Champions League Contention

[SoccerHQ]

There are hopefully mitigating factors that explain the selection tonight. But shipping 8 goals in the last couple of games against teams in and around us isn’t great, acknowledging though that we’re battling at a high level.

We need to win at the weekend and we need to win well.

Pretty confident we'll give a much better account of ourselves down at Arsenal and v Liverpool right at the end.

We'd have put out a stronger team if we were playing on Sunday but we aren't and 8.15pm to Sat 3pm is a tight turnaround so while it was a bit extreme for my liking there were genuine reasons.

[Footy-Vill]

It actually shows that if Villa were even more consistent in their performance and luck with injuries, we would be comfortably at the top of the league.
Not actually that far away from achieving that as well.
However, finishing fourth is a fair reflection of where we should finish this season given our overall general performances, results, and consistency.

[Paul.S]

There are hopefully mitigating factors that explain the selection tonight. But shipping 8 goals in the last couple of games against teams in and around us isn’t great, acknowledging though that we’re battling at a high level.

We need to win at the weekend and we need to win well.

Pretty confident we'll give a much better account of ourselves down at Arsenal and v Liverpool right at the end.

We'd have put out a stronger team if we were playing on Sunday but we aren't and 8.15pm to Sat 3pm is a tight turnaround so while it was a bit extreme for my liking there were genuine reasons.

Don’t forget Torres has not long returned from injury. What we won’t hear are excuses because unlike many other coaches Emery doesn’t moan and whinge.
As you say, it’s a tight turnaround and picking up more injuries would definitely cost us in the run in. Emery is paid to make decisions and he’s not let us down so far.

[Footy-Vill]

April
Next 3 home matches:
Brentford
Bournemouth
Chelsea
All mid table nothing to play for.
And an away game at Arsenal
So can take 9 points would take us to 72pts

Spurs April matches sees only 3 fixtures and they would only get one win
Forest home
Newcastle away
Arsenal home

Then their first match in May is Liverpool away.

[Brazilian Villain]

2 wins and 2 draws (maybe less) should be enough for top 5. That would leave Yanited needing 20 points from 27. Can't see them getting that, especially if they need 18/19 points from 21 come Sunday evening.

[Percy McCarthy]

April
Next 3 home matches:
Brentford
Bournemouth
Chelsea
All mid table nothing to play for.
And an away game at Arsenal
So can take 9 points would take us to 72pts

Spurs April matches sees only 3 fixtures and they would only get one win
Forest home
Newcastle away
Arsenal home

Then their first match in May is Liverpool away.

Counting not your strong point? Would you say it’s better or worse than your predictions?

[PhilVill]

11 points from here will do. Anything from Arse and Liberplop is a bonus. Brentford, Bournemouth and Palace are absolutely vital.

[Richard]

11 points from here will do. Anything from Arse and Liberplop is a bonus. Brentford, Bournemouth and Palace are absolutely vital.

Yep. 5 of our last 7 games are against teams currently between 9th and 15th with little to play for. 70 points is very achievable.

[itbrvilla]

Would 5th placed team need to play any knockout games to qualify for the league stage?

[Dave]

Would 5th placed team need to play any knockout games to qualify for the league stage?

Nope. Straight in.

[Demitri_C]

We need to be more competitive against the better teams 2nd half of the season

We have lost to city spurs newcastle and united. A return of 0 zero points in comparison to getting 6 points against those 4 sides in the first meetings this season.

I just hope we dont shate our pants vs arsenal next week like we did vs spurs and manure

[PaulWinch again]

April
Next 3 home matches:
Brentford
Bournemouth
Chelsea
All mid table nothing to play for.
And an away game at Arsenal
So can take 9 points would take us to 72pts

Spurs April matches sees only 3 fixtures and they would only get one win
Forest home
Newcastle away
Arsenal home

Then their first match in May is Liverpool away.

Counting not your strong point? Would you say it’s better or worse than your predictions?

Your predictions have a lot of strange baked in assumptions as well Footy. If we get 9 points from those games I’ll be very happy but suspect it won’t be as straightforward as you suggest. Also Spurs are more than capable of winning more than one game.

[john2710]

We've got 7 league games, if we want 4th we're going to need 12-14 points. To get 5th place 6-8 points will be enough.

With the QF draws there's no guarantee that the 5th Champions League place will come to the PL. We'll have a good idea after the QF's if 5th place will be enough. The ideal scenario is a win against Bournemouth all but guarantees 5th place.

We can then put the emphasis on winning a trophy.

[Demitri_C]

This is the issue if 5th does not get CL next season we go in europa which is as demanding as the CL but on a Thursday  and with better sides.

I think next season will be even more difficult getting CL with games on thursday nights. Thats also on the assumption  newcastle manure and chelsea are not
better This really is our best opportunity

[Lsvilla]

I'm fully expecting David Moyes and his happy hammers to be the only team to beat Leverkusen this season and make 5th place good enough. It's what he does.