Champions League Contention

[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.

[Ads]

And Spurs will have nothing to play for either.

[LeeS]

The most important thing is that the Chelsea who played us must turn up against Spurs tomorrow. I cant remember the last time our season climax was this exciting.

[Risso]

The most important thing is that the Chelsea who played us must turn up against Spurs tomorrow. I cant remember the last time our season climax was this exciting.

For differing reasons, but staying up under Smith.

[Olneythelonely]

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

If Spurs are getting 6 points from Burnley and Sheff Utd, there’s no reason to think we won’t get 6 from Brighton and Palace. If we’re just assuming better teams automatically get points from less good ones, that is.

How would you feel if we were in Spurs position? I’m guessing you’d be thinking it was all over for us.

[LeeS]

The most important thing is that the Chelsea who played us must turn up against Spurs tomorrow. I cant remember the last time our season climax was this exciting.

For differing reasons, but staying up under Smith.

Yes, those final 4 games and overhauling Waatford were a little bit tense.

[jon collett]

If there was ever a good time to play Liverpool at home it’s surely now?

[Monty]

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

If Spurs are getting 6 points from Burnley and Sheff Utd, there’s no reason to think we won’t get 6 from Brighton and Palace. If we’re just assuming better teams automatically get points from less good ones, that is.

How would you feel if we were in Spurs position? I’m guessing you’d be thinking it was all over for us.

Brighton have been decent at least recently, and Palace have improved a lot under Glasner. Meanwhile Burnley are probably going down (quite possibly down by the time they play Spurs), and Sheffield United are probably the leakiest side I've seen in this league since our own relegation year. Not comparable.

[PaulWinch again]

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.

[Monty]

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

I did. They're on a horrible run of late, sure - but all that means is Villa's Third Law of Form (every terrible run will eventually meet an equal and opposite Villa).

[Dave]

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.

[chrisw1]

Brighton and Palace is a lot harder than Burnley & Sheffield.  But the point is we already effectively have the equivalent of Burnley and Sheffield points in the bag even IF Spurs do roll over them (Burnley won't be that straightforward)

So really the comparison is Brighton and Palace (and Liverpool at home) vs Man City and Chelsea (and Liverpool at away).  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to decipher which of those is the more favourable. 

[Monty]

Brighton and Palace is a lot harder than Burnley & Sheffield.  But the point is we already effectively have the equivalent of Burnley and Sheffield points in the bag even IF Spurs do roll over them (Burnley won't be that straightforward)

So really the comparison is Brighton and Palace (and Liverpool at home) vs Man City and Chelsea (and Liverpool at away).  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to decipher which of those is the more favourable. 

We drew with Sheffield United though!

[chrisw1]

I'm just talking about the fixtures left.  Even if it's taken as a given that Spurs get the 6 points from Sheffield and Burnley, their remaining 3 games are still significantly worse than ours.

[eamonn]

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.