Topic: It's just a battle for the order of the first 4 spots now between 5 teams...

[rickardinho1]

Feel like we've been here this season several times already, getting closer to the top three and away from the pack only to drop points and have the teams below us start breathing down our necks again.

It's simple. Performances like today against opponents like Arsenal are huge, but they still just award 3 points for it. Climbing the table is about every week consistency.

Our remaining away fixtures: Fulham, Southampton, Man United, Cardiff City, West Ham United, Norwich City, Crystal Palace. It's about getting maximum points from these if we want to compete for the title, and the majority of points if we want to be head-and-shoulders above our top 4 competition.

Exactly. Thats why Arsenal are ahead of us in the table despite getting thrashed by Man City, us, and to an extent Aston Villa. They've won all the games they're supposed to win, and hopefully we can do that from now on as well

[CraigDS]

Exactly. Thats why Arsenal are ahead of us in the table despite getting thrashed by Man City, us, and to an extent Aston Villa. They've won all the games they're supposed to win, and hopefully we can do that from now on as well

It's all well and good saying that, but they've only played 4 of the 'top clubs' away in the league so far, getting 3 pts from those games. We've played 6 of them.

If Arsenal lose the other two, which their form suggests they should, and we win the two games against 'lower' sides then we'll be above them.

[ElstonGunn]

I do think we'll be ahead of Arsenal by the end of March. Not sure if we'll maintain it to the end of the year.

[redmark]

Exactly. Thats why Arsenal are ahead of us in the table despite getting thrashed by Man City, us, and to an extent Aston Villa. They've won all the games they're supposed to win, and hopefully we can do that from now on as well

Was losing at home on the first day to Villa in the master plan?

Sure, they've won most of the games they're supposed to win. But it's worth bearing in mind that defeat (when we compare to our 'failure' at home to Villa) and that they drew 1-1 at West Brom, just as we did. They lost at United, and have been thumped at ours and at City. They've failed to beat Chelsea and Everton at home.

We just murdered them. Let's not get carried away with how 'good' they are, still. They've got a tough run and (without Walcott and Ramsay) aren't quite the team some have made them out to be. My couple of £10 bets versus Arsenal fans at work is looking just fine to me at the moment.

[Serenity]

the title?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/AA90I6ZlBNA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/AA90I6ZlBNA</a>

Believe

[No Appreciation of Liverpool Opposition]

we need spurs to put in a shift tmrw. if they win or tie we can pretty much claim fourth by beating them at home.

[Adeemo]

we need spurs to put in a shift tmrw. if they win or tie we can pretty much claim fourth by beating them at home.

Erm...

[cox3100]

we need spurs to put in a shift tmrw. if they win or tie we can pretty much claim fourth by beating them at home.

no.


a draw would be the better result.

[Kashinoda]

How do you figure, the gap at the top is 6 points not 3 points.

We have to play City and Chelsea and all 3 have games against each other, where each team will lose either 3 or 2 points.

[rickardinho1]

It's all well and good saying that, but they've only played 4 of the 'top clubs' away in the league so far, getting 3 pts from those games. We've played 6 of them.

If Arsenal lose the other two, which their form suggests they should, and we win the two games against 'lower' sides then we'll be above them.

You could also say that if we had beaten Villa and West Brom we'd only be 1 point behind them. We've got a lot of tough away fixtures coming up, and to me those are a bigger test for this team than the big games. We know this team will show up against the Evertons, City's, Arsenals, and Spurs of the league, but can they do it consistently at the tough away venues? So far its a mixed bag (wins at Villa, Stoke, Sunderland ; draws against Newcastle, Swansea, West Brom; Loss against Hull), and we have tough ones remaining against the non-top teams at Palace, West Ham, Norwich, Cardiff, Fulham, and Southampton... The only 2 I'd predict a swift 3 points would be Fulham and Norwich with the rest probably being similar to the West Brom game.

[Social Scouser]

50 points from 25 games, well done Redmen for solid consistency. 13 games left and every one a winner. Hopefully it goes our way, but either way a serene You'll never walk alone awaits to honour club and community in the last home game of the season. Those who were part of YNWA at Carras last stand last seasons end know that feeling.

[Macedonian Red Reborn]

no.

a draw would be the better result.

Actually, with their set of fixtures over the next couple of months, Tottenham winning tomorrow would probably be a better result:

09.02. Tottenham v Everton
12.02. Newcastle v Tottenham
20.02. FC Dnipro v Tottenham
23.02. Norwich v Tottenham
27.02. Tottenham v FC Dnipro
02.03. Tottenham v Cardiff
08.03. Chelsea v Tottenham
16.03. Tottenham v Arsenal
23.03. Tottenham v Southampton
30.03. Liverpool v Tottenham

[redmark]

Actually, with their set of fixtures over the next couple of months, Tottenham winning tomorrow would probably be a better result:

Results are difficult to predict, obviously. A draw means a point fewer gained by our opponents and neither maintains momentum. Not that I think it matters a great deal. Our destiny is in our own hands.

[Macedonian Red Reborn]

Results are difficult to predict, obviously. A draw means a point fewer gained by our opponents and neither maintains momentum. Not that I think it matters a great deal. Our destiny is in our own hands.

Despite the beating they've got at Anfield the other week, Everton look like a bigger threat to us than Tottenham this season. They only have 3 defeats so far this season (on par with Chelsea), and have the 2nd best defence, after our dismantling of Arsenal's defence today. They also have a bit easier set of fixtures over the next couple of months, compared to Tottenham. Of course, if we keep winning our games, it would be irrelevant.

[helmboy_nige]

So, like I was saying. 3rd place is more than achievable as all we need is for one team to slip up while we put in a run of form.  And yes, Arsenal are most definitely still the favourites to slip.

[PROPER crazyemlyn72]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

[DangerScouse]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

We had a world class manager in Rafa, that shower have Moyes. It ain't happening.

[PhaseOfPlay]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

We had Rafa. They have David Moyes. It's not happening.

[PhaseOfPlay]

We had a world class manager in Rafa, that shower have Moyes. It ain't happening.

Spooooky

[Alonso_The_Assassin]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

If this were to happen, then I believe we'd be out. Same thing happened to Spurs when Oil FC won it, did it not?

[CraigDS]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

In what world does this United team, under Moyes, have any chance against the likes of Bayern, Barca, et al?

Rafa had already proved himself as a master tactician by winning 2 La Liga's and the UEFA Cup the season before, Moyes however...

[PROPER crazyemlyn72]

i know...i know....stuff of nightmares and all that stuff. i see someone else mentioned it at the top of the page too. united could be shit in the league and get a break in europe. to be honest, who can believe they are still in it?

[DangerScouse]

Spooooky

 

[Samie]

i know...i know....stuff of nightmares and all that stuff. i see someone else mentioned it at the top of the page too. united could be shit in the league and get a break in europe. to be honest, who can believe they are still in it?

Bayern Munich would do truly horrific things to them and lets not forget Barca, Real Madrid and Dortmund.

[jooneyisdagod]

I was furious after Villa and WBA. I was just furious. And you know why, its because had we won those two games and we really should have, we would be two points off the top now with both of those teams yet to come to Anfield. And without adding pressure on the players and I was happy to see both Dan and Raheem say that they are taking it one game at a time but we really need to do this now and go on a run. We've gone through our tough run of Christmas fixtures without too much of a dent. Now we need to progress up the table in a steady manner knowing that our direct rivals are going to be playing us at Anfield. Man Utd are 10 points off us so its fair to say its very unlikely they'll be challenging us but they could easily take points off the others and indeed us as well. But this is a huge chance for us. City have had their incredible form begin to peter out a bit. Chelsea are the ones that are starting to rise again but they are yet to play at Anfield. Let's just beat Fulham and keep going that way.

[zip]

We had Rafa. They have David Moyes. It's not happening.

Wasn't going to happen with Chelsea either...

[Michel]

Man Utd won't win the Champions League because we will eliminate them in round 16.Even without Mitroglou.
Moyesy get ready.We are waiting for you.

[fowlermagic]

I said this back in December, when we were top of the league:

I think we're dark horses. We're not being judged on whether we win the league or not, as our real objective is top four. But as long as we stay within 6 points of whoever is top, with 3-4 games to go, we're in with a chance.

You also said this 2 days ago POP

When we play Chelsea near the end of the season, I think 4th will be sown up by that point. We might be playing them for second or third spot at that stage.

Just saying

As I said 2 days ago we are at that stage of the season where a week, 2 games or so could tell a huge difference to a relegated threaten team or us / title challengers so lets see where we stand by the Swansea game as we could be even 3rd at that stage.

[Kopenhagen]

I think we are in with a good shout of third, if results go our way.

Fulham draw and an Arsenal draw will be enough to see off the Mancs, and allow us to gain ground on Arsenal. Either way, the players will be fired up to deliver the coup de grace when we visit their place in a few weeks.

A Spurs win or a draw should be enough to see off Everton, realistically; and they have some difficult / tricky fixtures remaining - Chelsea (A), Palace (H), Arsenal (H), City (H), Southampton (A), Utd (H) [is this still a difficult fixture?]. I think we'll tonk Spurs at Anfield, and I've not been worried about them in the slightest since we played them off their own pitch. It also helps that Tim Sherwood is their manager. 

I believe we'll beat City, or at least get a result, when they come to Anfield.

In my opinion, the real difficult games remaining are: Chelsea (H), Southampton (A), and possibly Palace (A)

I'm sure we'll slip up somewhere else along the way, but I'm feeling pretty damn optimistic right now. 

[PhaseOfPlay]

Wasn't going to happen with Chelsea either...

They couldn't beat Stoke. But they can beat any one of Madrid, Barca, Bayern, PSG, Dortmund, Chelsea or City over two legs?

Do you really think that's likely, with David "Who wants three points?" Moyes?

[Canuck33]

Actually, with their set of fixtures over the next couple of months, Tottenham winning tomorrow would probably be a better result:

09.02. Tottenham v Everton
12.02. Newcastle v Tottenham
20.02. FC Dnipro v Tottenham
23.02. Norwich v Tottenham
27.02. Tottenham v FC Dnipro
02.03. Tottenham v Cardiff
08.03. Chelsea v Tottenham
16.03. Tottenham v Arsenal
23.03. Tottenham v Southampton
30.03. Liverpool v Tottenham

This just in! My sources are telling me Konoplyanka is gonna rip Spurs a new one, in both games.

[PhaseOfPlay]

You also said this 2 days ago POP

Just saying

As I said 2 days ago we are at that stage of the season where a week, 2 games or so could tell a huge difference to a relegated threaten team or us / title challengers so lets see where we stand by the Swansea game as we could be even 3rd at that stage.

I don't know what you're pointing out there?

[zip]

They couldn't beat Stoke. But they can beat any one of Madrid, Barca, Bayern, PSG, Dortmund, Chelsea or City over two legs?

Do you really think that's likely, with David "Who wants three points?" Moyes?

You never know these things. I thought Chelsea were going to be twatted by Barca and Bayern as well. I'll laugh when they're actually out of the competition. We're in a great position to aim for higher than fourth. Not only would it absolutely guarantee CL football, we would start from the group stages and wouldn't have to play those tricky play-offs.

[Canuck33]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

There is always 1 true word in every post. Even in that one.

[fowlermagic]

Sorry Sir I misread your post as you said we are Dark Horses in both posts. My apologies .

[Macedonian Red Reborn]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

To be honest, we have a better chance of winning the Champions League this season than the Mancs.

[rickardinho1]

lads, just had an awful realisation. i know this is far fetched, no laughing now.....if man u win the champions league and we finished 4th ahead of them, we would be out?....i know its absurd, but i dont trust their pact with the devil and so on. best to finish 3rd or better to be on the safeside.

hands up who thought we would win it in 2005?

Yeah thats true, in fact it happened to Spurs when they finished 4th and Chelsea took their spot after finishing below them but winning the CL in 2012.

Three things speak against United winning it this season compared to ours in 2005:
- In 2005 I don't think the field was as strong as it is now. We beat Leverkusen, Juventus, Chelsea, and Milan to win, and I think United would be hard-pressed to win if they came up against any one or two of the top 8-10 teams in europe at the moment, all of whom are better than them.
- We had one of the best master tacticians in European competitions, as he proved by taking us to the final again in 2007 and winning the Europa league with chelsea last year. Needless to say, Moyes is not a master tactician...
- We had Xabi Alonso and Gerrard as a pair in the midfield.... United have Cleverly and Carrick...

[Kopenhagen]

You never know these things. I thought Chelsea were going to be twatted by Barca and Bayern as well. I'll laugh when they're actually out of the competition. We're in a great position to aim for higher than fourth. Not only would it absolutely guarantee CL football, we would start from the group stages and wouldn't have to play those tricky play-offs.

That Chelsea side had an immense amount of quality, though. This United team is pretty hopeless in terms of personnel, tactics, & mentality. They hit the jackpot with a once-in-generation manager who could get blood from a stone. With Moyes at the helm they are an apathetic, indifferent, midtable side. They have not looked convincing once this season. They were convincingly beaten by a Mark Hughes side fielding mostly Tony Pulis purchases.

[PhaseOfPlay]

You never know these things. I thought Chelsea were going to be twatted by Barca and Bayern as well. I'll laugh when they're actually out of the competition. We're in a great position to aim for higher than fourth. Not only would it absolutely guarantee CL football, we would start from the group stages and wouldn't have to play those tricky play-offs.

They have an outside chance, as any of the remaining teams have, at least. However, the team DiMatteo took over were only in the final two years previously, and had a lot of big players including Drogba, Mata, Cech, Cahill, Luiz, Cole and Lampard, and a bench with Essien, Sturridge and Torres.

United have an ageing central defence, no midfield, an injury-prone Van Persie, and only Mata, DeGea and Rooney of any consistent quality this season, and are managed by a man who hasn't won a single trophy in 10 years, and who doesn't play ultra-defensive football like DiMatteo did, but instead plays a mixed bag of percentage football, aimless crosses, invisible midfield and disorganised set-piece defending. Pellegrini took him to the cleaners at the Etihad. Does anyone really think Guardiola, Klopp, Ancellotti, Blanc, Pellegrini again or Mourinho won't also take him to the cleaners in European competition? He got lucky in his group that Leverkeusen were terrible and Shaktar Donetsk couldn't score. He might get past Olympiakos, but the next round should see them out.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Sorry Sir I misread your post as you said we are Dark Horses in both posts. My apologies .

Apparently, according to Rodgers, we are foals. So I was wrong anyway