EPL update

[DarthGrumpy]

Arsenal took care of business today (finally) dumping WBA 2 to 0 to re-gain third place. A lot of empty seats at Emirates though and several signs declaring its time for Wenger to go. It will be an interesting off-season. Really nervous about Sunday's match at Sunderland. Having to deal with a wounded animal determined to safe its EPL life is never easy.

 

[Waquoit]

Big Sam will be ready.

 

[SAMCRO]

Updated top and bottom of table after mid-week results
Leicester - 73 points, +26 GD, 4 remaining: Swansea, @United, Everton, @Chelsea (no Vardy for Swansea, at least) - already secured top 4 finish and Champions League spot
Tottenham - 68 points, + 39 GD, 4 remaining: WBA, @Chelsea, Southampton, @Newcastle - 3 points away from securing top 4 finish and Champions League spot
Arsenal - 63 points, +24 GD, 4 remaining: @Sunderland, Norwich, @City, Villa
City - 61 points, +28 GD, 4 remaining: Stoke, @Southampton, Arsenal, @Swansea (still in UCL semi's, 2 more matches v Real)
United - 59 points, +12 GD, 4 remaining: Leicester, @Norwich, @West Ham, Bournemouth (still in FA Cup v Everton Saturday)
West Ham - 56 points, +14 GD, 4 remaining: @WBA, Swansea, United, @Stoke
Liverpool - 54 points, +13 GD, 5 remaining: Newcastle, @Swansea, Watford, Chelsea, @WBA (still in Europa semi's 2 matches v Villareal)


Relegation battle - 3 battling for 2 spots
Norwich - 31 points, -25 GD, 4 remaining: @Arsenal, United, Watford, @Everton
Sunderland - 30 points, -18 GD, 5 remaining: Arsenal, @Stoke, Chelsea, Everton, @Watford
Newcastle - 29 points, -26 GD, 4 remaining: @Liverpool, Palace, @Villa, and Spurs
Villa - relegated

 

[SAMCRO]

Newcastle is all business. Down 2-0 at half, just taking things over 2nd half to even the score 2-2 in the 67th minute. Going to be an exciting final 20 minutes.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Newcastle is all business. Down 2-0 at half, just taking things over 2nd half to even the score 2-2 in the 67th minute. Going to be an exciting final 20 minutes.

Never mess with a wounded animal. Not looking forward to Arsenal's match tomorrow at Sunderland.

 

[SAMCRO]

Sunderland not putting away a lot of good opportunities tells me Arsenal will win 1-0 on a flukey goal.

 

[SAMCRO]

Big point for Sunderland. Yedlin looked solid.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Big point for Sunderland. Yedlin looked solid.

Know that game was going to be trouble and Arsenal looked like they were sleepwalking through most of it. 4th place here we come!

 

[ZooCougar]

No Vardy, still party.

 

[UCFBfan]

No Vardy, still party.

That game was awful....that first goal was a joke from Williams. Can't even clear. Pretty much sums up Swansea's season. I know they hit 40 points and that's usually safe but Sunderland and Norwich could still catch them if they win out. Not a shot Swansea get a point in their last three vs Liverpool, West Ham, and City.

Sorry for the rant but this season has been a disaster and while there have been a few bright spots, they need to pull it all together next season. Losing 3-0 to Newcastle was embarrassing and getting spanked by Leicester is bad. I know they're top of the table but 4-0 hurts

 

[Waquoit]

For the first time ever, I'm actually rooting for West Bromwich Albion today. And is there a more generic, non-descript, 1st-level soccer team than the "Baggies"? They should just change their name to Football Club.

 

[SAMCRO]

Spurs should (better) hold serve at home v WBA this afternoon, then it gets interesting next weekend. Leicester @ United on Sunday, and Spurs @ Chelsea on Monday. United is still battling for a top 4 finish, so they should be on their game. If they can get the 3 points, and Spurs can somehow win at Stamford Bridge (a place that has not been kind to them in the past), that cuts it to 2 points with 2 to play. If Leicesters lead is still 5 or more points going in to week 37, they will thump Everton to clinch the league in front of the home fans.

 

[businesslawyer]

Spurs should (better) hold serve at home v WBA this afternoon, then it gets interesting next weekend. Leicester @ United on Sunday, and Spurs @ Chelsea on Monday. United is still battling for a top 4 finish, so they should be on their game. If they can get the 3 points, and Spurs can somehow win at Stamford Bridge (a place that has not been kind to them in the past), that cuts it to 2 points with 2 to play. If Leicesters lead is still 5 or more points going in to week 37, they will thump Everton to clinch the league in front of the home fans.

If you are Spurs, you know you need to win out and you need MU to beat LC. And then you're hoping that the pressure of needing 6 points from the last 2 games to win the title gets to LC.

 

[SAMCRO]

Congrats to Leicester...

Spurs went from dominating and not finishing, to being on their heels and could have easily lost down the stretch. Pathetic. Spurs, when you look back and see you took 2 points of a possible 6 from WBA and lost at home to Newcastle earlier in the year, there's your 7 points.

 

[Waquoit]

And then you're hoping that the pressure of needing 6 points from the last 2 games to win the title gets to LC.

Looks like the pressure got to Spurs. They were rubbish in the 2nd half today.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Looks like the pressure got to Spurs. They were rubbish in the 2nd half today.

So sad, signed the team that owns 4th place with pride.

 

[businesslawyer]

Looks like the pressure got to Spurs. They were rubbish in the 2nd half today.

It very much looked like that.

 

[ZooCougar]

For the first time ever, I'm actually rooting for West Bromwich Albion today. And is there a more generic, non-descript, 1st-level soccer team than the "Baggies"? They should just change their name to Football Club.

That's what I love about them.

 

[SAMCRO]

Looks like the pressure got to Spurs. They were rubbish in the 2nd half today.

Exactly. As the game wore on their play got tighter and tighter. They should have been up 3-0 bythe time WBA scored, but they weren't and they wilted with the pressure.

Credit to Leicester and the masterful job Reinieri (sp?) has done in managing them. They are playing loose and free, and have been all season.

 

[UCFBfan]

No title for Leicester today. However, they are inching closer.

Swansea with a solid win over Liverpool's second team basically. I'll take it. The 3 points make it official that they'll be up next season. It will be interesting to see who the manager is and who stays. There's been talk that Ayew and Siggy are getting lots attention from elsewhere. Ayew has been hit or miss in my mind but losing Siggy would be a huge blow. They don't have the talent to lose both players and stay up again next season. Talk of an American take over though might result in a high flow of cash. However, I'm hesitant to be happy about that as I really love Swansea because of the way they run things. Have an American come in is likely to ruin that.

 

[SAMCRO]

Newcastle is red hot. They are @ Villa next weekend, and should get another 3 points... Which one would think will keep them out of danger.
City losing was a bit of a surprise. They're not guaranteed a top 4 finish sets up for a big match v Arsenal next weekend.
Leicester - United draw secures top 4 (at worst) for Spurs.

 

[UCFBfan]

It's crazy to imagine that it's still a possibility that the 4 teams representing the Premier league next season in the Champions league could be Leicester, Spurs, Arsenal, and West Ham. A lot needs to fall right for West Ham, including them winning their last three and City blowing it their last two, but it's still possible. Just one crazy season!!

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Newcastle is red hot. They are @ Villa next weekend, and should get another 3 points... Which one would think will keep them out of danger.
City losing was a bit of a surprise. They're not guaranteed a top 4 finish sets up for a big match v Arsenal next weekend.
Leicester - United draw secures top 4 (at worst) for Spurs.

City losing was huge for Arsenal's focus on finish 4th for the umpteenth time. The could actually secure third and bypass the Champions playoff round with a win against City this weekend. Newcastle seems to just do enough at the end of each season to avoid relegation and then takes a nap until the last month of the following season to do it all over again. Management needs a make-over there as their fans deserve it by filling the EPL's 4th largest stadium (52K) each year (Wembley is largest at 90K; but, not used by Premiership team, so the biggest is Man U at 75K, then Arsenal at 60K followed by City at 55K)

 

[UCFBfan]

City losing was huge for Arsenal's focus on finish 4th for the umpteenth time. The could actually secure third and bypass the Champions playoff round with a win against City this weekend. Newcastle seems to just do enough at the end of each season to avoid relegation and then takes a nap until the last month of the following season to do it all over again. Management needs a make-over there as their fans deserve it by filling the EPL's 4th largest stadium (52K) each year (Wembley is largest at 90K; but, not used by Premiership team, so the biggest is Man U at 75K, then Arsenal at 60K followed by City at 55K)

If they keep Benitez I think Newcastle will quickly rise up. Then again, looking at their payroll each season you'd think they'd get their already. I think Newcastle stays up and ends up Top 10 next season. However, who the hell knows anymore after this crazy season!

 

[whaler11]

Still some injury time left - but man Spurs melted down.