Will we qualify for the CL?

[caster troy]

I'd absolutely take 5th right now. We've been winning so many games by a fine margin, no Bouba means those results will start to flip as we saw vs Arsenal and Everton. I think we will struggle away, so it will come down to how clinical we are at home.

[TheToffnar]

There's no doubting we look more off it when he's not in the team, but we probably played our best 30 minutes of the season in the first half against Spurs after he'd gone off. We where electric to watch. It was proof positive that we can still look a really good threat when he's out, as well as defend well when we need to.

[john e]

Is 5th position a shoe in yet for CL place

[Dave]

Is 5th position a shoe in yet for CL place

Pretty much.

[john e]

Is 5th position a shoe in yet for CL place

Pretty much.

That’s good then
Hopefully we have enough points on the board to attain a top 5 finish

[algy]

The (already slim) chances of a title challenge seem to be over now.  We should still go for it, of course, but injuries have made it significantly harder.

We've got a decent cushion over the teams below us, which I have a feeling we might need over the next couple of months.  Rotten luck really, I think we were/are better and with a deeper squad than many pundits credit us with, but the level of injuries (and that they all seem to be to midfielders) would cause severe problems for any team.

Anyway, CL qualification seems less of a certainty to me than it did at the start of this month.  Beginning of January, I'd say 100% we're qualifying for the Champions League.  Now?  I think Liverpool, Chelsea, maybe Manchester United will start gaining ground on us.  Hopefully we can get back to (close to) full strength before they catch us up.  We, at near-full strength, are a bloody good team.  With two thirds of our midfield out and Ollie & Big Emi carrying injuries, it looks more of a challenge.

[eye digress]

It looks much harder, for sure.

But if we were to fail to obtain 25 points in the remaining 16 games, I'm pretty sure that that would equate to our worst half-season under Unai (23/24), which seems unlikely, Kamara notwithstanding.

[Ozzjim]

7 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses seems doable, as long as we have 3 central midfielders and 3-4 forward players all fit! 68 should see us make 5th.

[PaulWinch again]

7 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses seems doable, as long as we have 3 central midfielders and 3-4 forward players all fit! 68 should see us make 5th.

I think that’s it - if we get a 2/3 good players and the squad broadly stays fit, then it’s doable. If the squad looks like it does today then we could fall away.

[Demitri_C]

The good news is that most of english teams are in top 8. Just citeh sit outside out so th should officially  get us CL

[PhilVill]

We'll get there, either 4th/5th or we'll win the Europa League. The next two games will be tough (I never expect fa from Newcastle away) but they will not define the season...

[AV82EC]

We'll get there, either 4th/5th or we'll win the Europa League. The next two games will be tough (I never expect fa from Newcastle away) but they will not define the season...

This.

[Mellin]

This has a faint wiff of 23/24. Great first half of the season and get half in the mix for the title race. Decimated by injuries through the winter, specifically Kamara, then limp over the line. Which means we're going out to Olympiakos in the Europa League semis, even with them being in a different competition, with half the squad flatlining and the other half on the physio's table.

Will get Champions League though. FA Cup needs to go in the bin too. Sorry. Squad can't handle it.

[cdbearsfan]

Would settle for 2023/24, hoping to avoid 1998/99.

[dave.woodhall]

You can still get 9/4 against us finishing outside the top four.