The Run-In Thread

[Mac76]

Having spent some time on this, I though i'd give it its own thread, rather than being tacked onto another


We've got three games left, Liverpool (a), Newcastle (h) and Saints (a)

Being realistic, I think we lose against Liverpool and draw or lose v Newcastle but then if we beat Saints we're almost definitely top 5, so while it could be close it should be fine.


I've now looked up the most relevant teams - Chelsea, Forest, Villa and Newcastle

The pivotal team is Chelsea, who play both Newcastle and Forest (plus have Liverpool today which hopefully dents their chances of catching us up)

So either they will lose those games and drop out of top five, or take points off other teams trying to finish top 5

Also Villa's run-in feels tricky, we know Bournemouth are dangerous and while I know Spuds and Man Ure lose most of their games but they can still pull anything off on the day and Villa are inconsistent - that said Both Spuds and Man Ure may still be in Europe and therefore not bothered

And Forest have been very inconsistent of late, though their remaining fixtures are fairly kind

Depending on how it goes, our getting something v Newcasle could still be important to settle the nerves, but my best guess is we finish third (behind Citeh) or fourth (behind Citeh and probably Newcastle)


We have 67 points from 35 games btw...

btw some of these dates might be wrong because of TV changes but I think the actual fixtures are all correct


Chelsea (currently 60 points/34 games)

Saturday, May 3: vs. Liverpool (Home)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Newcastle United (Away)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Manchester United (Home)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Nottingham Forest (Away)


Newcastle United (62/34)

Sunday, May 4: vs. Brighton (Home)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Chelsea (Home)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Arsenal (Away)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Everton (Away)


Aston Villa (60/35)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Bournemouth (Away)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Tottenham Hotspur (Home)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Manchester United (Away)


Nottingham Forest (60/34)

Sunday, May 4: vs. Crystal Palace (Away)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Southampton (Home)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Leicester City (Away)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Chelsea (Home)

[Marc Overmars]

3rd is pretty likely now. Will be 4th should we lose to Newcastle at home and let’s face it that’s more than possible right now.

2nd will take getting 4 points from Liverpool and Newcastle which is extremely unlikely.

Don’t think we’ll be 5th at least thanks to Forest’s defeat the other night.

[Mac76]

3rd is pretty likely now. Will be 4th should we lose to Newcastle at home and let’s face it that’s more than possible right now.

2nd will take getting 4 points from Liverpool and Newcastle which is extremely unlikely.

Don’t think we’ll be 5th at least thanks to Forest’s defeat the other night.

Agreed though I'd say losing to Newcastle is quite likely as opposed to simply possible atm

That said if we're knocked out of the CL on Weds (not that I'm saying I'd like it to happen obvs), distractions will be gone and the focus back on the league, so who knows

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

If Bournemouth could do a double against us , then almost certainly Newcastle will beat us 3 times this season.

The Liverpool game is where we can get a point and hopefully Southampton just spreads their legs like they've done all season.

[Mac76]

The Liverpool game is where we can get a point

Sorry but :blink:

been down the pub have we...? :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

Sorry but :blink:

been down the pub have we...? :lol:

I bet they turn up for that game. Arsenal all over. Chuck the easy points down the drain, then fight for a point against an opponent and 50% of the fans shout, "We're Back!" Works every time.

[Niall_Quinn]

Agreed though I'd say losing to Newcastle is quite likely as opposed to simply possible atm

That said if we're knocked out of the CL on Weds (not that I'm saying I'd like it to happen obvs), distractions will be gone and the focus back on the league, so who knows

Joking - right? The boys will be off on holiday if that PSG game goes tits-up.

[Mac76]

After this weekend I think if Newcastle and Chelsea draw we might hang on to third, but Citeh are faves for second IMO, they've got Saints, Fulham and Bournemouth, that's at least 7 points

[Niall_Quinn]

City are nailed on for 2nd and that's going to be a hard pill to swallow. If they do anything in the summer to improve that squad we go into the season a mile behind them once again. I mean, if we couldn't finish above them when they took the season off, if they come back intending to compete we're pretty much fucked from the kickoff. This has been a tragic season - and we could still win the CL. Would STILL be a tragic season, even if we did that. Because there's no real construction process going on here. It's more like building sandcastles.

[Chippy]

Having spent some time on this, I though i'd give it its own thread, rather than being tacked onto another


We've got three games left, Liverpool (a), Newcastle (h) and Saints (a)

Being realistic, I think we lose against Liverpool and draw or lose v Newcastle but then if we beat Saints we're almost definitely top 5, so while it could be close it should be fine.


I've now looked up the most relevant teams - Chelsea, Forest, Villa and Newcastle

The pivotal team is Chelsea, who play both Newcastle and Forest (plus have Liverpool today which hopefully dents their chances of catching us up)

So either they will lose those games and drop out of top five, or take points off other teams trying to finish top 5

Also Villa's run-in feels tricky, we know Bournemouth are dangerous and while I know Spuds and Man Ure lose most of their games but they can still pull anything off on the day and Villa are inconsistent - that said Both Spuds and Man Ure may still be in Europe and therefore not bothered

And Forest have been very inconsistent of late, though their remaining fixtures are fairly kind

Depending on how it goes, our getting something v Newcasle could still be important to settle the nerves, but my best guess is we finish third (behind Citeh) or fourth (behind Citeh and probably Newcastle)


We have 67 points from 35 games btw...

btw some of these dates might be wrong because of TV changes but I think the actual fixtures are all correct


Chelsea (currently 60 points/34 games)

Saturday, May 3: vs. Liverpool (Home)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Newcastle United (Away)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Manchester United (Home)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Nottingham Forest (Away)


Newcastle United (62/34)

Sunday, May 4: vs. Brighton (Home)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Chelsea (Home)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Arsenal (Away)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Everton (Away)


Aston Villa (60/35)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Bournemouth (Away)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Tottenham Hotspur (Home)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Manchester United (Away)


Nottingham Forest (60/34)

Sunday, May 4: vs. Crystal Palace (Away)

Saturday, May 10: vs. Southampton (Home)

Sunday, May 18: vs. Leicester City (Away)

Sunday, May 25: vs. Chelsea (Home)

Liverpool gave Chelsea three easy points today. You can bet that the fuckers turn up against us. I can only see us scraping past Saints for our only remaining win. Hopefully we will scrape 4th or 5th to get over the line. I actually cannot believe these Muppets have created this scenario. It may actually be funny if we finish sixth and listen to Arteta's excuses regarding fatigue and mis-shaped balls.

[Mac76]

City are nailed on for 2nd and that's going to be a hard pill to swallow. If they do anything in the summer to improve that squad we go into the season a mile behind them once again. I mean, if we couldn't finish above them when they took the season off, if they come back intending to compete we're pretty much fucked from the kickoff. This has been a tragic season - and we could still win the CL. Would STILL be a tragic season, even if we did that. Because there's no real construction process going on here. It's more like building sandcastles.

I've been trying to put in order of priority the reasons why this season has not gone better in the league, and while I do think the disgraceful and biased refereeing decisions really shouldn't be underestimated, plus the injuries, ultimately it's all just exposed the failings of the squad, which was too weak in attack and has also lacked any alternative to playing certain players, in particular Odegaard

Calafiori is a waste of space and even Merino is just a workhorse in his actual position, all his goals have done is prove how we actually needed a big goalscorer at 9

And then there's Arteta's refusal to explore alternatives and stop relying on a few players every match, hence after we failed to secure an alternative up front we just decided to play Havertz every game but then he got an injury.

The idea that Jesus was ever a serious consideration as a striker is absurd, he's never been a natural goalscorer even when he wasn't drifting all over the pitch or getting injured - no manager should ever go into a season to try to win the PL with him as an upfront option

Both he and especially Zin were Pep's joke on Arteta - I still think Zin was the biggest factor in our not winning the league last season