Top 4 Race 19/20 | duffer: "We [Chelsea] are getting 3rd. Despite what the lunatics in here think, Man United are not all that."

TheNewEra

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If Chelsea lose today, top-four is probably guaranteed either way.
There's no way that Chelsea won't win against Norwich who are dreadful, somehow Chelsea could be completely ineffective and not score and there'll be a draw but losing is completely out the question.

Norwich are that bad, I can't even conceive of Chelsea not winning today.
 

cyberman

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If Chelsea lose today, top-four is probably guaranteed either way.
I think Norwich can get something if they get to half time unscathed.
Chelsea lookd like they were genuinely shitting it v Sheff Utd, plus they need a bit of rotation that can throw them off
 

Zlaatan

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They'll definitely win with the form they're in.
Chelsea aren't in good form though, they lost by 3 to Sheffield, barely snuck by Palace and lost to West Ham, all in the last 4 games. Not that it matters tonight since Norwich are beyond terrible and have nothing to play for.
 

Aidan Azar

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Most people seem to be writing off Wolves but i'm far more worried about them than I am Leicester.

Still fairly confident Utd will get 3rd with us sneaking 4th hopefully.
 

Raw

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Only way Norwich are getting anything is if Chelsea decide to rest their best players for the FA Cup for some reason. Even then it'd be a draw at best.
 

joedirt87

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Norwich to raise their game and get a result as a thank you to the fans.

they are going to get slaughtered
 

Alemar

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If Chelsea lose today, top-four is probably guaranteed either way.
if they lose today (which is highly unlikely), they may soon find themselves only 2 points ahead of Wolves with 2 games remaining... But for us it will Of course make things easier - we will be in a position to draw one game and still be ahead of Chelsea on GD.
 

TMDaines

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Seems like the betting markets have United and Chelsea as a dead heat for who finishes third. Chelsea slightly favoured at some.
 

Random Task

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This race is going to the wire, ending in what is essentially a cup-final between Leicester and United with the winner earning CL qualification.

The matchday thread for the game should come with a government health warning attached. It won't be pretty viewing.
 

bosnian_red

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Chelsea lose vs Liverpool, beat Wolves = 66 points
United and Leicester win next 2 and draw with each other = 66 points
Chelsea lose out on goal difference.

Chelsea fail to win either of their 2 = 65 points max
United and Leicester with 2 wins from 3 is 65 points as well with better GD.
Chelsea with 1 draw and 1 loss = 64 points
United and Leicester need 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss = 64 points with better GD.

So those are scenarios of Chelsea going out. Possible, but I don't see Leicester doing what's required. I think liveliest outcome is:
  • Chelsea loses vs Liverpool, beats Wolves, finishes on 66 points
  • Leicester wins vs Sheffield United, loses vs Spurs, draw vs United = 63 points
  • United wins vs Palace and West Ham, draws vs Leicester = 66 points
United 3rd on goal difference. Would be a nervy as feck game against Leicester though, as unless we make up 6 goals on them between Palace, West Ham vs them playing Sheffield and Spurs, a 1 goal win for them on last day would make their goal difference better than ours (their +3 now, a 1-0 win is +2, they have more goals scored so can't let it go level). So level their result against Sheffield with ours against Palace, then hammer Moyes and West Ham and hope Mourinho does us a favor to get a 6 goal swing.
 

Nori-

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So much depends on the next 3 games.

How much we can spend in the summer, who we can attract, momentum for next season etc.

Solskjaer really needs to pull out all the stops in the player psychology department because the pressure is going to be immense. I'm not even playing and it's all im thinking about recently. Counting down the minutes to each game :houllier:
 

TMDaines

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Chelsea lose vs Liverpool, beat Wolves = 66 points
United and Leicester win next 2 and draw with each other = 66 points
Chelsea lose out on goal difference.

Chelsea fail to win either of their 2 = 65 points max
United and Leicester with 2 wins from 3 is 65 points as well with better GD.
Chelsea with 1 draw and 1 loss = 64 points
United and Leicester need 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss = 64 points with better GD.

So those are scenarios of Chelsea going out. Possible, but I don't see Leicester doing what's required. I think liveliest outcome is:
  • Chelsea loses vs Liverpool, beats Wolves, finishes on 66 points
  • Leicester wins vs Sheffield United, loses vs Spurs, draw vs United = 63 points
  • United wins vs Palace and West Ham, draws vs Leicester = 66 points
United 3rd on goal difference. Would be a nervy as feck game against Leicester though, as unless we make up 6 goals on them between Palace, West Ham vs them playing Sheffield and Spurs, a 1 goal win for them on last day would make their goal difference better than ours (their +3 now, a 1-0 win is +2, they have more goals scored so can't let it go level). So level their result against Sheffield with ours against Palace, then hammer Moyes and West Ham and hope Mourinho does us a favor to get a 6 goal swing.
Chelsea can also miss out to Wolves if they win all three. Wolves should beat Palace at home and Liverpool should beat or draw with Chelsea, so up to Wolves tomorrow to keep that one live. Wolves would need to win one match by two goals though for GD, so could win all three, beating Chelsea and miss out on goals scored if they don't find another goal somewhere.

I can't see both United and Leicester winning all four games to have an 0-0 biscotto on the final day. If that scenario does pan out though, game theory will dictate the most defensive match you are ever likely to see in the PL.

Can't rule out all teams finishing on 64 points either!
 

always_hoping

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Chelsea only need 4 more points to secure CL football next season and when you consider that Leicester will likely slip up maybe twice 2 points should be enough now for them. The lucky general Lampard will hardly mess up from that position now?
 

bosnian_red

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Chelsea can also miss out to Wolves if they win all three. Wolves should beat Palace at home and Liverpool should beat Chelsea, so up to Wolves tomorrow to keep that one live.

I can't see both United and Leicester winning all four games to have an 0-0 biscotto on the final day. If that scenario does pan out though, game theory will dictate the most defensive match you are ever likely to see in the PL.
Wolves would get in ahead of Chelsea on GD if they get two 1-0's and one 2-0, and Chelsea at most draws against Liverpool.
But yeah I can't see it. I can see us winning ours, just don't see Leicester with their absences getting 2/2 against Spurs and Sheffield. 2 tough games. If it does happen and Chelsea lose to Liverpool, itd be insanity for either team to do anything other than bore a draw, but then you get into the morality of it which is a sticky point. Everything on stake though, itd be a weird game. How often has it happened where a draw would guarantee both teams their season goals?
 

RkkMan

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I personally don`t think the last game(Utd vs Leicester) will decide anything as I fully expect Leicester to drop points in the next 2 games and Utd to win vs Palace and at the very least get a point vs West Ham which will just about seal top 4 for them and a draw in that last game.
Reckon Chelsea draw to Liverpool and beat Wolves.
 

sammsky1

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This race is going to the wire, ending in what is essentially a cup-final between Leicester and United with the winner earning CL qualification.

The matchday thread for the game should come with a government health warning attached. It won't be pretty viewing.
Im fully confident this team can beat Leicester in a final game to decide who goes through.

I’m actually quite looking forward to such a high stakes winner takes all type game, not experienced one in a long time.

If we lose these kind of ‘cup finals’ honestly we don’t deserve to be on CL next year.

Anyways we have the back door Europa route, so it’s not even last chance saloon.
 

Offside

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We could draw to Palace and still easily end up finishing above Chelsea. If we win our next 2 we could also easily be out of Leicester’s sight come the final day. Get our job done in those 2 games and we have a great chance.
 

njred

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I expect Chelsea to finish with 66 pts and Leicester and United on 65 points going into the match.
 

Morpheus 7

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Did anyone seriously think Chelsea were dropping points tonight? Leicester have a really hard game tommorow. We need to forget about teams at the moment and focus on Palace. Beat them and we have a good chance, it's still in our hands.
 

TheNewEra

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I have it that all 3 teams (Chelsea, United and Leicester) finish on 64 points.

Chelsea will lose out on goal difference, Leicester come 3rd.

Man Utd final Games: DWD (5 points) - 64 Points total - GD: 29
Leicester Final Games: WDD (5 points) - 64 Points total - GD: 30
Chelsea Final Games: WLD (4 points) - 64 Points total- GD: 16
Wolves Final Games: WWD (7 points) - 62 Points total - GD: 15

My final 3 fixture predictions.

United
If United win against Palace and against West Ham then a draw at Leicester suffices.

Leicester
I think Leicester will draw at Tottenham, but beat Sheffield United, however if Leicester lose at Sheffield their season is over (but I think Leicester will come away with a victory), because even if they beat United on the final day, I think they'll draw at Tottenham which means they can't get enough points (United would have gained 4-6 points in that time).

Issue with Leicester, they rely heavily on a 33 year old Vardy... who if you play deep he can't influence a game, and Spurs under Mourinho will make it very difficult for them.

IF United beat palace momentum will bring them through the West Ham game, the West Ham game to me is fully dependent on the result at Palace (if United drop points at Palace I think they may start to have some doubts)
 
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Woziak

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My issue with the whole thing is why are we even in this position after the money spent, the cold reality even if we win all 3 games we will only have a win rate of 50% seriously concerning, the more likely outcome is we may win 2 draw or lose 1 that’s united and finish with 65 points, put this in perspective David Moyes got sacked for 63 points and 7th place, the cold hard facts the league has two outstanding managers and we dint have one and as much as I truly love Ole, his CV is not united class and even 3rd or 4th is seriously masking some seriously poor results in his first full season, simple he qualifies for CL he gets another season, he doesn’t go get Julian Nagelsman or Poch or a top Manager like Tuchal who will be sacked if PSG fail again in CL , now if Ole gets 4th and wins either the EL or Fa Cup then he should get a 1 year extension and £150m budget plus player sales with a view that anything less than 80 points and a top 3 position will result in the sack I’m fed up of us accepting mediocrity, we are and will always be united and therefore must act like it in the boardroom as well as on the pitch !!!!
 

Cathy Ferguson

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We have the better form and easier fixtures so we should be fine, even though we looked tired against a hard pressing Soton team. I would rate our chances to 70-80%.

All three teams will lose points and we must put in a better performance against Palace. A win would put us back in the driving seat, and they will allow us to play in our tempo and try to hit us on the break, as they did at OT.

Chelsea were poor today but how motivated will Pool be? A win for Chelsea would change a lot.
 

croadyman

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So much depends on the next 3 games.

How much we can spend in the summer, who we can attract, momentum for next season etc.

Solskjaer really needs to pull out all the stops in the player psychology department because the pressure is going to be immense. I'm not even playing and it's all im thinking about recently. Counting down the minutes to each game :houllier:
Yeah Thursday night feels like an absolute eternity away right now
 

charlenefan

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Right now I have a feeling Chelsea may get a result at Anfield, I guess tomorrow will say a lot about where Liverpool's heads at when they play Arsenal away

That being said as most have felt for a while now Chelsea aren't the target (well for 4th place anyway) Leicester are
 

TheNewEra

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We have the better form and easier fixtures so we should be fine, even though we looked tired against a hard pressing Soton team. I would rate our chances to 70-80%.

All three teams will lose points and we must put in a better performance against Palace. A win would put us back in the driving seat, and they will allow us to play in our tempo and try to hit us on the break, as they did at OT.

Chelsea were poor today but how motivated will Pool be? A win for Chelsea would change a lot.
Liverpool will be very motivated, they're at home, they want to get the highest points total as possible.

If you are a Champions League winning team, and a League winning side you don't want to lose games.

Liverpool in their mind will know they can beat anyone in world football and they will want to see just how strong they are against Chelsea, they will 100% be going into that game to try and win.
 

TheNewEra

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Right now I have a feeling Chelsea may get a result at Anfield, I guess tomorrow will say a lot about where Liverpool's heads at when they play Arsenal away

That being said as most have felt for a while now Chelsea aren't the target (well for 4th place anyway) Leicester are
Chelsea (cannot) finish level on points with United or Leicester due to goal difference, which is a huge factor, Chelsea literally HAVE to win against Liverpool and Wolves, there's no room for error.

With Chelseas defence currently I don't think they can handle Salah, Mane and Firmino.
 

MichaelRed

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My issue with the whole thing is why are we even in this position after the money spent, the cold reality even if we win all 3 games we will only have a win rate of 50% seriously concerning, the more likely outcome is we may win 2 draw or lose 1 that’s united and finish with 65 points, put this in perspective David Moyes got sacked for 63 points and 7th place, the cold hard facts the league has two outstanding managers and we dint have one and as much as I truly love Ole, his CV is not united class and even 3rd or 4th is seriously masking some seriously poor results in his first full season, simple he qualifies for CL he gets another season, he doesn’t go get Julian Nagelsman or Poch or a top Manager like Tuchal who will be sacked if PSG fail again in CL , now if Ole gets 4th and wins either the EL or Fa Cup then he should get a 1 year extension and £150m budget plus player sales with a view that anything less than 80 points and a top 3 position will result in the sack I’m fed up of us accepting mediocrity, we are and will always be united and therefore must act like it in the boardroom as well as on the pitch !!!!
You think that when we've not gone above £60m net spend we will spend £150m+ net in this financial climate? What a load of football manager nonsense. Also, why are you crying about our record across the season? We were without Pogba nearly all season, without Martial for a large chunk & without Rashford for a significant portion too. We didn't have Bruno until late into the winter window either. This team isn't the same team we started with & it has also been a first season for half of our back 4 (AWB and Maguire ofc). Stop being so reactionary, it's embarrassing.

Ole has already cleared huge amounts of deadwood and found his best 11; Something LvG and Mourinho never managed in the entirity of their tenures. You have to look at this as 2 different teams, almost like 2 different seasons. The team we are now, with our key players back fit and a player of quality to link up the play in Bruno as opposed to Lingard who contributed to something like 2 goals in 2 years, is currently on 13 wins & 5 draws in the last 18 games. Calm down.
 

croadyman

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Did anyone seriously think Chelsea were dropping points tonight? Leicester have a really hard game tommorow. We need to forget about teams at the moment and focus on Palace. Beat them and we have a good chance, it's still in our hands.
While it was 0-0 there was the slimmest possibility and they nearly made it to HT. Unfortunately nearly doesn't get you anything in this game.
 

croadyman

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Right now I have a feeling Chelsea may get a result at Anfield, I guess tomorrow will say a lot about where Liverpool's heads at when they play Arsenal away

That being said as most have felt for a while now Chelsea aren't the target (well for 4th place anyway) Leicester are
It's some of their mouthy social media fans who I would like to silence. I know there are a couple on here who are really sound fellas though.
 

bosnian_red

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Right now I have a feeling Chelsea may get a result at Anfield, I guess tomorrow will say a lot about where Liverpool's heads at when they play Arsenal away

That being said as most have felt for a while now Chelsea aren't the target (well for 4th place anyway) Leicester are
Wouldn't say tomorrow will say much about Liverpool. They'll likely hammer Arsenal regardless, but against Chelsea will be their last home game where they will lift the premier league, they have their home unbeaten record to maintain, and the chance at surpassing City's points record. And they really don't get along well with Chelsea. I can't see them rolling over.

Anyway yeah I think Chelsea will do enough to stay ahead of Leicester, but they play the best team in the world and arguably the best defensive side in the prem as their last 2 games, so you never know.
 

Cathy Ferguson

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Liverpool will be very motivated, they're at home, they want to get the highest points total as possible.

If you are a Champions League winning team, and a League winning side you don't want to lose games.

Liverpool in their mind will know they can beat anyone in world football and they will want to see just how strong they are against Chelsea, they will 100% be going into that game to try and win.
Hopefully they had their blip against in form Burnley, but I have bad memories from that fixture as well as good ones. Both involve a certain Stevie G.
 

DRJosh

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This race is going to the wire, ending in what is essentially a cup-final between Leicester and United with the winner earning CL qualification.

The matchday thread for the game should come with a government health warning attached. It won't be pretty viewing.
It won't necessarily be a cup final because a draw will quite certainly be enough for Leicester is they win their remaining games and we drop further points.
 

Fts 74

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I'm delighted we're even having this discussion cos after the Burnley game I was fearing the worst.

I'm confident we'll just do enough, last night was a blow, if we'd won 4 pts from our last 3 games probably would've been enough all things considered

We really should beat Palace who seem to be on their holidays, if other results go for us, beat West Ham(I'd love to see them go down but looks like they've got away with it can't stand them) that would probably do it.

We never do things easy though that's my only fear!
 

WeePat

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I have it that all 3 teams (Chelsea, United and Leicester) finish on 64 points.

Chelsea will lose out on goal difference, Leicester come 3rd.

Man Utd final Games: DWD (5 points) - 64 Points total - GD: 29
Leicester Final Games: WDD (5 points) - 64 Points total - GD: 30
Chelsea Final Games: WLD (4 points) - 64 Points total- GD: 16
Wolves Final Games: WWD (7 points) - 62 Points total - GD: 15

My final 3 fixture predictions.

United
If United win against Palace and against West Ham then a draw at Leicester suffices.

Leicester
I think Leicester will draw at Tottenham, but beat Sheffield United, however if Leicester lose at Sheffield their season is over (but I think Leicester will come away with a victory), because even if they beat United on the final day, I think they'll draw at Tottenham which means they can't get enough points (United would have gained 4-6 points in that time).

Issue with Leicester, they rely heavily on a 33 year old Vardy... who if you play deep he can't influence a game, and Spurs under Mourinho will make it very difficult for them.

IF United beat palace momentum will bring them through the West Ham game, the West Ham game to me is fully dependent on the result at Palace (if United drop points at Palace I think they may start to have some doubts)
Do you genuinely think Leicester will go unbeaten in the final 3 games?

I think they'll draw with Sheffield Utd, draw or lose to Spurs and lose to United leaving them on 60 or 61 pts, which means Chelsea could lose their remaining 2 games and still finish 4th.
 
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Sylar

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On paper it favours us
But we need to now get the points and need to move ahead of at least one of them.

Number of games left are almost over and we've given ourselves a chance
But we need to see it through and get into position now and it starts with Thursday
 

TheNewEra

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Do you genuinely think Leicester will go unbeaten in the final 3 games?

I think they'll draw with Sheffield Utd, draw or lose to Spurs and lose to United leaving them on 60 or 61 pts, which means Chelsea could lose their remaining 2 games and still finish 4th.
I think the issue is for Leicester they have key injuries, and they've also lost their second best CB due to the straight red in the last match day.

Sheffield United is their real test, I think more than anything that will be the biggest test for Leicester, Tottenham will play in typical Mourinho style, and sitting deep against Vardy I just think he's not as effective, they really miss Maddison too.

Spurs I really see Leicester dropping points, Sheffield United is where they really need 3 points, even if they have to win ugly, they need to salvage something at this point.

If they don't get a result at Sheffield United I see them just falling flat at Spurs knowing how difficult the Spurs game will be (it's away for Leicester)

I personally feel for Leicester it will be WDD, but if they don't win at Sheffield United again I think it's not tenable for them if United win at Palace.

Same with United, if they can get three points from Palace that's a big step, because I think momentum will help with the West Ham game, but I think the Palace game will show the resolve of the United squad in general.

The big games for me isn't Liverpool Chelsea, or Wolves Chelsea. It's Sheffield United vs Leicester, and United vs Palace.
 

macheda14

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Do you genuinely think will go unbeaten in the final 3 games?

I think they'll draw with Sheffield Utd, draw or lose to Spurs and lose to United leaving them on 60 or 61 pts, which means Chelsea could lose their remaining 2 games and still finish 4th.
No you couldn’t, if Wolves won their remaining games they’d go ahead of you.