L) give or take and then would need 13 from the home fixtures to get to 80 (Southampton, Watford, Bournemouth, Arsenal, United). That would required 4W-1D-0L, which is probably asking a lot even with Spurs tremendous form at WHL. I think realistically Spurs will finish short of 80 points, but anything over 75 should be enough to guarantee CL football (72 is the most points to ever miss out on CL - Spurs and then Everton a few years back).

Everton under Moyes? If so that's impressive.
 
I know its subjective and open for argument, but I personally don't believe ANY team involved in premiership survival in the last 6-10 games of the season should be a green. Have we learnt nothing from history?

Edit: Other than teams resigned to going down by then, i.e. no chance of battling out of last place like Villa for example.
 
I know its subjective and open for argument, but I personally don't believe ANY team involved in premiership survival in the last 6-10 games of the season should be a green. Have we learnt nothing from history?

Edit: Other than teams resigned to going down by then, i.e. no chance of battling out of last place like Villa for example.
Agreed. Sides like Palace and Sunderland are going to be annoying as hell to play this late in the season. Long ball after long ball, cross after cross. Think all the big clubs will drop points against small sides during the run in.
 
I know its subjective and open for argument, but I personally don't believe ANY team involved in premiership survival in the last 6-10 games of the season should be a green. Have we learnt nothing from history?

Edit: Other than teams resigned to going down by then, i.e. no chance of battling out of last place like Villa for example.
Totally agree, cant believe Chelsea fans are acting so cocky. sunderland, villa and palace cost us the title only three years back. Any teams in relegation zone should be red during April/May.
 
Totally agree, cant believe Chelsea fans are acting so cocky after sunderland, villa and palace cost us the title only three years back. Any teams in relegation zone should be red during April/May.

I didn't know we were.

As for relegation battlers, had anyone seen any stats about how big an effect that has in reality? It'd be interesting to know.
 
I didn't know we were.

As for relegation battlers, had anyone seen any stats about how big an effect that has in reality? It'd be interesting to know.
That blog has posted the table that you linked here haven't they?

Only if we had beaten sunderland and norwich at home we would have won the title. Thank feck dippers bottled massively to hide out own little bottle job.
 
That blog has posted the table that you linked here haven't they?

Only if we had beaten sunderland and norwich at home we would have won the title. Thank feck dippers bottled massively to hide out own little bottle job.

Their conclusion was..

I feel that a ten-point lead has become too big for the others to bridge, but let's not get carried away just yet. We will inevitably drop points somewhere, but there's no need to freak out when we do, we've got a cushion. If we do go on to win the title, I'm fairly sure it won't be with 10 point lead.

I don't think that exactly qualifies as 'so cocky' all things considered. Personally I'm too football superstitious to start taking the title for granted, but it's not like it's a wildly arrogant conclusion for people to draw.
 
Although last year was a bit of a freak season due to Leicester winning, the stats look more favourable for our chances of gaining top 4 after 26 games played, despite us being in a lower position.

2016/17

Chelsea 63
City 55
Spurs 53
Arsenal 50
Liverpool 49
United 49

2015/16

Leicester 53
Spurs 51
Arsenal 51
City 47
United 41
Southampton 40

So while we're 14 points off 1st compared to 12 in 2016, we're only 4 points off 3rd compared to 10 points last year.

We're also 1 point away from top 4 vs. 6 last year, and in the end we only missed out by goal difference last year.

Admittedly City look to be a much better prospect at this point in 2017, but Spurs were actually on a 5 game winning streak at this point in 2016.

Our current form is marginally better, 9 points from the last 15 vs. 7 points.

We're playing a lot better on the whole but struggle against the top six - as a few posters have pointed out though it will be the games against the relegation battlers that could decide it.
 
Not to annoy anyone here but it would be hilarious if after all the insults towards Liverpool and Spurs, United still finish below the 2

Sample of comments
Liverpool - Klopp has been found out, their style of football can't work in the premier league, poor squad etc. If this is all true and Liverpool still finish ahead of United, what does that say about you lot?
Tottenham - Perrenial chokers. If this is true and Spurs finish above United, what level of choking must United be on?

Only time will tell but I thought I would put it out there

There is no chance that we will finish below Liverpool, that would be a travesty. Their current league position flatters them, they were lucky to get a point against us, they were lucky to get a point against Chelsea, and they should have lost a lot more of their games. They are simply uninspiring. Their manager has no plan B and his tactics have clearly tired them out. When they have their backs to the wall, there isn't a single player they can look to if they need a moment of magic.

That rubbish football club and their asylum inmate manager should be brought back down to earth with a thud. They can laugh all they want at us, but the truth is that they've got many more reasons to feel pained - they were already celebrating the title and crowning themselves as champions-elect before Christmas. Their fans denied that their defence was a shambles, and claimed that there was no way they would tire out. So they have no reason to laugh.

In the end, the quality will tell, and they will finish below us. Liverpool are not a big club. They are a club in severe decline and Klopp is nothing more than a false prophet who has delivered a false dawn - we are on the up, and we will be laughing last.

Also, I am extremely certain that we will win our next league title before they do.

Zero PL titles. Zero. They're not a big club, just a bunch of losers living in the past.

They had one chance of a trophy this season, ONE chance at a head to head decider against us at Wembley to finally put the matter to rest, but they bottled it. They never even made it to the final. Southampton absolutely crushed them home and away and eventually put up a spirited fight but were put to the sword by the quality of Zlatan. Had Liverpool made the final, we would have pummeled them into the ground and utterly humiliated them.

If there is anything to laugh at, it is Liverpool's hilarious and pitiful descent into the abyss of mediocrity.
 
Not to annoy anyone here but it would be hilarious if after all the insults towards Liverpool and Spurs, United still finish below the 2

Sample of comments
Liverpool - Klopp has been found out, their style of football can't work in the premier league, poor squad etc. If this is all true and Liverpool still finish ahead of United, what does that say about you lot?
Tottenham - Perrenial chokers. If this is true and Spurs finish above United, what level of choking must United be on?

Only time will tell but I thought I would put it out there

If we win the Europa League, then it's irrelevant where we finish in the league. The goal at this point is Top 4, but the prize is CL football, not Top 4 in itself. As far as I'm concerned as long as we get that, it doesn't matter where we finish and who is higher. We're all losers in the league regardless.
 
If we win the Europa League, then it's irrelevant where we finish in the league. The goal at this point is Top 4, but the prize is CL football, not Top 4 in itself. As far as I'm concerned as long as we get that, it doesn't matter where we finish and who is higher. We're all losers in the league regardless.

You're absolutely right. We are the only team who has the luxury of playing in the league with an insurance policy, so the pressure really should be off, and the players free to express themselves. We have two routes to a CL spot, and we have three routes (one already completed) to winning a trophy.

Liverpool on the other hand have one route to a CL spot and they are faltering badly, finally catching up to their appropriate level, and it is no wonder that Klopp and their fans are beginning to panic. They will certainly not be in the CL next season, and they don't deserve to be. That odious club deserves to be as far away from Europe's premier competition as possible, and if their rot had just set in a little earlier, they might even have suffered the embarrassment of finishing below Everton and missing out on Europe altogether for the second season in a row.
 
Their conclusion was..



I don't think that exactly qualifies as 'so cocky' all things considered. Personally I'm too football superstitious to start taking the title for granted, but it's not like it's a wildly arrogant conclusion for people to draw.
Fair enough. I thought they had created the chart you posted. Now I see they are just using the chart prepared by someone else.
 
Arsenal will now probably surge and finish 2nd or 3rd playing lovely stuff and at the end Wenger will sign a 2 year extension. They'll have a great summer transfer window, say "this will be our year," and the Wenger Out campaign will start again around this time next season.
 
If we lose top 4 to these shower of shite (Arsenal), Mourinho needs a good kicking.

Both Arsenal and Liverpool. Both of them are showers of shite. Totally inept, lacking in mental strength, cowardly bottlers.

Both these clubs are lacking in fortitude and just crumble at the first sign of trouble. It's like they go into a tailspin the moment they concede a goal or lose a game. Liverpool especially, game raising c**ts, they only turn up against big teams. They lost home and away to Southampton which was a joke, and denied us the chance of a glorious cup final victory against our hated rivals. Southampton put up a bloody good fight, a lot better than Liverpool could have.

There is no way we will finish below either of these clubs. I don't see it happening, even with our fixture congestion. We will end up better off both in terms of league position AND trophies won (three of them to be precise)
 
Both Arsenal and Liverpool. Both of them are showers of shite. Totally inept, lacking in mental strength, cowardly bottlers.

Both these clubs are lacking in fortitude and just crumble at the first sign of trouble. It's like they go into a tailspin the moment they concede a goal or lose a game. Liverpool especially, game raising c**ts, they only turn up against big teams. They lost home and away to Southampton which was a joke, and denied us the chance of a glorious cup final victory against our hated rivals. Southampton put up a bloody good fight, a lot better than Liverpool could have.

There is no way we will finish below either of these clubs. I don't see it happening, even with our fixture congestion. We will end up better off both in terms of league position AND trophies won (three of them to be precise)

Not the Fa Cup. Europa will be tough too... fancied Roma earlier in tournament
 
Both Arsenal and Liverpool. Both of them are showers of shite. Totally inept, lacking in mental strength, cowardly bottlers.

Both these clubs are lacking in fortitude and just crumble at the first sign of trouble. It's like they go into a tailspin the moment they concede a goal or lose a game. Liverpool especially, game raising c**ts, they only turn up against big teams. They lost home and away to Southampton which was a joke, and denied us the chance of a glorious cup final victory against our hated rivals. Southampton put up a bloody good fight, a lot better than Liverpool could have.

There is no way we will finish below either of these clubs. I don't see it happening, even with our fixture congestion. We will end up better off both in terms of league position AND trophies won (three of them to be precise)

If you're so certain why don't you put some money on it?

Fergie isn't here anymore, and I haven't seen a United side since he retired that differentiates you from the teams you are talking down to here.
 
Arsenal will now probably surge and finish 2nd or 3rd playing lovely stuff and at the end Wenger will sign a 2 year extension. They'll have a great summer transfer window, say "this will be our year," and the Wenger Out campaign will start again around this time next season.
If this thing happened Wenger wouldn't spend crazy money this summer because he would think this squad is good enough to win the title after a strong end of the season.
 
City draw at home vs Stoke

If only we weren't so shit, could have a chance of catching them
 
City are 7 ahead of us, but we have a game in hand so potentially 4 ahead.
They play Liverpool, Arsenal and then Chelsea in the next 3 and also have tough matches against Southampton and a resurgent Leicester coming up, so a chance to drop some points.
If we could somehow pull a few results together then that potential 6 pointer against City at the end of the season could be very tasty.
I know we have tough fixtures as well but after last nights draw against Stoke there is a hint of a chance of catching them.
 
we were awful first half, pretty crap second half until the last 10 mins. KDB had probably the worst game I've seen him play for City, did nothing apart from 3 cracking crosses in the last 5 mins, Aguero tried hard, Clichy was woeful, can't wait until he's gone in the summer.

Really showed how much Sterling is to us, absolutely integral part of the team now and without him it was easy for the Stoke full back to just let Navas do what he does as he's never going to score and his crosses are awful. He did ok defensively though, I honestly think he'd be a better full back than winger.

Anyway at least we didn't lose, points are on the board and there is a little daylight between us and 4/5/6