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2017-18 Premier League Thread

City extended their lead to 16 points over Man U while Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs all won and crept closer to 2nd place, Arsenal fell farther behind and sites 7 points behind Spurs in 6th. Huddersfield climbed out of the relegation zone, Southampton fell in. Stoke had a chance to beat Watford on a 91st minute penalty, but Jese Rodriguez carried on so long about not taking the penalty that he may have iced Charlie Adam who missed it.

The bottom of the table is still clogged, with only 3 points separating Newcastle in 13th from Stoke in 19th.
 
Whole lotta dreck in the Prem this year, despite all the money that new TV contract brought it. Turns out that money doesn't cure bad management ... who knew?
 
Match week 28, only 9 matches on tap with the League Cup Final on Sunday. Arsenal meets Man City in that final and then play again in the league on Thursday.

Saturday:
Leicester v. Stoke 7:30 CNBC
Liverpool v. West Ham 10:00 CNBC
Bournemouth v. Newcastle
Brighton v. Swansea
Burnley v. Southampton
West Brom v. Huddersfield
Watford v. Everton 12:30 NBC

Sunday:
Crystal Palace v. Spurs 7:00 NBCSN
Man U v. Chelsea 9:05 NBCSN

Thursday:
Arsenal v. Man City 2:45 NBCSN
 
Still 1 match to go in Match week 29, Crystal Palace hosts Man U in a few minutes. A Palace win will move them to 13th or 14th depending on the margin, Southampton would fall to 18th.

Man City have opened an 18 point lead on Liverpool. If Man U win, they'll jump Liverpool into 2nd and will trail City by 16 points. City only need 12 points from their last 9 matches to clinch the title. That gets them to 90 points. Liverpool maxes out at 87, Man U maxes out at 89. City's next 4 matches are at Stoke, at Everton, home for the Derby and at Spurs. This could be over by the evening of April 14.

Arsenal continues its slide down the table, still in 6th place, still 8 points behind Chelsea but only 5 ahead of Burnley. Farther down the table, it's still crazy. Swansea in 13th is only 3 points ahead of Stoke in 19th. West Brom looks as good as dead; they're 7 points from safety.
 
Palace choked up a 2-0 lead and lost to Man U 3-2. Matic got his first Man U goal at 90+1 to win it.
 
Back from the break and a few weeks of apathy...

Man City have a 16 point lead on Man U, both with 30 matches played. With 81 points in 30 matches, City has a magic number 9 points either gained by them or lost by Man U. Man U have 65 points and max out at 89. At the other end of the table, it looks like a lost cause for West Brom, with 20 points, 7 behind Stoke, bringing to an end their 7 year spell in the league. There are 5 points separating Newcastle in 13th place from Stoke in 19th place, so anything is possible.

Saturday:
Crystal Palace v. Liverpool 7:30 NBCSN
Man U v. Swansea 10:00 NBCSN
West Ham v. Southampton CNBC
Brighton v. Leicester
Newcastle v. Huddersfield
Watford v. Bournemouth
West Brom v. Burnley
Everton v. Man City 12:30 NBC

Sunday:
Arsenal v. Stoke 8:30 NBCSN
Chelsea v. Spurs 11:00 NBCSN
 
Speaking the relegation "race" ... the Championship is looking like producing a familiar crop of promoted clubs. Wolves and Cardiff are all but locked in to the automatic slots, while Villa and Fulham are pretty well settled into the first two spots in the playoff. Right now Derby and Middlesborough occupy the last two playoff spots, but Millwall, Bristol City, Preston North End and Sheffield United are in the hunt. Based on the second half of the season in the Championship, Villa and Fulham would be the co-favorites to emerge from the playoff.

For the record, Wolves are VERY well put together to stick once they gain promotion. That's a darned good side.
 
On the other end of the table, Sunderland are staring at a 2nd straight relegation, 6 points from safety with 8 matches to play.
 
For the record, I think Barney Ronay is the best sportswriter I have ever read. Reading him for me is like listening to Vin Scully call a baseball game. So when Spurs win and he does a column on it, I sleep well that night.
 
Status quo for the top half of the table. Man City can win the league by beating Man U at the Etihad on Saturday in the Manchester Derby. And wouldn't that frost the visiting Man U fans?

Spurs go 8 points up on Chelsea for 4th place, Arsenal climb within 5 of Chelsea. The Antonio Conte watch is in full alert. West Ham and Newcastle put some points between them and relegation. Southampton, Stoke and West Brom remain in the drop zone.
 
andyt said:
Status quo for the top half of the table. Man City can win the league by beating Man U at the Etihad on Saturday in the Manchester Derby. And wouldn't that frost the visiting Man U fans?

Spurs go 8 points up on Chelsea for 4th place, Arsenal climb within 5 of Chelsea. The Antonio Conte watch is in full alert. West Ham and Newcastle put some points between them and relegation. Southampton, Stoke and West Brom remain in the drop zone.
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I'm rooting for Southampton to escape the drop, but those other two can pack it in for all I care.

BTW ... anybody noticing that freaking Burnley are 9 points clear of 10th which all but guarantees a top ten finish for the clarets? This is the first time in forever that they've managed consecutive seasons in the top flight and they whip out a top half of the table finish? Whew.
 
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jeffbear said:
I'm rooting for Southampton to escape the drop, but those other two can pack it in for all I care.

BTW ... anybody noticing that freaking Burnley are 9 points clear of 10th which all but guarantees a top ten finish for the clarets? This is the first time in forever that they've managed consecutive seasons in the top flight and they whip out a top half of the table finish? Whew.
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Agree on Southampton.

Burnley have been breathing down Arsenal's neck for several weeks, so I've certainly noticed them. Unfortunately (for me, at least), their finish makes it less likely that Arsenal will be able to entice Sean Dyche to move to North London, if they can't get Tuchel (or if, God forbid, Wenger stays another year).
 
andyt said:
Agree on Southampton.

Burnley have been breathing down Arsenal's neck for several weeks, so I've certainly noticed them. Unfortunately (for me, at least), their finish makes it less likely that Arsenal will be able to entice Sean Dyche to move to North London, if they can't get Tuchel (or if, God forbid, Wenger stays another year).
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I followed Dortmund closely enough to know that Arse fans should want no part of Tuchel. He makes Wenger look tactically flexible.
 
Not surprised about Burnley, every time I've watched them they've been well-organized and disciplined. I'm very impressed with Dyche. Extend his contract, invest some of the TV revenues in training facilities upgrades, get in two or three players that really improve the squad, I could see them sticking around a while.
 
A big weekend. Two big derbies and we could see a champion crowned. However, both will probably be diminished by the demands of the Champions League. Liverpool takes a 3-0 lead over Man City into the 2nd leg of their UCL quarterfinal. Liverpool know what City are capable of; they were soundly beaten 5-0 at the Etihad in September. Salah went off with a knock and has been reportedly recovering in an oxygen chamber. Liverpool will probably rest many front line players. The same is true for City. With the league almost certainly wrapped up, what is a bigger motivating factor? Winning the league at home against their most bitter rivals or advancing in the UCL? My guess is Pep plays a lot of guys you've never heard of. One other thing: NBC is taking advantage of the proxmity of Liverpool and Manchester, so the 3 man booth of Arlo White, Lee Dixon and Grahame LeSaux will be calling both derbies. And "Arlo's Excellent Adventure" will give them some filler for between matches.

There are a couple of good relegation scraps this weekend too. Newcastle and Brighton can just about guarantee survival with wins. A West Brom loss at home to fellow struggler Swansea almost certainly dooms them to the drop. Southampton may catch a break from Arsenal. They have the 2nd leg of their Europa League tie against CSKA Moscow next week and played on Thursday, so Wenger may rest some regulars.

Saturday:
Everton v. Liverpool 7:30 NBCSN
Brighton v. Huddersfield 10:00 NBCSN
Bournemouth v. Crystal Palace CNBC
Leicester v. Newcastle
Stoke v. Spurs
Watford v. Burnley
West Brom v. Swansea
Man City v. Man U 12:30 NBC

Sunday:
Arsenal v. Southampton 9:15 NBCSN
Chelsea v. West Ham 11:30 NBCSN
 
Yeah ... no way Liverpool is taking any chances with personnel this week. Everton have been a hot mess all season and so long as Klopp can get the B Team to apply the press with some sincerity, Liverpool will probably walk the dog in Stanley Park anyway.

City are another story. It's Pep vs Mourinho more than anything else, so I can't see City taking their foot off the gas too much. They might kinda sorta want to, but I'm betting once the whistle blows that game will be as per usual in Manchester derbies.
 
jeffbear said:
City are another story. It's Pep vs Mourinho more than anything else, so I can't see City taking their foot off the gas too much. They might kinda sorta want to, but I'm betting once the whistle blows that game will be as per usual in Manchester derbies.
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I just can't see Pep taking a chance with most of the guys he's going to start on Tuesday. He hasn't won the Champions League since 2011 and failed in 3 tries with Bayern, losing in the semifinals each year.
 
Wolves beat Cardiff today to reduce their magic number to 5. They have 89 points, Fulham are 3rd with 75 in 40 matches, so they max out at 93 points. Fulham are at Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow, a loss or draw would allow Wolves to clinch promotion at home against Derby on Wednesday.
 
Wow. City totally dominated the first half and looked to have the title clinched, then hacked up a titanic hair ball in the second. They can't be in a good state going into the home half of the Liverpool tie, not that it looked like they had a chance to come back in that one anyway.
 
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