The Race for 4th

[Raoul]

Loads of clubs in the mix this year it seems. Who will get it ?

 

[soapythecat]

Should the thread not be the race for 3rd and 4th?
…or maybe just 3rd as we all know Arsenal will be 4th - its their position!

 

[bosnian_red]

Yeah should probably be 3rd and 4th and have 2 votes

 

[Guy Incognito]

United third, Arse fourth. Spurs/Southampton are the dark horses and it'll probably go to the second-to-last gameweek.

I'm certain a low points total will guarantee European football next season.

 

[Raoul]

Its about 4th only, as in which of the many contenders will make the CL next year and who by deduction will not.

 

[Barney]

Arsenal 3rd, United 4th, Liverpool 5th and Southampton 6th.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Arsenal of course, who else?

 

[Señor]

United and Arsenal will round up the top four. Which way round they finish is debatable.

 

[Samid]

3. United
4. Arsenal
5. Southampton
6. Spurs

 

[Mersault]

Think Arsenal will bag 3rd and we'll fight to the end against Southampton and Spurs for fourth. Hopefully we can edge it.

 

[GlastonSpur]

I voted Arsenal, but if there were two votes (because there are basically two top 4 place up for grabs) then my other vote would have gone to Southampton.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I can see arsenal getting third because of Wenger.

It will possibly be between us, Southampton, Spurs and liverpool for 4th. It's not going to be easy at all.

 

[Infra-red]

I expect Arsenal to finish 3rd. I've voted United for 4th, but that's wishful thinking as much as anything; nothing really between United, Spurs, Southampton, and Liverpool in my view. It will likely be very close.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Arsenal will catch us very soon, wouldnt be surprised if we finish 5th as I think Arsenal and Soton are comfortably better.

 

[Getsme]

On current form the top four will be.
Chelsea
Man City
Arsenal
Southampton

 

[charleysurf]

Not so sure that Man City will finish in the top 2 after this. They're conceding lots of goals. United could be just 4 points behind them after the next round of fixtures as they play Chelsea.

 

[Mister_Stubbs]

The form we are in compared to Arsenal and Southampton, I am worried.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Arsenal will catch us very soon, wouldnt be surprised if we finish 5th as I think Arsenal and Soton are comfortably better.

Southampton are a better team than us right now but our ceiling is higher. We just have to stop making ourselves worse than we are.

 

[Globule]

Only 7 points between Southampton in 3rd and Liverpool in 8th. And of the 6 clubs, it's only West Ham that I feel confident in writing off at the moment. We've really made a mess of things in recent weeks.

 

[NK86]

The form we are in compared to Arsenal and Southampton, I am worried.

I am not worried about Arsenal. They always have this kind of performance up their sleeve but they will be their usual self come March.

 

[NoWinNoFee]

Arsenal 3rd, United 4th.

 

[Mister_Stubbs]

I am not worried about Arsenal. They always have this kind of performance up their sleeve but they will be their usual self come March.

Do they? I can't remember the last time they've looked so impressive away from home especially to a big side. They always finish top four so really it's between us and Southampton who at the moment are in much better form, don't keep tinkering with their side and are already above us.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Southampton are a better team than us right now but our ceiling is higher. We just have to stop making ourselves worse than we are.

Our ceiling is higher on paper, but the ceilings that have been reached so far, I think Soton reached higher.

 

[Sandikan]

that was unexpected today.
thought that was a guaranteed loss to keep us a tidy 4 points ahead.

we need to make hay with this next run of fixtures now

Paying Leicester back next up in the league

 

[NK86]

On current form the top four will be.
Chelsea
Man City
Arsenal
Southampton

Luckily for us the season does not end today and this form will not be permanent through the rest of the season for any team.

 

[NK86]

Do they? I can't remember the last time they've looked so impressive away from home especially to a big side. They always finish top four so really it's between us and Southampton who at the moment are in much better form, don't keep tinkering with their side and are already above us.

Liverpool away and they generally do well there. As I said, Arsenal can get this performance but I seriously doubt they will sustain this.

 

[Bojan11]

I think champions league and Europa league will have an effect on few of the teams chasing 3rd and 4th.

 

[Bojan11]

Do they? I can't remember the last time they've looked so impressive away from home especially to a big side. They always finish top four so really it's between us and Southampton who at the moment are in much better form, don't keep tinkering with their side and are already above us.

They pulled this sort of performance in Europe. Bayern and Dortmund away in recent seasons.

Man City have been poor in recent games.

 

[Boycott]

Arsenal will get 3rd. They always have a run of victories from March onwards, usually when they're out of the running to win any competition, but need to get their house in check for top 4. Today was an outstanding performance in a big away game. I don't think it's a one-off either. There have been signs this season of Arsenal being more cautious, more aware of the opposition this season. And the difference is they have a collective who are confident and capable to counter with style. It's not hopeful punts forward, or pure pace. They have the skill which we lack.

 

[Sam]

Arsenal winning today has really fecked us.

 

[FujiVice]

Our form is top 4 standard. We migth be playing shite but we've lost once in Christ knows how long. We'll finish 3rd or 4th.

 

[Moonred]

Fascinating race. If we improve , we should do it comfortably. If we continue being dodgy, it will be touch and go.

 

[George Owen]

Arsenal winning today has really fecked us.

Arsenal was always going to end up top 4 so i dont know how their victory feck us... its the saints whom have to eventually collapse

 

[Mersault]

that was unexpected today.
thought that was a guaranteed loss to keep us a tidy 4 points ahead.

we need to make hay with this next run of fixtures now

Paying Leicester back next up in the league

If people are worried that we cannot cope with a back four, that result earlier in the season should be ample motivation if any more is needed. I think back then we went with a 352 trying to fit Falcao, van Persie and Rooney all in the same side.

Hope we will be amped up and destroy them. We really should. That round Arsenal play Villa at home and Southampton play Swansea also at home. Need to make a statement.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Those draws in the past month or so has really screwed us badly.

 

[RedSRM]

Yep, that Southampton game was a really important one and we fecked it up.
Trust City to feck up on the one occasion we actually want them to win. They were useless today but Arsenal were very good. Arsenal always find form when they are in the hunt for top 4. They'll definitely finish above us, their football is on a different level to ours. We can only hope that Southampton lose form, Tottenham remain inconsistent and Liverpool struggle against the better teams (can't see them dropping many more points against the weaker sides).

 

[NoLogo]

I still think/hope that we can finish 3rd and my money for fourth in that case would be on Arsenal to finish 4th while Southampton will drop out of the top four towards the end of the season.

 

[bosnian_red]

Those draws in the past month or so has really screwed us badly.

Good thing we had that run of wins before that to keep us in top 4 then...
It's definitely in our hands to finish top 4 and I'm sure we will. We are in 4th currently, have the money to spend if we need to, have the players that will ultimately see us through, have an experienced manager and arsenal has to come to Old Trafford still which could be a decisive game. His was a huge result for arsenal, but at the end of the day, so was United beating southampton and arsenal away from home. Arsenal needed a big result to make up for the earlier feck ups.

 

[justboy68]

If people are worried that we cannot cope with a back four, that result earlier in the season should be ample motivation if any more is needed. I think back then we went with a 352 trying to fit Falcao, van Persie and Rooney all in the same side.

Hope we will be amped up and destroy them. We really should. That round Arsenal play Villa at home and Southampton play Swansea also at home. Need to make a statement.

I'm not sure if I'm just misreading your post but we played the 442 diamond when we let Leicester spank 5 past us, that's when Lvg decided to revert to the 352. So yeah there is that reason to be fearful, but still if it wasn't for Clattenburg that collapse wouldn't have happened, and we actually played some delicious attacking stuff in that game. Time to give it another go.

 

[Boycott]

Shame since I want Southampton to get there. Arsenal make it every year but never to anything of significance. They take it for granted.