Champions League Contention

[Monty]

Well look, I mean, obviously we're favourites after their defeat at the weekend. What I'm saying is I don't think we ought to be favourites by as much as the bookies say. I thought Spurs actually played pretty well and are perfectly capable of getting two results from Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, while we really looked abysmal and, most worryingly, tired. It's really not over yet.

[chrisw1]

By “recently” do you mean over the last few seasons? Because if we mean last month or so they’ve been terrible. Palace have been good of late.

Yeah. They won five of their first six this season, have won six of twenty-eight since then, none since early March, and the only goal they've scored since March was a comedy own-goal that had nothing to do with any of their players.

I think Roberto has checked-out mentally.

He's in danger of wrecking his career that's for sure.  He's hardly going to be in the mix for the top jobs he was previously being touted for now.

[chrisw1]

Well look, I mean, obviously we're favourites after their defeat at the weekend. What I'm saying is I don't think we ought to be favourites by as much as the bookies say. I thought Spurs actually played pretty well and are perfectly capable of getting two results from Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, while we really looked abysmal and, most worryingly, tired. It's really not over yet.

Yes, it's nervy.  Spurs still look a good team to me.  But it would be incredibly careless for us to blow up from where we are now.  Spursy, even.

[ChicagoLion]

If we had more players fit and not the extra games in our legs with more to come, I would be very confident.
Chelsea win, we beat Brighton and it will be very difficult to lose 4th spot.

[Lastfootstamper]

The reason why we're heavy favourites with the bookies is because virtually everybody prepared to wager their hard-earned in this market is piling on us as they view us as pretty much a shoo-in. That's how odds work, isn't it?

[Dave]

Well look, I mean, obviously we're favourites after their defeat at the weekend. What I'm saying is I don't think we ought to be favourites by as much as the bookies say. I thought Spurs actually played pretty well and are perfectly capable of getting two results from Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, while we really looked abysmal and, most worryingly, tired. It's really not over yet.

Yes, it's nervy.  Spurs still look a good team to me.  But it would be incredibly careless for us to blow up from where we are now.  Spursy, even.

I reckon we'll know for more or less definite by the end of the weekend. 4-6 points for Spurs and 0-1 for us and I reckon momentum will probably push them to it. Anything else and we're probably fine.

But as others have said, if they do beat Chelsea and Liverpool while we lose to Brighton it's probably hard to argue that they don't deserve to overtake us.

[dekko]

Well look, I mean, obviously we're favourites after their defeat at the weekend. What I'm saying is I don't think we ought to be favourites by as much as the bookies say. I thought Spurs actually played pretty well and are perfectly capable of getting two results from Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, while we really looked abysmal and, most worryingly, tired. It's really not over yet.

This is where I'm at. Spurs are more than capable of winning their games, and we're more than capable of dropping points (and vice versa).

We just need to drag ourselves over the line somehow.  I'm sure 'old villa' would find a way to screw it up, but this is a different beast - even at our worst under Emery we tend to follow up a poor showing with a better one, or at least find a way to get some kind of result.

[ChicagoLion]

Fatigue is showing up in our performances, Lille and Chelsea are examples. We looked dead on our feet on Saturday again and we do not have much back up.
So we go into tomorrow nights game light and then Brighton.
I doubt we win both.

[Drummond]

We're 1/6 to finish in the top four. Spurs are 9/2.

If spurs beat chelsea you will see those odds slash drastically

4 points is very small when you consider they would get 6 from burnley amd sheff utd. We will need to win at least one more game to make sure we do it

Cant see us beating liverpool as we havent beaten them at villa paek since that 7-2 with no fans. Its been a while since we beat them with fans at villa park.

That leaves brighton and palace one win out of those two and i think we should be good for CL

Sheff Utd yes, but I wouldn’t say Burnley is quite the banker you think it is. Especially as they will very likely be in with a shout of staying up.

Sheffield Utd will beat Spurs.

[paul_e]

Well look, I mean, obviously we're favourites after their defeat at the weekend. What I'm saying is I don't think we ought to be favourites by as much as the bookies say. I thought Spurs actually played pretty well and are perfectly capable of getting two results from Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, while we really looked abysmal and, most worryingly, tired. It's really not over yet.

but of course we played better against the same opponents a couple of weeks ago. I get that the non-performace in the 2nd half agianst Chelsea has had lots of people convince themselves that everything is going to fall apart but spurs aren't suddenly going to turn their own poor form around and we're not on the brink of a run of defeats, we're favourites because we've been better than spurs for most of the last 8-9months and the table proves it.

[PaulWinch again]

We're 1/6 to finish in the top four. Spurs are 9/2.

If spurs beat chelsea you will see those odds slash drastically

4 points is very small when you consider they would get 6 from burnley amd sheff utd. We will need to win at least one more game to make sure we do it

Cant see us beating liverpool as we havent beaten them at villa paek since that 7-2 with no fans. Its been a while since we beat them with fans at villa park.

That leaves brighton and palace one win out of those two and i think we should be good for CL

Sheff Utd yes, but I wouldn’t say Burnley is quite the banker you think it is. Especially as they will very likely be in with a shout of staying up.

Sheffield Utd will beat Spurs.

Don’t see it, they have nothing about them and concede far too many.

[Drummond]

I had a coffee with a Spurs fan earlier and was explaining how some of our fans are worried and he looked at me and said, ."....but we've been thrashed by Newcastle and Fulham and can't string results together. I'd much rather be in your position than ours'

[Drummond]

We're 1/6 to finish in the top four. Spurs are 9/2.

If spurs beat chelsea you will see those odds slash drastically

4 points is very small when you consider they would get 6 from burnley amd sheff utd. We will need to win at least one more game to make sure we do it

Cant see us beating liverpool as we havent beaten them at villa paek since that 7-2 with no fans. Its been a while since we beat them with fans at villa park.

That leaves brighton and palace one win out of those two and i think we should be good for CL

Sheff Utd yes, but I wouldn’t say Burnley is quite the banker you think it is. Especially as they will very likely be in with a shout of staying up.

Sheffield Utd will beat Spurs.

Don’t see it, they have nothing about them and concede far too many.

That's a description for both teams! ;-)

[Smithy]

Well look, I mean, obviously we're favourites after their defeat at the weekend. What I'm saying is I don't think we ought to be favourites by as much as the bookies say. I thought Spurs actually played pretty well and are perfectly capable of getting two results from Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, while we really looked abysmal and, most worryingly, tired. It's really not over yet.

The question you have to ask yourself is this: have ALL the bookmakers, every single one of them, and their dispassionate assessment of every team's chances, "got it wrong".  Or have you, as a Villa fan worried about the next three weeks, slighty over-estimated the chances of our nearest rivals and the only team who can take Champions League away from us?

[Monty]

Bookmakers are guessing what people will bet on then responding to the bets they've encouraged. They're not psychic football octopuses!