Agreed, which would be a reason for us to prefer them to go down? Less of a threat to the Europa League spots? They’re not great right now but with the right transfers Villa have the potential to establish themselves in the Prem. Bournemouth and Watford are smaller clubs who will be relegated sooner or later.
I'm not even thinking about the R word at this time, we have a very good coach and a decent squad that needs a few additions (mainly in defence).
With 10 mins to go on Sunday, Villa are 2-0 down to West Ham. But because Watford are 1-0 down, and Bmouth are level at 0-0, Villa are currently staying up on goals scored. Do they try and attack, to see if they can pull it back to 2-2, just in case Watford score or Bmouth score? Or do they stick with the 2-0, to try and avoid going 3-0 down - which would also relegate them. Probably won't turn out anything like that. But you never know...
Do clubs not bother scouting players these days? Anyone looking for a laugh search "Cedric" on twitter - almost every tweet questioning why he cannot cross and why he got a 4 year contract. We could have told you that!
538's odds at the top and bottom: Man U - 79% to qualify for CL. Chelsea - 90%. Leicester - 31%. Villa - 56% chance to survive. Watford - 38%. Bournemouth - 6%. Pretty wild final day.
The games to keep an eye on this Sunday: Relegation Arsenal v Watford Everton v AFC Bournemouth West Ham United v Aston Villa Champions League Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers Leicester City v Manchester United Europa League Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion Manchester City v Norwich City Newcastle United v LiverpoolSouthampton v Sheffield United I intend to set myself up with 3 screens: TV, laptop, iPad. But which three games to choose? And do I use one for the Saints game or sacrifice theirs this time around??
You go for West Ham-Aston Villa on screen one and switch to the Bournemouth game if Villa start losing. You have Chelsea-Wolves and Leicester-United on the other two screens.
Man City v Norwich, to see if City can beat their record for goals scored in a PL season. 10-0 should do it, and beat another record too...
What an amazingly nervy end to the season... for teams other than us! I can't forgive Bournemouth for having a tin-pot ground that makes me watch the game from what feels like pitch level. For that reason I hope to bid them adieu. To be honest, the saints game will be the first one I watch but I will probably skim it in favour of getting through the relegation and CL deciders. Love football.
Watford as a club deserve to be relegated for the dumbest sacking of a manager in history but the fans and the players should rightly feel really, really pissed off.
We could watch 4 prem games plus cricket but probably Saints and cricket. The other scores on live text.
Uncle Lottie will have them geed up for this as a couple of million for the famous war chest and being the best of the rest hangs on the result.
