2017-18 Premier League Thread

[jeffbear]

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.

Yeah. They sat some guys but brought three big guns off the bench, so ... neither, nor. NOT well played by Pep.

[andyt]

Yeah. They sat some guys but brought three big guns off the bench, so ... neither, nor. NOT well played by Pep.

I was tailgating in the rain, so i didn't see a single minute of it. They can't be going into tomorrow's match with any kind of confidence.

The other derby was dull by comparison. OK dull, period. A 0-0 draw that allowed Spurs to tie Liverpool for 3rd with 1 match in hand. Chelsea gave up a late goal to Chicharito, allowing West Ham to draw and Arsenal to move to within 3 points of them in 5th. Arsenal's defense was a shambles, mostly with a 2nd choice back 4 owing to Thursday's match in Moscow, but they were able to outscore Southampton 3-2. Burnley is still sticking around, 5 points behind Arsenal and now ahead of Leicester. If we consider 38 points the minimum for safety, Newcastle and Bournemouth are safe, Watford nearly so on 37 points. The bottom 3 remained the same but Southampton, Swansea, West Ham and Brighton all have a match in hand over the others.

[andyt]

Match week 34 through Monday and a lot of makeup matches after that, there is soccer through Thursday. And Saturday is highlighted by a rare weekend evening game, 7:45 London time.

Saturday:
Southampton v. Chelsea 7:30 NBCSN
Crystal Palace v. Brighton 10:00 NBCSN
Swansea v. Everton CNBC
Burnley v. Leicester
Huddersfield v. Watford
Liverpool v. Bournemouth 12:30 NBC
Spurs v. Man City 2:45 NBCSN

Sunday:
Newcastle v. Arsenal 8:30 NBCSN
Man U v. West Brom 11:00 NBCSN

Monday:
West Ham v. Stoke 3:00 NBCSN

Tuesday:
Brighton v. Spurs 2:45 NBCSN

Wednesday:
Bournemouth v. Man U 2:45 NBCSN

Thursday:
Burnley v. Chelsea 2:45 NBCSN
Leicester v. Southampton 2:45

We could see the first relegation this weekend but a lot of things have to happen. If Crystal Palace, Huddersfield and Swansea all win on Saturday, West Brom are relegated with a loss at OT on Sunday. We could also see the first promotion from the Championship. Wolves have 92 points, Cardiff is in 3rd with 80 points. Cardiff are at Norwich on Saturday. If they lose or draw, Wolves clinch promotion with a win at home against 20th place Birmingham City on Sunday.

[andyt]

The red side of Manchester did the blue side of Manchester an enormous favor by spitting the bit against bottom dwellers West Brom. As a result, Man City are champions. Even with the title wrapped up with 5 matches to go, City are still playing for history. If they earn 9 more points, they'll break the record of 95 points held by Chelsea in 2004-05. The Arsenal "Invincibles" in the 2003-04 season only earned 90 points because they drew 12 matches. They've also completed a double, having won the League Cup in February.

Elsewhere, after beating Leicester, Burnley crept to within 2 points of Arsenal in 6th place. Arsenal lost at St. James' Park for the first time since 2005. Huddersfield crept closer to safety with a 1-0 win over Watford, on a goal at 90+1. Crystal Palace did the same, with a 3-2 win over Brighton. West Brom staved of relegation with their win over Man U, but it's probably just a temporary reprieve. With 4 matches left, they can get to 36 points. They'd have to win out and get a lot of help. They have Liverpool and Spurs at home and visit Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

In the Championship, Wolves earned one of the automatic promotion spots. They're at 95 points with 3 matches to go, 3rd place Fulham can only get to 94 points. They haven't clinched the championship yet, theoretically, Cardiff can catch them.

[jeffbear]

Knowing Pep's ego, you can bet your britches that City are going to go balls to the wall for that points record.

Also in Championship news ... Villa have joined Fulham and Cardiff in clinching at least a spot in the playoff. Villa and Fulham both still have a chance to catch Cardiff for 2nd place and thus guaranteed promotion. And IMO ... nobody's going to catch Wolves. They've been the class of the league since the first month.

[andyt]

Wolves have been out of the Premier League since being relegated after the 2011-12 season. They were relegated out of the Championship the following season. They won the League 1 championship but hadn't finished higher than 7th in the 3 years previous to this year. That 7th place finish was their first year back in the Championship, missing out on the playoffs on goal differential to Brentford and Ipswich Town.

One thing we missed from earlier this month. Alan Pardew was sacked by West Brom at the beginning of April. Darren Moore was appointed caretaker. He had 104 appearances for the Baggies between 2001-06.

[jeffbear]

Wolves also completely rebuilt their entire system when their new owner came in. It took them a year to get their legs under them, but their pipeline to the Portuguese leagues has yielded a lineup that's really exciting to watch and really dangerous.

[andyt]

Wolves also completely rebuilt their entire system when their new owner came in. It took them a year to get their legs under them, but their pipeline to the Portuguese leagues has yielded a lineup that's really exciting to watch and really dangerous.

Arlo White touched on that during the Man U broadcast yesterday. A Portuguese manager and 7 Portuguese players on the roster. The new ownership has been on board for less than 2 years, taking over in July 2016, so that's a pretty fast turnaround, especially since they were 14th and 15th the last 2 years, only 7 points above relegation last year.

[jeffbear]

Arlo White touched on that during the Man U broadcast yesterday. A Portuguese manager and 7 Portuguese players on the roster. The new ownership has been on board for less than 2 years, taking over in July 2016, so that's a pretty fast turnaround, especially since they were 14th and 15th the last 2 years, only 7 points above relegation last year.

Yeah ... they've got a little bit of an unusual relationship with an agent/talent scout guy who is also somehow tied into their front office ... but hey. It's worked. They made too many changes too quickly for last season to work out. Once their systems kicked in after a good summer they've been by FAR the class of the league all season.

[andyt]

One more note on Arsenal. With their defeat at Newcastle, they remain the only team in the Football League that has not earned an away point in calendar 2018. The next club that hasn't earned an away point this year is Tamworth, currently in 20th place in the National League North, level 6 on the pyramid.

[VinatieriDefinesClutch]

I was talking to a friend who is an Arsenal fan and trying to convince him that they should most certainly only concentrate on winning the Europa league and if they fall out of the Europa qualifying spots that's even better, since if they become a team that's stuck playing in the Europa league every year, they're never making it back into the top four. The teams that make the jump up in the premiere league are almost always the teams that finished way lower in the table than they should have the year before and don't have any extra international competitions.

[andyt]

I was talking to a friend who is an Arsenal fan and trying to convince him that they should most certainly only concentrate on winning the Europa league and if they fall out of the Europa qualifying spots that's even better, since if they become a team that's stuck playing in the Europa league every year, they're never making it back into the top four. The teams that make the jump up in the premiere league are almost always the teams that finished way lower in the table than they should have the year before and don't have any extra international competitions.

That's what Liverpool did 2 years ago, in 2015-16. They had no chance to make the top 4 but kept advancing through the Europa League, eventually making the final (and losing). They hired Klopp in October when they were in 10th place, got as high as 6th but settled into a roller coaster fluctuating between 6th and 9th, settling in 8th. But the following year, with no European competition to deal with and with Klopp there from the start, saw them no lower than 5th, eventually finishing 4th.

Regardless of how Arsenal finish in the Europa League, it's time for Wenger to go. Even if they win the Europa League and qualify for the UCL next year, I don't think they'll be able to attract enough talent with Wenger there to compete in Europe and in the league. So it would be a 1 year journey into Europe, a probably group stage exit, and another year delayed in their ability to compete for the top 4 consistently.

[andyt]

With the FA Cup semifinals this weekend, there are only 6 matches in the league:

Saturday:
West Brom v. Liverpool 7:30 NBCSN
Watford v. Crystal Palace 10:00 NBCSN

Sunday:
Arsenal v. West Ham 8:30 NBCSN
Stoke v. Burnley
Man City v. Swansea 11:30 NBCSN

Monday:
Everton v. Newcastle 3:00 Gold package only

A West Brom loss all but dooms them. They'd be on 24 points with 3 matches to go, so a maximum of 33 points. Swansea are 17th on 33 points but have a 6 goal advantage over West Brom. In the unlikely event that Swansea earn a point off Man City, West Brom are relegated.

[andyt]

It comes at least 3 years late, but Arsene Wenger will retire at the end of the season.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43834283

[jeffbear]

It comes at least 3 years late, but Arsene Wenger will retire at the end of the season.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43834283

And I hope he's respected for his career body of work instead of criticized for sticking around too long.

[andyt]

And I hope he's respected for his career body of work instead of criticized for sticking around too long.

I think that will take a few years. But what he brought to the League is undeniable. Maybe when he gets his statue outside the Emirates.

[jeffbear]

I think that will take a few years. But what he brought to the League is undeniable. Maybe when he gets his statue outside the Emirates.

Yeah. He's more than earned that, but I suspect a nice 5 year wait will do for the statue.

[andyt]

West Brom staves off relegation for the 2nd week in a row, getting an 88th minute goal from Rondon to grab a point from Liverpool. They're 8 points from safety with 3 matches to go, so they need to win out and get help. They're at Newcastle on Saturday followed by Spurs at home and they end the season at Crystal Palace. Stoke picked up a point with a draw against Burnley and are 4 points from safety with 3 matches to go. They're at Liverpool on Saturday. Southampton played in the FA Cup semifinal so they still have 4 matches left and are 4 points from safety. They host Bournemouth on Saturday.

In the Championship, Wolves have clinched the the championship. With 3 matches to go, they lead 2nd place Cardiff by 12 points. Cardiff, Fulham and Aston Villa have clinched playoff spots with 2nd place still available to any of them. Middlesbrough are in 5th on 72 points, Millwall are 6th on 69 points. Derby and Brentford are on 68, Preston North End is on 67, Bristol City and Sheffield United are on 66. All have 2 matches to play except Derby which has 3. On the other end of the table, Sunderland are relegated for the 2nd year in a row. It's a 4 team battle to stay out of the other 2 spots. Barnsley and Burton Albion are tied on 38 points but Barnsley have a 24 goal advantage and also have 3 to play. Bolton, Birmingham City and Reading can also be dragged into the fight. Hull in 18th on 48 points are safe.

In League One, Wigan have clinched promotion back to the Championship. Blackburn and Shrewsbury Town are also in the mix for automatic promotion. Rotherham, Charlton and Scun thorpe have the other playoff spots with Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth and Peterborough still in the mix. Bury have been relegated, Rochdale, Northampton own and MK Dons are in the other 3 spots.

In League Two, Accrington Stanley and Luton Town have clinched promotion. Wycombe are in the other automatic promotion spot but Exeter City and Notts County are still in the mix for that. Lincoln City and Coventry City are in the other playoff spots. Chesterfield are at the foot and could be facing their 2nd consecutive relegation. Barnet is in the other relegation place.