Topic: The Run Home and CL Qualification

[Dougle]

Every time I think Arsenal are totally out of it, results go our way & just gives you a tiny slither of hope. I suppose the Spurs game at the weekend could be the final nail.

It's the hope that kills you.....

I hope ye hammer Spurs this weekend. Good luck and all that !!

[redk84]

To be honest I'll be surprised if we don't finish in the top 4. It's just about where for me.

After the way we ended last season with Arsenal/United breathing down our necks....playing shit....still grinding out results. We are better this year and have that as experience, with nothing but the CL and the league to play for over the next few months.

Not saying it won't be nervy along the way, or that any of the other teams can't pip us to the remaining CL spots. Absolutely they can.

I just think we'll be good enough to hold our nerve and maybe one of the teams will outperform us but not 2 or more. It'll be more comfortable than last season.

[Suareznumber7]

I think arsenal and spurs drawing is the best result for us. We can then go to Southampton and put some daylight between us and spurs.

I think an Arsenal win is the best result for us.  I’m not too worried about Arsenal as they have to be almost perfect the rest of the way to get top 4.  Spurs on the other hand will be quite happy with 5 points out of a run of Utd/Liverpool/Arsenal in consecutive games and that could give them a massive boost for the rest of the way. 

[Dench57]

I think it will just come down to injuries for us. Completely confident if Firmino/Salah stay fit.

[PaulF]

I think it will just come down to injuries for us. Completely confident if Firmino/Salah stay fit.

Good point that. Unless Solanke and Ings can start to do the business against the lesser teams.

[Jookie]

I think it will just come down to injuries for us. Completely confident if Firmino/Salah stay fit.

What happens if Hazard gets injured?

Or Kane for Tottenham?

They are in the same boat as us. They don't  have direct replacements who are anywhere near the same class as their 1st choice attacking stars.

You are right to say injuries are important. Wrong to focus on just us. Spurs and Chelsea are equally vulnerable if their star player gets injured for any period of time.

[daggerdoo]

Thinking of injuries and tiredness. Must have been suggested that Dings gets plenty of minutes toward the ends of games. Not just to save Firmino's fitness, he's a proper goal threat too imo.

[Alan_X]

I've done my Excel run-in spreadsheet and one interesting thing to note is the number of games between the 'top six' for each of the teams.

Man City have 4: Arsenal, Chelsea, United home and Spurs away
Man Utd have 4: Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal home and City away
Chelsea have 4: United, Spurs, Liverpool home and City away
Spurs have 3: Arsenal home and Chelsea & City away
Arsenal have 3: Spurs, City & United (all away)

LIverpool have 2: Chelsea and United away (plus the derby)

As last year, whatever happens in the next 12 games, some of our rivals are guaranteed to drop points.

[nozza]

i did the prem predictor thing, had us losing to Everton and Chelsea, drawing with man u , palace and west brom....winning the others.....ended up on 75 points ...getting 4th by one point ahead of chelsea.....

[Dench57]

Bit sad we have to wait so long for the next game to be honest!

West Ham 24th Feb, Newcastle on 3rd March, Porto 6th and then United away on 10th.

Looking at those first 3, they all should be comfortable wins. Our narrow lead from the first leg gives us a good opportunity to rest some key players in between two league games and you'd think we'll give some starts to the likes of Ings, Solanke, Lallana, Moreno, Klavan, possibly even Clyne and Woodburn? Will be interested to see whether we make wholesale changes or if that risks jarring our momentum slightly going into the United game.

[Brain Potter]

Bit sad we have to wait so long for the next game to be honest!

Newcastle on 3rd March, Porto 6th and then United away on 10th.

Our narrow lead from the first leg gives us a good opportunity to rest some key players in between these two league games and you'd think we'll give some starts to the likes of Ings, Solanke, Lallana, Moreno, Klavan, possibly even Clyne and Woodburn? Will be interested to see whether we make wholesale changes or if that risks jarring our momentum slightly going into the United game.

We play West Ham on Saturday 24th..so not too long

[MerseysideBrum]

Bit sad we have to wait so long for the next game to be honest!

Newcastle on 3rd March, Porto 6th and then United away on 10th.

Our narrow lead from the first leg gives us a good opportunity to rest some key players in between these two league games and you'd think we'll give some starts to the likes of Ings, Solanke, Lallana, Moreno, Klavan, possibly even Clyne and Woodburn? Will be interested to see whether we make wholesale changes or if that risks jarring our momentum slightly going into the United game.

We have West Ham on 24th of Feb

[CallumLFC]

i did the prem predictor thing, had us losing to Everton and Chelsea, drawing with man u , palace and west brom....winning the others.....ended up on 75 points ...getting 4th by one point ahead of chelsea.....

[slimbo]

Updated with Current points.

Remaining games in EPL vs top 8 teams:

United 56 - Chelsea, Liverpool, City, Arsenal

Liverpool 54 - United, Chelsea

Chelsea 53 - United, City, Burnley, Spurs, Liverpool

Spurs 52 - Chelsea, City, Leicester

Arsenal 45 - City, Leicester, United, Burnley

Getting to squeeky bum time for United. The pack is closing in. Spurs don't face Chelsea for another 5 weeks so could see a good run of results for them putting them in a strong position. Would love to see United lose to Chelsea and then us. The pressure on them would be immense.

[woof]

I've done my Excel run-in spreadsheet and one interesting thing to note is the number of games between the 'top six' for each of the teams.

Man City have 4: Arsenal, Chelsea, United home and Spurs away
Man Utd have 4: Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal home and City away
Chelsea have 4: United, Spurs, Liverpool home and City away
Spurs have 3: Arsenal home and Chelsea & City away
Arsenal have 3: Spurs, City & United (all away)

LIverpool have 2: Chelsea and United away (plus the derby)

As last year, whatever happens in the next 12 games, some of our rivals are guaranteed to drop points.

We can more or less discount Arsenal. I don't think they'll make.

Chelsea are in topsy turvy. If one of their key players get injured, they are almost done.
Spurs are on the up at the moment. They are finding their mojo again. They represent our biggest threat.
United are going ok - not particularly well but they have the most difficult games.

If we can hang on to our momentum, Van Djik settling in and with Sane back to his best, we definitely have a very good chance of finishing second.

[Sinyoro]

We can more or less discount Arsenal. I don't think they'll make.

Chelsea are in topsy turvy. If one of their key players get injured, they are almost done.
Spurs are on the up at the moment. They are finding their mojo again. They represent our biggest threat.
United are going ok - not particularly well but they have the most difficult games.

If we can hang on to our momentum, Van Djik settling in and with Sane back to his best, we definitely have a very good chance of finishing second.

You are a fellow Red, but mistakes like this do my head in

[Djozer]

You are a fellow Red, but mistakes like this do my head in

Where's the full stop at the end of your sentence, hmmm? Where? WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?

You are a fellow Red, but mistakes like this do my head in. 

Just kidding, mate, and the Sane/Mane thing is a touch irritating, just like the Firminho misspelling. Still, I guess that's just pedants like us and, to be honest, I mess players' names up sometimes myself. Also, perhaps he meant "Sane" as some sort of affectionate portmanteau of Sadio Mane...? You never know.

[PoetryInMotion]

You are a fellow Red, but mistakes like this do my head in

And this particular mistake seems to be quite common among fans and commentators even, no idea why. I heard a commentary (don't remember exactly when) where he was saying Sane soon after Mane scored. Two different players, people 

[rob1966]

And this particular mistake seems to be quite common among fans and commentators even, no idea why. I heard a commentary (don't remember exactly when) where he was saying Sane soon after Mane scored. Two different players, people 

Happened on BT the other night during the Porto game too.

[alvaro]

Liverpool basically depends on keeping it players fit. If we do then we make it, if we dont then we are in massive trouble and looking at a similar ending as the previous season( in which we basically had to grind wins playing less than spectacular football) when we will be vulnerable to very fine margins which can go either way.
I hope that 10 days of no football doesnt go against us( but like I said in another thread, fortunaly West Ham have the same 10 days without competitive matches).

[alvaro]

With regards to other teams I think Man United are in general very underated here, they are still very strong in both boxes and while they play horrid football against Newcastle they still were unlucky to lose that game. If you combine that with the fact they have a 2 point lead over us, I will gladly take them beating Chelsea and I dont really care for 2nd place.
Spurs are just really fucking good to watch, great manager , great attacking players and did excelent in their run of 3 games. I see them finishing 4th.
Chelsea seem to be the weakest link, sure they won 2 games easily but it was not a big test. Now they have to face Barcelona and United and their season could easily collapse here. Not only is the United game important from an aritmetic pov, they are 1 point behind us but emotionaly defeat against the mancs will leave them very complicated.

[ScouserAtHeart]

Fuck that. Chelsea to score a 95th minute winner, Conte to run along the touchline in celebration and poke Mourinho in the eye from behind

[Vladi Legend]

Does anyone know why according to Crystal Palace's website, our game with them on Saturday 31/3 @ 12:30pm faces possible postponement if we reach the CL quarter finals?

I've never known this to happen to a weekend league game before and I'm rather concerned as we've already bought tickets and I paid for my train last night. The game is scheduled to be shown on Sky too.

"Please note that this match may be rescheduled should Liverpool progress to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League."

https://www.cpfc.co.uk/tickets/ticket-information/

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Does anyone know why according to Crystal Palace's website, our game with them on Saturday 31/3 @ 12:30pm faces possible postponement if we reach the CL quarter finals?

I've never known this to happen to a weekend league game before and I'm rather concerned as we've already bought tickets and I paid for my train last night. The game is scheduled to be shown on Sky too.

"Please note that this match may be rescheduled should Liverpool progress to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League."

https://www.cpfc.co.uk/tickets/ticket-information/

I think that if we played the CL game on the Wednesday night then we wouldn’t be asked to play Saturday morning because of the quick turnaround. Would probably be moved to Saturday evening or Sunday.

[campioni]

Does anyone know why according to Crystal Palace's website, our game with them on Saturday 31/3 @ 12:30pm faces possible postponement if we reach the CL quarter finals?

I've never known this to happen to a weekend league game before and I'm rather concerned as we've already bought tickets and I paid for my train last night. The game is scheduled to be shown on Sky too.

"Please note that this match may be rescheduled should Liverpool progress to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League."

https://www.cpfc.co.uk/tickets/ticket-information/

From the ticket forum:

It's to do with Chelsea v Spurs on the Sunday. If we have a CL game Wednesday and one of them is playing Tuesday, we'll swap. If they both get knocked out, we stay where we are.

[rocco]

Does anyone know why according to Crystal Palace's website, our game with them on Saturday 31/3 @ 12:30pm faces possible postponement if we reach the CL quarter finals?

I've never known this to happen to a weekend league game before and I'm rather concerned as we've already bought tickets and I paid for my train last night. The game is scheduled to be shown on Sky too.

"Please note that this match may be rescheduled should Liverpool progress to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League."

https://www.cpfc.co.uk/tickets/ticket-information/

I’d guess changed to Sunday .

[stevieheighway]

FA Cup replay for Spurs

[keano7]

FA Cup replay for Spurs

They will probably play the same team as they out today and win at a canter similar to Newport two weeks ago. Helps them get more fitness for Rose and Alderweireld and blood a few youngsters. Maybe 2 or 3 first team players max.

[JackWard33]

Fascinating how all the statistical / expg models have us as a virtual certainty for top 4 and most as favourites for 2nd

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Fascinating how all the statistical / expg models have us as a virtual certainty for top 4 and most as favourites for 2nd

Lets hope that translates on to the pitch continuously

[JackWard33]

Lets hope that translates on to the pitch continuously

Well would be nice . The weakness of our remaining schedule is a big factor in the models rating us so much

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Well would be nice . The weakness of our remaining schedule is a big factor in the models rating us so much

Just need to have luck with injuries and not be complacent against those sides.

[vivabobbygraham]

Bit sad we have to wait so long for the next game to be honest!

West Ham 24th Feb, Newcastle on 3rd March, Porto 6th and then United away on 10th.

Looking at those first 3, they all should be comfortable wins. Our narrow lead from the first leg gives us a good opportunity to rest some key players in between two league games and you'd think we'll give some starts to the likes of Ings, Solanke, Lallana, Moreno, Klavan, possibly even Clyne and Woodburn? Will be interested to see whether we make wholesale changes or if that risks jarring our momentum slightly going into the United game.

Jurgen has said no rotation from here on in. Best 11 each game. Of course that will be injury permitting and 'horses for courses' in the odd game but it's heavy metal football from now to the end of the season. Hang on to your hats......

[niallers]

Let's hope we've top 4 wrapped up before we play Chelsea 2nd last game so we can rest the entire first 11 for the final on May 26th.

[Vladi Legend]

I’d guess changed to Sunday .

No that would give us a day less preperation. Palace (a) is on Saturday 31/3, the CL QF will be Tues-Wed 3/4th April, followed by Everton (a) Saturday 7/4.

We've played 3 games in a week loads of times and so do the other clubs. Just doesn't seem to make any sense.

[Suareznumber7]

Jürgen has said no rotation from here on in. Best 11 each game. Of course that will be injury permitting and 'horses for courses' in the odd game but it's heavy metal football from now to the end of the season. Hang on to your hats......

The squad rotations that he made over the Christmas period are the reason we are able to play our best team now.  We should be able to finish the season out strong because of that work earlier in the season.

[Roger Federer]

What happens if Hazard gets injured?

Or Kane for Tottenham?

They are in the same boat as us. They don't  have direct replacements who are anywhere near the same class as their 1st choice attacking stars.

You are right to say injuries are important. Wrong to focus on just us. Spurs and Chelsea are equally vulnerable if their star player gets injured for any period of time.

Chelsea are incredibly dependent on Hazard, I agree, but in his absence they can still play two from Pedro, Willian and Fabregas in his attacking midfield role. Up front the have two decent players to chose from, though none is as good as Firmino.

Likewise Kane is hugely important for Spurs, and I don't actually know what they'd do without him. I think Son has played upfront at times. But they have cover in the positions behind Kane, so if Son moves up front, there's still Eriksen, Moura, Lamela and Alli left to choose from.

Sure, both teams need to adapt, and will lose creativity and goals missing their best players, but I think the drop off from our starting front 3 is still bigger than theirs. On the other hand our front 3 is the best in the league, so as long as no one is out for a long period, I think we'll make top 4 ahead of both Spurs and Chelsea.

[El Lobo]

Chelsea are incredibly dependent on Hazard, I agree, but in his absence they can still play two from Pedro, Willian and Fabregas in his attacking midfield role. Up front the have two decent players to chose from, though none is as good as Firmino.

Likewise Kane is hugely important for Spurs, and I don't actually know what they'd do without him. I think Son has played upfront at times. But they have cover in the positions behind Kane, so if Son moves up front, there's still Eriksen, Moura, Lamela and Alli left to choose from.

Sure, both teams need to adapt, and will lose creativity and goals missing their best players, but I think the drop off from our starting front 3 is still bigger than theirs. On the other hand our front 3 is the best in the league, so as long as no one is out for a long period, I think we'll make top 4 ahead of both Spurs and Chelsea.

Kane has scored practically half their league goals this season. If he got injured they'd be royally fucked more than any other player in any other team getting injured would affect that particular side. They are literally Kane plus ten, they've got very little else.

[Roger Federer]

Kane has scored practically half their league goals this season. If he got injured they'd be royally fucked more than any other player in any other team getting injured would affect that particular side. They are literally Kane plus ten, they've got very little else.

Fair enough. I didn't think Spurs would get top 4 at the start of the season, with Kane, so if they lose him to injury I wont argue that they could cope. He is hugely important to them obviously, but we're very dependent on Firmino as well.

It's a marginal call, but I'm not certain that say, Moura, Alli and Son, with Eriksen as well, isn't a better attack than Mane, Ings, Salah (with Lallana behind), all things considered. Not a lot in it though, and Firmino isn't injured often anyway, so I hope it wont matter in the end.

[PaulF]

I feel strangely confident we will finish top 4. I feel we should finish second, but I wouldnt bet on it. Nice balance of games with pl and cl coming up. This is where we sort the men from the boys?