Poor Scotland I hope they pull off something of a shock. They usually have reasonable players, just not enough of them. Good that a fair few haven't been called up - though it shows Arsenal aren't doing that great if their players aren't being called up.
The tide has definitely turned and Spurs have officially bottled it for the season. Arsenal are playing well and have a much easier run of games. 3rd or 4th become a certainty now. It all depends on Rafa's Chelsea now.
I wouldn't get too carried away yet, no game is easy. Momentum is with Arsenal and Chelsea but that's all it is, momentum. It can all change in an instant.
That's true but Spurs fixtures are by far the more difficult with 3 out of the 4 teams on their fixtures all looking for Champs league spots. Arsenal are also on form and have no other commitments. Spurs have the Europa to deal with, as do Chelsea, but Chelsea have the experience, whereas the Spurs have experience of choking. Spurs are much more under pressure than the Arsenal.
I have to agree with this. The last three games have seen Arsenal win them all and the Spuds lose them all For me the International break is a distraction, I would have liked to have seen Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea play again this week and have kept the pressure on. We'll see what happens when the teams pick up where they've left off next week.
Really? I think that you might want to check what your the first game in that sequence was for you, Piskie.
As PISKIE has said the International Break arguably came at the right time for Spurs and a bad time for Chelsea and Arsenal. At this stage of the season who you play is secondary, no better example than Southampton who post Christmas have had to play Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea, Liverpool and City and not lost any. At this stage of the season, Wigan at home (fighting relegation) isn't necessarily easier than United away (nothing to play for). If United win the Manchester Derby, they will virtually be on holiday from now till end of May. It's important not to underestimate the teams fighting relegation when looking at run-ins. Give me Everton at home over QPR away any day of the week.
To me the fixture list is irrelevant at thsi stage of the season, sides down the bottom are scrapping and raising their game, the fact on paper Tottenham have a number of tough fixtures counts for little when they're capable of winning at Old Trafford and losing at home to Fulham. We have to play Man Utd but come the end of April I expect them to have already lifted the pot and who knows what their approach to a meaningless game is ? Momentum is everything at this stage, you play well and hit form and it carries you into the next game, no question Tottenham have benefitted from the international break but this is where coaches earn their money, when they get the jaded players back on Thursday.
All to play for, no foregone conclusions, no easy games, and a few surprises in the mix. Yep, City could still pip United. 4th? Taking performances and form (colelctive and individual), Spurs look a good bet for 4th. We have not played well this season, and I fear that getting 4th will gaurantee us more of the same next year. I want progress, so I wouldn't be too unhappy if we were 5th, SPurs 6th and Everton 4th. But I reckon if this happened, AW and teh board would figure "well we were only x poinbts off 4th, so we should be OK in 2013-14 if we get all our injured palyers back".
Ok - so here we go, into the last eight games outlines in the OP. Spuds have played one more than the rest, so if they slip up again today at Swansea, then the pressure will really be on. My predictions for today are: Arsenal win Spurs draw Chelsea draw Everton win Which would make the table look like this - Chelsea 56 - Spurs 55 - Arsenal 53 - Everton 51 Leaving Arsenal with the chance to leapfrog the spuds with a game in hand
When you consider Chelsea do far better against top half teams than bottom and Arsenal the reverse there isn't much in it.
Chelsea have still got to play Spurs, Liverpool and Utd and I think they will drop points in all of those games. Spurs have still got to play Chelsea and Everton. The Spurs v chelsea game has become massive
We do better against the better sides. There's no way we'll drop points in all 3. United have nothing to play for and Spurs are poor away to decent sides. We annihilated Spurs, Man U and Liverpool on our last outings against them and should have won them all. It's the likes of Villa away and banana skin games where Chelsea are sure to drop points. WBA v Arsenal could be the turning point, if Arsenal win they will be back in the top 4 with key momentum, if they draw it wouldn't be the end of the world but if they lose then with Spurs and Chelsea having home fixtures, the final nails could be drilled in. You couldn't call it at this stage, form favours Arsenal, momentum favours Chelsea but the table favours Spurs. Flip of a coin at this stage.
You think Utd are going to go into your game with that mentality ??? I think the Chelsea v Spurs game will be a draw, but I think you'll lose at OT and struggle at Anfield too. Personally, I can't see you winning any of those games. Spurs have to play City too, they aren't going to catch Utd, but they will be aware of the threat below, so that will be a tasty game too. I have a feeling that Everton will get a result at WHL next week too. But of course, this is all speculation and you're right it's too hard to call at the moment. Great run in though
United coasted against Reading and Villa, they are nothing like what they were 6-8 weeks ago when the title was still in the balance. We've outplayed United on all 3 occasions we've played them this season so it will hardly daunt us, I think we'll lose at Anfield though. In reality none of us can look at it objectively, you seem sure Everton will take points off Spurs and Chelsea will draw with Spurs which would suit Arsenal to a tee, just as I'm sure United will take their foot of the gas and we will do well against Spurs. What gives Chelsea and Arsenal the edge is that they've been there and done it before, but up to now Spurs are 3rd on merit be it largely because of Bale or not. Arsenal have more balance to the squad than Chelsea or Spurs albeit IMO Spurs and Chelsea have a better starting XI. You'd have to say at this stage if Mata or Bale got injured its season over for both those teams
I'm just glad that the battle for 3'rd and 4'th is quite interesting because Man Utd won the league a few months ago so that's a little boring.
