Topic: The PL run-in

[Samie]

Yeah because our frontline against Big Head and Lindelof is up against the reincarnation of peak Maldini and Nesta.

[macmanamanaman]

The thought of Philips and Willams vs United's frontline is truly terrifying. Can see us losing to United which will finally put us all out of our misery.

I for one, welcome being put out of my misery.

[ac]

Yeah because our frontline against Big Head and Lindelof is up against the reincarnation of peak Maldini and Nesta.

they don't need to be given the finishing of our frontline

[RogerTheRed]

Interesting that their win today means City are not Champions yet. Will Ole have to go strong on Tuesday to try to chase a rainbow?

[Fromola]

I feel a bit like it's remarkable that we've hung in there so long given the circumstances, really - I remember 'arguing' that the Chelsea game at the start of March needn't actually be "must win" as many people seemed to be saying, and that 4 points from that and Fulham would steady us ahead of the final ten games.  We obviously lost both, and yet somehow are still clinging on to and outside chance.

It's the Leeds and Newcastle games themselves that lead me to phrases like "don't deserve it" - after everything we came through, we were/are just still in without an outside chance and we threw 4 points away in a week.  Irrespective of everything that went before those two games, just imagine how important how valuable those extra 4 points could be right now.

Clearly we had to massively re-think our season's ambitions (i.e. title to top four) as winter progressed, and there are many reasons we can point to for that.  I don't think we can have many excuses for those 4 dropped points that have massively undermined our efforts to meet those revised expectations though.  I can't think of any good analogies, but I'm going to say it feels like we winged-it through a driving lesson with the likelihood of just passing but then crashed into the parking bay at the end.

Nevertheless...I'm still clinging to slim hopes!

An unlikely excuse but losing probably our best defender in Phillips the last few months on top of everything else different help, especially as both equalisers stemmed from high balls lumped in with a small team on the pitch.

The circus around Leeds game (thanks to the owners SL announcement the night before) hardly helped either, with Klopp blindsided by it and left to deal with the fall out with the players.

[Fromola]

Yeah because our frontline against Big Head and Lindelof is up against the reincarnation of peak Maldini and Nesta.

We know we can create chances. Can we actually put them away? A high scoring shootout/end-to-end game will likely benefit them (like in the cup). Their game thrives on chaotic matches.

We need Kabak and Milner back fit, which they would have been if the game was played last week.

[Coolie High]

Yeah because our frontline against Big Head and Lindelof is up against the reincarnation of peak Maldini and Nesta.

We said this exactly last time we played them to be fair, Salah scored 2 but we still lost, can’t really compare big head and Lindelof to Williams either there’s a clear disparity in quality. Hopefully we start Fabinho at the back.

[CalgarianRed]

Maguire and Lindelof are in a different league compared to Phillips and Williams, who are championship quality at best. I would be really surprised if we got anything out of the game with those 2 starting unfortunately.

I think Klopp will go with Fabinho at CB and put Jones/Ox in midfield.

[farawayred]

Maguire and Lindelof are in a different league compared to Phillips and Williams, who are championship quality at best. I would be really surprised if we got anything out of the game with those 2 starting unfortunately.

I think Klopp will go with Fabinho at CB and put Jones/Ox in midfield.

Maguire and Nat are not necessarily in a different league, unless you're talking about salary.

It's a tough call who to start considering the injuries, but I worry even more about who can come in. We may not be able to tweak the game plan with the likes of Wilson and Koumetio from the bench.

[Mighty_Red]

As always, it's all about the job we do rather than what the opposition do. All we can do is patch up our players and get them ready for Utd. Them playing twice before our game levels any injuries up.

I don't see Utd throwing the Leicester game, as they don't want to hand the title to City like that. I don't see Leicester getting more than 5pts from their last 3 games so it actually is in our hands, but only if we keep our side of the bargain.

[rawcusk8]

Over to you Liverpool. It’s the hope that kills you, gona go down to the wire.

[PaulF]

Can I dream they beat Leicester and we end their title dream and jump  into the cl places at old Trafford?

[farawayred]

Door slightly ajar for the umpteenth time...

[jillcwhomever]

Can I dream they beat Leicester and we end their title dream and jump  into the cl places at old Trafford?

I would give anything for that.  The fume would be incredible. 😀

[bornandbRED]

Just when I thought I was out....... pull, back, right in

[Number 7]

Except for that last minute goal for Chelsea everything else has pretty much gone our way this weekend.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Okay so with West Ham losing, if Leicester lose to United, I think a draw at Old Trafford would suddenly become a pretty good result. We'd then just need to win our last 3 and bank on Leicester dropping points to Chelsea or Spurs.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Well, we have won 4 of our last 6 league games, and the 2 draws came in the last minutes of the games. Will we win our remaining 4 games? I don't know. Can we win them? Of course we can ...

[Caligula?]

Just when I thought I was out....... pull, back, right in

<a href="https://youtube.com/v/xJpVyMAlPBs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://youtube.com/v/xJpVyMAlPBs</a>

[Dave McCoy]

Current 538 CL qualification odds:
Chelsea 94%
Leicester 55%
LFC 42%
West Ham 6%
Spurs 3%

[Thepooloflife]

Can I dream they beat Leicester and we end their title dream and jump  into the cl places at old Trafford?

It would be a dream - 'cos we'd still be 3 pts behind Leicester in fifth....albeit a game in hand 

[Iska]

Current 538 CL qualification odds:
Chelsea 94%
Leicester 55%
LFC 42%
West Ham 6%
Spurs 3%

538 also lists Brighton as the 19th best side in world football, so there’s a massive glitch somewhere in their algorithm.

Edit: down to 21st now after losing to Wolves, like you’d expect from the 21st best team in the world I imagine.

[jackh]

Updated:

3rd	Chelsea	35	+23	64
4th	Leicester	35	+20	63
5th	West Ham	34	+11	58
6th	Liverpool	34	+18	57
7th	Spurs	35	+20	56
8th	Everton	33	+3	52

Weekend:
Leicester 2-4 Newcastle
Leeds 3-1 Spurs
City 1-2 Chelsea
Liverpool 2-0 Southampton
West Ham vs Everton

Updated:

3rd	Chelsea	35	+23	64
4th	Leicester	35	+20	63
5th	West Ham	35	+10	58
6th	Liverpool	34	+18	57
7th	Spurs	35	+20	56
8th	Everton	34	+4	55

Weekend:
Leicester 2-4 Newcastle
Leeds 3-1 Spurs
City 1-2 Chelsea
Liverpool 2-0 Southampton
West Ham 0-1 Everton

[Fromola]

In 16/17 Southampton finished 8th with 46 points! Everton 8th with 49 in 17/18.

The top 8 should all top 60 points this season which is a high bar and one will miss out on Europe and one stuck in the Conference League. Even Leeds in 10th on 50 points with a few games left and Villa just below.

[Clint Eastwood]

Those 4 points dropped at Newcastle and Leeds are very very upsetting.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Those 4 points dropped at Newcastle and Leeds are very very upsetting.

Those 2 games doesn't matter now. Had Trent not scored in injury time, we would have dropped 2 points against Aston Villa. It is football. The only important thing now is to win our remaining games ...

[Linudden]

Looks to be on now. If United beat Leicester even 10 points might do it assuming the Foxes repeat last year's late collapse.

[Gray Hamster]

Looks to be on now. If United beat Leicester even 10 points might do it assuming the Foxes repeat last year's late collapse.

Utd fans all praying they play a second string against Leicester and go full strength against us.  Utterly shameful

[farawayred]

Utd fans all praying they play a second string against Leicester and go full strength against us.  Utterly shameful

They still can't change the whole team.

[JackWard33]

Utd fans all praying they play a second string against Leicester and go full strength against us.  Utterly shameful

How is that shameful?
I don’t get you lot - you want a rivalry or not?... we’d want our manager to do exactly the same thing. They should want to stamp on our throats and vice versa

[TepidT2O]

We need to win 5 in a row really …


Just can’t see it the way the season has gone

[farawayred]

We need to win 5 in a row really …


Just can’t see it the way the season has gone

Well, there had been many unpredictable twists and turns this season. You'd probably put a wager on us winning 5 in a row with our form until Christmas. Who knows, really, but there is hope.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Utd fans all praying they play a second string against Leicester and go full strength against us.  Utterly shameful

The wind-up merchants from the social networks and the internet forums. Man Utd handing over the title to Man City on Tuesday would be a massive blow for any of their match going fans, especially if we also beat them on Thursday ...

[PeterTheRed ...]

We need to win 5 in a row really …


Just can’t see it the way the season has gone

Well, if you look at our last 6 league games, we were minutes away from winning 6 in a row, so I wouldn't rule it out completely ...

[Knight]

How is that shameful?
I don’t get you lot - you want a rivalry or not?... we’d want our manager to do exactly the same thing. They should want to stamp on our throats and vice versa

Everyone is a hypocrite. Including me I should add. But you very much see it on here!

[darragh85]

i made this point already and i know there is little chance of united winning the league but it is still possible mathematically.

one of the main components of a winning mentality is  tostay going to the end. if they fielded a weaken side against Leicester and lose it would look awful for them. they would be effectively throwing in the towel. there is also fact that chelsea and leicester could finish above them too.  there is no guarantee they will beat us either and 2 losses in a few days could do alot of damage.

[Gray Hamster]

How is that shameful?
I don’t get you lot - you want a rivalry or not?... we’d want our manager to do exactly the same thing. They should want to stamp on our throats and vice versa

Are you off your trolly pal.  Rivalry or not, there’s only 3 or 4 games left in the season and if you still have a chance of winning it with only 3 -4 games left then you try your best, irrespective of rivals.   I don’t get you at all

[Alan_X]

How is that shameful?
I don’t get you lot - you want a rivalry or not?... we’d want our manager to do exactly the same thing. They should want to stamp on our throats and vice versa

Fuck that - I wouldn't want us to throw a game regardless of the impact on United.

[Alan_X]

i made this point already and i know there is little chance of united winning the league but it is still possible mathematically.

one of the main components of a winning mentality is  tostay going to the end. if they fielded a weaken side against Leicester and lose it would look awful for them. they would be effectively throwing in the towel. there is also fact that chelsea and leicester could finish above them too.  there is no guarantee they will beat us either and 2 losses in a few days could do alot of damage.

Exactly - beat Leicester and they're 7 points behind with three to play. City have lost 2 out of the last 5 games. If we were in that situation and we threw a potential chance to win the league just to fuck over another team I'd be fuming.

[kennedy81]

We need to win 5 in a row really …


Just can’t see it the way the season has gone

We've only got 4 games left. We may only need to win 3 and draw one.

Things are looking a hell of a lot better tonight than they did a week ago. We have a reasonable chance of fourth now.
I think we can get something against the mancs. Some people in here making them out to be some invincible juggernaut, they're really not.