Will we qualify for the CL?

[VillaTim]

Need to get away to a fast start. Our opening fixtures are very kind and we need to set the pace .

[UK Redsox]

I think that the poll needs resetting with the options being 'No' and 'Hell No'

[brontebilly]

Guardian have us down for 5th. Going to need a lot of luck with key players avoiding injury for that to happen. I do think the final weeks of this transfer window will be even more crazy than usual, Tottenham and Newcastle will be getting desperate. No excuses for Arsenal this year, have spent big again so it has to land the title. My surprise, maybe more in hope, is that Man City struggle a bit. There was something a bit off with them last season.

[cdbearsfan]

Would snatch your hand off for fifth as it stands. Though seventeenth with a cup would do.

[Brazilian Villain]

I look forward to the discussions on who will get our CL spot when we win the Europa League.

[eamonn]

City have signed half a new team, more likely to elevate them and snap them out of last season's slump than continue their regression but we Iive in hope. Or the PL can get a wiggle on with relegating them to the Beezer Homes League.

[Richard E]

Guardian have us down for 5th. Going to need a lot of luck with key players avoiding injury for that to happen. I do think the final weeks of this transfer window will be even more crazy than usual, Tottenham and Newcastle will be getting desperate. No excuses for Arsenal this year, have spent big again so it has to land the title. My surprise, maybe more in hope, is that Man City struggle a bit. There was something a bit off with them last season.

I think Liverpool are going to walk the title.

[algy]

The money in the premier league means the strength in depth as you go down towards midtable is much higher than you see in any other league and even relegation battlers and newly promoted sides are able to out spend all but a handful of teams elsewhere. For example, Oviedo came up through the playoffs into la liga and have spent £11m-ish - Sunderland have spent £130m from the same position.

Was going to say, finishing 20th in the Premier League gets you more (domestic) prize money than all bar dozen or so teams in the rest of Europe (from memory something like top 6 in Spain, top 3-4 in Italy, and the winners of the German league). There’s CL/EL/CL cash too which means it’s not *quite* that, but still… you’d expect even newly promoted sides to be able to outspend pretty much any side in Europe that hasn’t at least qualified for the Conference League, most of the teams that *have* qualified for it, and a good proportion of the teams that are in the Europa League too.

[algy]

I look forward to the discussions on who will get our CL spot when we win the Europa League.

The place for winning the Europa League is non-transferable & league takes precedence, so the Champions League place we’ll get for winning the league will remove that extra CL place.

The only crumbs we’ll be handing down will be the Europa League place from our FA Cup win.

[Smirker]

Mods, can we reset the poll, pick ourselves up and go again?

[cdbearsfan]

I will start a new one for the season unless anyone objects.

[cdbearsfan]

Too late.

[Demitri_C]

We really need to improve on the defence if we are to do it. I just cant see us keeping enough clean sheets

[Rudy Can't Fail]

We really need to improve on the defence if we are to do it. I just cant see us keeping enough clean sheets

Agreed. Last season it was more our goals conceded rather than lack of goals scored that really set us back against those teams around us. The table doesn't lie but it appears we've done nothing to address the problem.

[OCD]

We looked a bit better last part of the season with some good 1-0 wins (Brentford, Bournemouth, Everton).