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2017-18 Premier League Thread

...and a day after that, United get the ultimate in Fergie timing by LCFC at 93:58 with 4 min stoppage, after missing a 1-on-1 and an open net. And up a man for good measure. That was another fun one to watch. Mahrez played like he gave a **** for once; he should try that more often.
 
HNIM said:
...and a day after that, United get the ultimate in Fergie timing by LCFC at 93:58 with 4 min stoppage, after missing a 1-on-1 and an open net. And up a man for good measure. That was another fun one to watch. Mahrez played like he gave a **** for once; he should try that more often.
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By happy accident that was the only Christmas season game I had time to sit down and watch. It was worth it.
 
3 days for Boxing Day? Match week 20 is in the books.

Spurs 5-2 Southampton - Another hat trick for Kane
Bournemouth 3-3 West Ham
Chelsea 2-0 Brighton
Huddersfield 1-1 Stoke
Man U 2-2 Burnley - Man U rescues a point at 90+1
Watford 2-1 Leicester
Newcastle 0-1 Man City
Crystal Palace 2-3 Arsenal - Arsene Wenger ties SAF with 810 matches managed in the league

Man City have opened a 15 point lead on Man U. They've still only dropped 2 points all season and are primed to smash records for most points, most wins and most goals in a season. The rest of the top half of the table is unchanged. Newcomers Huddersfield and Brighton sit comfortably in 11th and 12th, respectively. Newcastle is struggling in 15th but only 1 point above the drop zone. Bournemouth, West Brom and Swansea occupy those spots.

And the fixtures keep on coming. Starting Saturday, there are 6 straight days of matches, encompassing weeks 21 (Saturday/Sunday) and 22 (Monday - Thursday).

Saturday:
Chelsea v. Stoke 10:00 NBCSN
Liverpool v. Leicester CNBC
Bournemouth v. Everton
Huddersfield v. Burnley
Newcastle v. Brighton
Watford v. Swansea
Man U v. Southampton 12:30 NBC

Sunday:
Crystal Palace v. Man City 7:00 NBCSN
West Brom v. Arsenal 11:30 NBCSN

Monday:
Brighton v. Bournemouth 7:30 NBCSN
Burnley v. Liverpool 10:00 NBBCSN
Leicester v. Huddersfield CNBC
Stoke v. Newcastle
Everton v. Man U 12:30 NBCSN

Tuesday:
Swansea v. Spurs 2:45 NBCSN
Southampton v. Crystal Palace
West Ham v. West Brom
Man City v. Watford 3:00

Wednesday:
Arsenal v. Chelsea 2:45 NBCSN

Thursday:
Spurs v. West Ham 3:00 NBCSN

But wait, there's more. All league teams are in action over the January 5 weekend in the FA Cup 3rd round.
 
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Zaha was turning Chambers and Bellerin inside out all game yesterday, but never had anyone to deliver to. Palace lose him, and they're a mid-table Championship side, at best. They have a few players who are best described as lumbering. On the other hand, a halfway competent finisher and a decent defender or central midfielder would be enough to get them out of a congested relegation pack. The margins in the bottom half of the PL are just that tight.
 
Great game between Chelsea and Arsenal at the Emirates. Morata is taking a lot of abuse for missing a hat trick of easy finishes, but there was a lot of that going around. For sure, no one was parking the bus.
 
HNIM said:
Great game between Chelsea and Arsenal at the Emirates. Morata is taking a lot of abuse for missing a hat trick of easy finishes, but there was a lot of that going around. For sure, no one was parking the bus.
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Tis the season.

I love when the annual parade of pundits who completely ignore that it's freaking freezing out there and that these guys are running around on frozen goat patches for pitches this time of year gets rolling.

Every.
Stinking.
Year.
 
jeffbear said:
Tis the season.

I love when the annual parade of pundits who completely ignore that it's freaking freezing out there and that these guys are running around on frozen goat patches for pitches this time of year gets rolling.

Every.
Stinking.
Year.
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Or in the case of Spurs-Swansea, a frozen swamp in a maelstrom. During the first half they were talking about a replay. Nobody could even make a pass. That was miserable.
 
HNIM said:
Or in the case of Spurs-Swansea, a frozen swamp in a maelstrom. During the first half they were talking about a replay. Nobody could even make a pass. That was miserable.
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Yeah. I watched Villa's game with Bristol City the other day. The pitch LOOKED fine, but the camera crew did a closeup and the grass was so frozen that little bits of turf and subsurface dirt were breaking off and flying around under pressure. Nobody could get firm footing and free kicks were pure comedy.
 
The "Festive Fixtures" are completed. Everyone has played 22 matches.

Man City retained their 15 point lead. Their winning streak ended at 16 with a New Year's Eve draw against Palace but beat Watford on Tuesday to start a new one. Man U are 2nd on 47 points, Chelsea 3rd with 46, Liverpool 4th with 44, Spurs 5th with 41, Arsenal 6th with 39. The foot of the table finds Stoke in 18th with 20 points, tied with Southampton but behind on goal differential. West Brom and Swansea each have 16 points and are separated by goal differential in 19th and 20th. But only 3 points separate Brighton in 12th from Stoke in 18th.

In the Championship through 26 matches, Wolves are starting to pull away with 61 points, giving them a 12 point lead on Derby County. Cardiff City and Bristol City are tied for 3rd on points, 2 behind Derby County, Aston Villa are 5th 3 more points back, Leeds has the last playoff spot 1 point behind Villa. Of that group, Bristol City has never played in the Premier League, their last season in the First Division was 1979-80. At the foot, Burton Albion is 22nd, tied on points with Hull in 21st. Birmingham City are 23rd and Sunderland are 24th on 22 points. A second straight relegation isn't out of the question, for them or Hull.

No league matches this weekend, it's the 3rd round proper of the FA Cup with the Premier League and Championship teams entering.
 
I'm still getting over the printed zip up faux ugly sweaters that NBC made Rebecca and the Robbies wear at Christmas. At least they could have given them real ones.
 
HNIM said:
I'm still getting over the printed zip up faux ugly sweaters that NBC made Rebecca and the Robbies wear at Christmas. At least they could have given them real ones.
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Rebecca complained about those (charmingly, of course) on her Insta-story feed. It was pretty funny. Apparently the Robbies actually liked them ... ugh
 
The cup matches are over, it's match week 23.

Saturday:
Chelsea v. Leicester 10:00 NBCSN
Crystal Palace v. Burnley
Huddersfield v. West Ham
Newcastle v. Swansea
Watford v. Southampton
West Brom v. Brighton
Spurs v. Everton 12:30 NBC

Sunday:
Bournemouth v. Arsenal 8:30 NBCSN
Liverpool v. Man City 11:00 NBCSN

Monday:
Man U v. Stoke 3:00 NBCSN

This is the only tricky fixture that Man City has for a few weeks. They go to Burnley on 2/3 then have back to back fixtures at Arsenal and home to Chelsea on 2/25 and 3/3.
 
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